Robert Morrissey
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780226924588
- eISBN:
- 9780226924595
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226924595.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
What might be called the last battle between the Ancients and the Moderns plays itself out on multiple levels. Madame de Staël, a staunch opponent of Napoleon, explores the role of glory in the light ...
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What might be called the last battle between the Ancients and the Moderns plays itself out on multiple levels. Madame de Staël, a staunch opponent of Napoleon, explores the role of glory in the light of modern sensibility. To depict the apotheosis of French heroes, Girodet turns to Ossian rather than the heroes of classical antiquity. Fundamental Napoleonic institutions– the Legion of Honor, Imperial Nobility– all play essential roles in the new economy of glory, which aims to recognize all those who merit recognition,until, that is, the final collapse.Less
What might be called the last battle between the Ancients and the Moderns plays itself out on multiple levels. Madame de Staël, a staunch opponent of Napoleon, explores the role of glory in the light of modern sensibility. To depict the apotheosis of French heroes, Girodet turns to Ossian rather than the heroes of classical antiquity. Fundamental Napoleonic institutions– the Legion of Honor, Imperial Nobility– all play essential roles in the new economy of glory, which aims to recognize all those who merit recognition,until, that is, the final collapse.
Alan Rawes
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781526100559
- eISBN:
- 9781526132222
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781526100559.003.0010
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
This chapter addresses Byron’s Italian lyric mode by focusing on Childe Harold IV’s description of the Palatine as an exemplary instance of sustained poetic attentiveness. It places this description ...
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This chapter addresses Byron’s Italian lyric mode by focusing on Childe Harold IV’s description of the Palatine as an exemplary instance of sustained poetic attentiveness. It places this description alongside the accounts of the Palatine in Goethe’s Italienische Reise and de Staël’s Corinne, ou l’Italie. Comparing these three fundamental texts for the Romantic reinvention of Italy, the chapter draws out their very different ways of responding to Rome. In doing so, it contrasts the fictional and autobiographical works of de Staël and Goethe, which appropriate the ruins of Rome for their own needs and purposes, and Childe Harold IV,which offers an attentive responsiveness to Roman ruins per se. Whereas Goethe seeks an education in Rome, and de Staël finds consolation, Byron, in his poetic exploration of the Palatine, crafts an entirely original lyric mode and persona that are expressive of a heightened attention to the suggestions of Rome. The ‘eternal city’ thus becomes an ‘exhaustless mine’ (CHP, IV, 108, 128) of experiences that hosts of later tourists would then come to explore, relish and revel in.Less
This chapter addresses Byron’s Italian lyric mode by focusing on Childe Harold IV’s description of the Palatine as an exemplary instance of sustained poetic attentiveness. It places this description alongside the accounts of the Palatine in Goethe’s Italienische Reise and de Staël’s Corinne, ou l’Italie. Comparing these three fundamental texts for the Romantic reinvention of Italy, the chapter draws out their very different ways of responding to Rome. In doing so, it contrasts the fictional and autobiographical works of de Staël and Goethe, which appropriate the ruins of Rome for their own needs and purposes, and Childe Harold IV,which offers an attentive responsiveness to Roman ruins per se. Whereas Goethe seeks an education in Rome, and de Staël finds consolation, Byron, in his poetic exploration of the Palatine, crafts an entirely original lyric mode and persona that are expressive of a heightened attention to the suggestions of Rome. The ‘eternal city’ thus becomes an ‘exhaustless mine’ (CHP, IV, 108, 128) of experiences that hosts of later tourists would then come to explore, relish and revel in.
David Ellis
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781846316432
- eISBN:
- 9781846317163
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/UPO9781846317163
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
In 1816, following the scandalous collapse of his marriage, Lord Byron left England forever. His first destination was the villa Diodati by Lake Geneva where he stayed together with Percy Bysshe ...
