ABSTRACT
Stael and Byron explored through their heroines and heroes the place in the world of remarkable individuals – their opportunities for action, the factors which might hamper or compromise this action, the suffering to which their unusualness may make them prone. They also grappled with the issue of how far change is necessarily dependent on the remarkable individual, and in this context, the career of Napoleon was of particular fascination. All three heroes– the Giaour, Selim and Conrad – however much they conceive of themselves as rebels and outlaws, are wedded to a martial ethos which largely defines their masculinity, and which leads to their resembling the men they identify as their enemies. The first canto of Don Juan immediately embarks on deconstructing 'heroism', as it opens with a dismissal of the myriad of 'heroes' thrown up by recent history for public admiration.
