not divorced, but dead

Don Juan is said to be Lord Byron's most autobiographical work, and it certainly is reflective of his unhappy marriage and consequent separation. However, just as in Fare Thee Well, he makes grand gestures in the way of clearing his name. Though he presents the situation of Don Jose and Donna Inez as ill-fated, he also says that "they lived respectably as man and wife/Their conduct was exceedingly well-bred," which simply was not the case with Lord and Lady Byron. Byron was renowned for his debauchery and scandalous action. There is a clear indication that he alludes to his own marriage when he writes, "For Inez call'd some druggists and physicians/And tried to prove her loving lord was mad." Knowing that Lady Byron did the same, the audience sees that he is playing off and even mocking his own situation. Most interestingly, Byron writes with an impressive air of importance that gives the entire poem the air of an epic. His pride shines through over everything that he describes, and his arrogance often serves to overshadow the fact that he himself was crazy and responsible for the very failed relationship that he alludes to.