What came out in the discussion was a series of contrasts and similarities: the opposing personalities of chaotic, volatile Byron and his poised and demure wife the shared genius of Byron and his daughter Ada and, perhaps most importantly, the disparity in how history has treated Ada compared to her mother. The symbolism was impossible to disregard.
For much of the conversation, the notorious – nowadays almost comical – painting of Byron in Albanian dress by Thomas Phillips loomed over the stage. A flagrant womaniser, Byron had multiple affairs, but Miranda Seymour focuses her new book, In Byron’s Wake, on just two of the women in Byron’s life: his first and last wife, Annabella Milbanke, and the daughter she conceived with him, Ada Lovelace.Īt Durham Book Festival, Seymour discussed with Professor Claire Harman the process of writing this book, from the extensive research conducted to what she wanted to achieve through her work, in which she examines the frustration and predicaments of living in the shadow of such a great and damaged man. Eccentric, brilliant, preeminent and broken: Byron’s talent and influence as a poet is undeniable, but his personal life was scandal galore.
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