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In 1816, following the scandalous collapse of his marriage, Lord Byron left England forever. His first destination was the villa Diodati by Lake Geneva where he stayed together with Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, Claire Clairmont, and John Polidori. This book focuses on the poet's life in the summer of that year, a famous time for meteorologists (for whom 1816 is the year without a summer), but also that crucial moment in the development of his writing when, urged on by Shelley, Byron tried to transform himself into a Romantic poet of the Wordsworthian variety. The book gives an impression of what Byron thought and felt in these few months after the breakdown of his marriage, but also explores the different aspects of his nature that emerge in contact with a remarkable cast of supporting characters, which also included Madame de Staël, who presided over a famous salon in Coppet, across the lake from Geneva, and Matthew Lewis, author of the erotic ‘Gothic’ best–seller, The Monk. The book sets out to challenge recent damning studies of Byron and through its exploration of the private and public life of the poet at this pivotal moment, it reasserts the value of Byron's wit, warm–heartedness, and hatred of cant.Less
In 1816, following the scandalous collapse of his marriage, Lord Byron left England forever. His first destination was the villa Diodati by Lake Geneva where he stayed together with Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, Claire Clairmont, and John Polidori. This book focuses on the poet's life in the summer of that year, a famous time for meteorologists (for whom 1816 is the year without a summer), but also that crucial moment in the development of his writing when, urged on by Shelley, Byron tried to transform himself into a Romantic poet of the Wordsworthian variety. The book gives an impression of what Byron thought and felt in these few months after the breakdown of his marriage, but also explores the different aspects of his nature that emerge in contact with a remarkable cast of supporting characters, which also included Madame de Staël, who presided over a famous salon in Coppet, across the lake from Geneva, and Matthew Lewis, author of the erotic ‘Gothic’ best–seller, The Monk. The book sets out to challenge recent damning studies of Byron and through its exploration of the private and public life of the poet at this pivotal moment, it reasserts the value of Byron's wit, warm–heartedness, and hatred of cant.
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781846316968
- eISBN:
- 9781846317057
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/UPO9781846317057.010
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter examines Zachary Macaulay's work in negotiating for French abolition of the slave trade as part of a peace treaty between Great Britain and France. It discusses Macaulay's encounter with ...
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This chapter examines Zachary Macaulay's work in negotiating for French abolition of the slave trade as part of a peace treaty between Great Britain and France. It discusses Macaulay's encounter with Madame de Staël and the Duke of Wellington, and suggests that the failure of his efforts may be attributed to the propaganda to justify slavery and the resistance of the colonists. The chapter highlights the inactivity of many abolitionists in Britain during the period between 1815 and 1823, and discusses the implications of the French government's recognition of Haitian independence in 1825.Less
This chapter examines Zachary Macaulay's work in negotiating for French abolition of the slave trade as part of a peace treaty between Great Britain and France. It discusses Macaulay's encounter with Madame de Staël and the Duke of Wellington, and suggests that the failure of his efforts may be attributed to the propaganda to justify slavery and the resistance of the colonists. The chapter highlights the inactivity of many abolitionists in Britain during the period between 1815 and 1823, and discusses the implications of the French government's recognition of Haitian independence in 1825.
Anne Stott
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199699391
- eISBN:
- 9780191739132
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199699391.003.0013
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter, which is thematically rather than chronologically based, introduces the third part of the book and depicts Wilberforce in his domestic setting. One of the chief reasons for his hatred ...
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This chapter, which is thematically rather than chronologically based, introduces the third part of the book and depicts Wilberforce in his domestic setting. One of the chief reasons for his hatred of the slave system was the fact that the slaves were denied family life. He attached great importance to the Christian idea of the ‘good death’, and saw heaven in domestic terms as a site of family reunion. His intervention in the cases of Mary Anne Clarke and Queen Caroline show the importance of domestic ideology in his political campaigns. His parliamentary attack on Captain John Kimber and the Hindu practice of sati show his concern for non-European women. In 1822 he received the widow and daughters of Henri Christophe, the former King of Haiti. His meeting with Madame de Staël is described. The chapter ends with a discussion of his relationship with his wife, Barbara Spooner.Less
This chapter, which is thematically rather than chronologically based, introduces the third part of the book and depicts Wilberforce in his domestic setting. One of the chief reasons for his hatred of the slave system was the fact that the slaves were denied family life. He attached great importance to the Christian idea of the ‘good death’, and saw heaven in domestic terms as a site of family reunion. His intervention in the cases of Mary Anne Clarke and Queen Caroline show the importance of domestic ideology in his political campaigns. His parliamentary attack on Captain John Kimber and the Hindu practice of sati show his concern for non-European women. In 1822 he received the widow and daughters of Henri Christophe, the former King of Haiti. His meeting with Madame de Staël is described. The chapter ends with a discussion of his relationship with his wife, Barbara Spooner.
