'An Awkward Part to Play': Byron, Gaming, and the Perils of Courtship. Issue 2 (1st December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: McDayter, Ghislaine
• Is Part Of: Byron journal. Volume 50:Issue 2(2022)
• Page Start: 103
• Page End: 116
• Publication Date: 2022-12-01
• Subjects: Periodicals; 821.7
• DOI: 10.3828/bj.2022.16
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0301-7257

Abstract

Abstract : Byron, notoriously, liked to play games. Whether actual card games, such as the Regency staple of Speculation so beloved of Jane Austen, or the more performative realm of 'playing' a role for the benefit of the ton, he frequently invokes in his writing the excitement intrinsic to risking high stakes and paying the price of a personal gamble. Such overpowering sensations, he insists, remind us that we are alive. What the following will argue is that while the poet's keen interest in 'play' often becomes a metaphor for the vagaries and dangers of Regency courtship practices, Byron's exploration of the language and habits of gamblers leads us to a deeper understanding of the poet's views on gender roles and sexuality, harnessing the power of sexuality to the crucial experience of human risk in both gaming and love play.