Synopsis:

Book Description

Lady Caroline Lamb, among Lord Byron's many lovers, stands out--vilified, portrayed as a self-destructive nymphomaniac--her true story has never been told. Now, Paul Douglass provides the first unbiased treatment of a woman whose passions and independence were incompatible with the age in which she lived. Taking into account a traumatic childhood, Douglass explores Lamb's so-called "erotomania" and tendency towards drug abuse and madness--problems she and Byron had in common. In this portrait, she emerges as a person who sacrificed much for the welfare of a sick child, and became an artist in her own right. Douglass illuminates her novels and poetry, her literary friendships, and the lifelong support of her husband and her publisher, John Murray.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements * List of Illustrations * Preface * A Child of the Mist * Growing Pains * Coming Out * Marriage * Parenthood * Indiscretions * Byron * Ireland * Medea and Her Dragons * Playing Byron * The Music of Glenarvon * Politics and Satire * A Book to Offend Nobody: Graham Hamilton * The Last Novel: Ada Reis * Death of Byron * Exile * Rational and Quiet * Epilogue * Appendix: Who's Who * Appendix: Genealogy * Appendix: Brief Chronology * Works Cited: Short Citation List * Notes * Index

Book Excerpt:

It was common for lovers to exchange locks of hair. It was less common to give what Lady Caroline now sent Byron. It was a clipping of her pubic hair with an inscription:

“Caroline     Byron--      August 9th, 1812

next to Thyrza Dearest

& most faithful--God bless you

own love--ricordati di Biondetta

                        From your wild Antelope [i]

This note alludes to the character of “Biondetta” in Jacques Cazotte’s Le diable amoureux (1772),[ii] in which a young man of twenty five (Byron was twenty four when he met Caroline) is seduced by an “enamored spirit” who appears to him in the guise of “Biondetta,” a fair-haired woman dressed as a page carrying a platter of fruit and accompanied by a spaniel. The reader needs to know that the devil first appears to Marlowe’s Faustus in the form of a spaniel, and Goethe, playing on this same theme, changed the animal to a large poodle in his masterwork, Faust, Part One. This background explains the meaning of the allegorical portrait of Lady Caroline begun by Thomas Phillips sometime in 1812 (now at Chatsworth). The painting depicts Lady Caroline in livery holding a platter of grapes and being gazed upon by a spaniel.

In the letter which accompanied the pubic hair, Lady Caroline asked for a gift in return: “I asked you not to send blood but yet do--because if it means love I like to have it--I cut the hair too close & bled much more than you need--do not you the same o pray put not scizzors points near where quei capelli grow--sooner take it from the arm or wrist--pray be careful.” This carnal exchange would not be completed. But though he gave Lady Caroline no clipping of hair, he did give her a gold locket inscribed with his family motto, “Crede Byron” (have faith in Byron). Thus, Caroline did not realize he was pulling away. Instead, she fantasized about living with Byron at Newstead: “Newstead--that is a pity--why not have kept it & taken Biondetta there & have livd & died happy.”[iii]

Write a Review »

Topics/Categories:

British Literature, Regency Period, Romantic Period Literature, Women's Studies

Genre:

Biography, Criticism

Type of Work:

Book

Publishers:

Palgrave Macmillan

Purchase From:

Lady Caroline Lamb: A Biography

Original Publish Date:

October 31, 2008

Formats and associated ISBNs:

1-4039-6605-2

Reading Guides:

http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/douglass/caro/index.html

Formats:

Hardcover

• Share With:
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•