Books - The Giaour

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The Giaour is a poem by Lord Byron first published in 1813 and the first in the series of his Oriental romances. As well, it is often considered as one of the first examples of vampire fiction. The Giaour proved to be a great success when published, consolidating Byron's reputation critically and commercially.

Writing the Story

The origin of the story came during Byron's Grand Tour during 1809 and 1810 which he undertook with his friend John Cam Hobhouse. While in Athens, he became aware of the Turkish custom of throwing a woman found guilty of adultery in the sea wrapped in a sack.

A giaour is the Turkish word for infidel or nonbeliever and is similar to the Arabic word kafir. The story is titled A Fragment of a Turkish Tale. Byron designed the story as a fragmentary work with three narrators giving their individual point of view about the series of events. The main story is of Leila, a female slave who loves the giaour and is killed by being thrown in the sea by Hassan her master. In revenge, the Giaour kills him and then enters a monastery due to his remorse. The design of the story allows for contrast in Christian and Muslim perceptions of love, sex, death and the afterlife.

The poem was written after Byron had become famous overnight after the publication of the first two cantos of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and reflects his disenchantment with fame. It also reflects the gloom, remorse and lust of two illicit love affairs, one with his half-sister Augusta Leigh and the other with Lady Frances Webster.

The earliest version of the poem were written between September 1812 and March 1813 and a version of 700 lines published in June 1813. Several more editions were published before the end of 1813, each longer than the last with the last edition containing 1300 lines or almost twice as long as the version first published.

Romantic Orientalism

The Giaour proved to be very popular with several editions published in the first year. By 1815, 14 editions had been published when it was included in his first collected edition. Its runaway success led Byron to publish three more "Turkish stories" in the next couple of years: The Bride of Abydos in 1813, The Corsair
in 1814 and Lara. Each of these poems proved to be very popular with The Corsair selling 10,000 copies in its first day of publication. These tales led to the public perception of the Byronic hero.

Byron commented ironically on the success of these works in his 1818 poem Beppo:

Oh! that I had the art of easy writing, What should be easy reading (...) How quickly would I print (the world delighting) A Grecian, Syrian or Assyrian tale And sell you, mixed with Western sentimentalism Some samples of the finest Orientalism.

French painter Eugène Delacroix used the story as the inspiration of his 1827 painting Combat of the Giaour and the Pasha.

Vampire Story

The Giaour is also notable for its mention of vampires in the lines: But first, on earth as vampire sent, Thy corse shall from its grave be rent. This mention of the word vampire in the poem made the word well known in English. Byron became acquainted with vampires while on his grand tour.

The association of Byron with vampires continued in 1819 with the publication of The Vampyre by John Polidori. The lead character Lord Ruthven was based on Byron. Polidori had previously worked as Byron's doctor and the two parted on bad terms. Much to Byron's annoyance, The Vampyre was widely attributed to him and even included in the third volume of Byron's works by popular demand. Polidori is thought to have encouraged this, seeing how it increased sale figures considerably. Lord Ruthven was the first portrayal of the vampire as a debauched aristocrat.

External references

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The Giaour ]

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