14 h 32 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 357 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 357 pagesAbout this book
What if the famous seducer is a kind young man swept along by everyone else’s desires?
In Lord Byron’s long comic poem Don Juan, a young Spaniard’s careful upbringing offers little protection against love and scandal. His mother, Donna Inez, wants him pure and respectable. Donna Julia, a clever married woman, unsettles those plans. Juan’s journey opens in Seville, where desire and the need to appear virtuous pull in different directions.
Beyond Seville lie shipwreck, an island romance, a sultan’s palace and fashionable drawing rooms. Yet Juan shares the stage with a narrator who refuses to stay on course. He interrupts adventures with jokes, complaints and attacks on hypocrisy. Byron’s satire turns from love to war and politics, asking why people condemn desire while excusing cruelty and the abuse of power.
What you’ll discover
- An unexpected romantic hero Meet a good-natured Juan who is pursued more often than he pursues.
- Love on a Greek island Encounter Haidee, the pirate’s daughter who finds Juan washed onto the shore.
- A narrator without restraint Follow a restless voice that leaves the plot behind to joke, complain and challenge.
- Society caught pretending Watch Byron expose the distance between respectable appearances and the desires beneath them.
- Verse with a comic turn Discover ottava rima, where alternating rhymes lead into a closing pair of lines.
Who will love it
You will love this if you enjoy witty verse, political satire, travel adventure and stories where a charming young man meets one surprise after another.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A narrator wants a hero and mocks the rest
- A strict mother raises a sheltered boy
- A forbidden love sends Juan away from Spain
- A shipwreck tests Juan at sea
- A young love grows on a Greek island
- Sold as a slave, Juan meets a sultan's wife
- War at Ismail shows the cost of glory
- The narrator questions wealth and power
- What the poem is really about
Who’s who
- Don JuanA handsome young Spaniard, raised in careful ignorance, who drifts into love and danger as he travels.
- Donna InezJuan's learned, strict mother, who tries to shape her son into a model of virtue.
- Donna JuliaA young married woman of Seville whose affection for Juan starts a public scandal.
- HaideeA Greek pirate's daughter who finds Juan on the shore and gives him her whole heart.
- LambroHaidee's father, a pirate and slave trader who returns to find his house in the hands of a stranger.
- GulbeyazA sultan's favourite wife, used to getting what she wants, who buys Juan for her own pleasure.
- JohnsonA cool, experienced English soldier who befriends Juan in the slave market and fights beside him.
- Aurora RabyA quiet young Catholic orphan in England whose calm indifference draws Juan's interest.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 14 h 32 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in, 357 pages: 15,95 USD when you start free, 21,95 USD on its own.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in, 357 pages: 24,95 USD when you start free, 30,95 USD on its own.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Don Juan in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Don Juan
by Lord Byron · 1819
Juan dreams of Julia's eyes while his mother tries to shield him from desire.
Challenging10–20 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
Who is the hero of a poem that mocks heroes? Lord Byron picks Don Juan, the old stage seducer, and sends him through shipwreck, slavery, war and the drawing rooms of London.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A narrator wants a hero and mocks the rest
The poem opens with a complaint. The narrator says he wants a hero, but every year brings a new general or statesman who is forgotten before the ink dries. So he chooses the old legend of Don Juan instead.
Before the story begins, a dedication attacks the poets Southey, Wordsworth and Coleridge, and the politician Castlereagh. The narrator then announces that he will begin at the beginning, unlike most epic poets, and that his poem will have love, war and a storm at sea. He even promises twelve books, though the poem runs far past that.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Don Juan
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy just the printed book?
Yes. The paperback costs 21,95 USD on its own. Start free and you pay the cost of printing: 15,95 USD for this paperback, and any other book at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Don Juan by Byron about?
It follows a young Spaniard named Juan through love affairs, a shipwreck, slavery, a siege and the high society of England. The narrator comments on each stage and uses the journey to mock hypocrisy and war.
Is Byron's Don Juan the same as the legend?
Byron takes the familiar stage figure of Don Juan but changes him. His Juan is a gentle, easily led young man who is pursued by women more than he pursues them.
Was Don Juan ever finished?
No. The narrator imagines many more adventures, but the poem has sixteen complete cantos and part of a seventeenth. The poem stops mid scene, so you read it as a rich, open story.
The author
Lord Byron
1788–1824 · English Romantic poet
Lord Byron (1788–1824) was an English poet born in London. He lived in Britain, Switzerland, Italy and Greece. He wrote Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, published between 1812 and 1818, and Don Juan, published in parts from 1819 to 1824. He died at Missolonghi in Greece.
More by Lord Byron
All 2 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