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781846316432
- eISBN:
- 9781846317163
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/UPO9781846317163.015
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
While Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley were away on the trip round the lake of Geneva, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and Claire Clairmont were left to keep themselves busy at Diodati. Mary had begun ...
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While Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley were away on the trip round the lake of Geneva, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and Claire Clairmont were left to keep themselves busy at Diodati. Mary had begun writing Frankenstein and made fair copies of Byron's poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. John Polidori was visiting the two women on a daily basis and often dined with them. Upon his return Byron would experience a profound change in his social life due to his encounter with Germaine de Staël, who had returned from Italy to her château at Coppet. Madame de Staël was a major celebrity in Europe owing to her father's fame, her suffering at the hands of Napoleon of France, and her political activity. Her warm welcome and her ability to make Byron feel completely at home made the poet continue to visit Coppet, in spite of the occasional encounter with people such as Elizabeth Hervey.Less
While Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley were away on the trip round the lake of Geneva, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and Claire Clairmont were left to keep themselves busy at Diodati. Mary had begun writing Frankenstein and made fair copies of Byron's poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. John Polidori was visiting the two women on a daily basis and often dined with them. Upon his return Byron would experience a profound change in his social life due to his encounter with Germaine de Staël, who had returned from Italy to her château at Coppet. Madame de Staël was a major celebrity in Europe owing to her father's fame, her suffering at the hands of Napoleon of France, and her political activity. Her warm welcome and her ability to make Byron feel completely at home made the poet continue to visit Coppet, in spite of the occasional encounter with people such as Elizabeth Hervey.
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781846316432
- eISBN:
- 9781846317163
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/UPO9781846317163.019
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
Matthew Lewis met Madame de Staël in England, but the two got into a serious disagreement during one of their meetings. Perhaps to initiate a reconciliation between the two, Byron accompanied Lewis ...
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Matthew Lewis met Madame de Staël in England, but the two got into a serious disagreement during one of their meetings. Perhaps to initiate a reconciliation between the two, Byron accompanied Lewis to Coppet. During his stay with Byron in Diodati, Lewis had not only told ghost stories but also translated for him parts of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's play Faust. Byron would later acknowledged the particular influence of Lewis's oral rendering on Manfred, the poetic drama he was beginning to write at the time. Byron was often tempted by what Sigmund Freud calls the omnipotence of thoughts. This is evident in his response in 1818 to the suicide of Sir Samuel Romilly, a lawyer known for his humanitarian efforts to reform the English penal code.Less
Matthew Lewis met Madame de Staël in England, but the two got into a serious disagreement during one of their meetings. Perhaps to initiate a reconciliation between the two, Byron accompanied Lewis to Coppet. During his stay with Byron in Diodati, Lewis had not only told ghost stories but also translated for him parts of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's play Faust. Byron would later acknowledged the particular influence of Lewis's oral rendering on Manfred, the poetic drama he was beginning to write at the time. Byron was often tempted by what Sigmund Freud calls the omnipotence of thoughts. This is evident in his response in 1818 to the suicide of Sir Samuel Romilly, a lawyer known for his humanitarian efforts to reform the English penal code.
Jonathan Gross
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781526100559
- eISBN:
- 9781526132222
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781526100559.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
This chapter focuses primarily on Byron’s letters from his Italian years in order to examine the extent to which his Italianisation actually intensified his sense of his own Britishness. The latter ...
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This chapter focuses primarily on Byron’s letters from his Italian years in order to examine the extent to which his Italianisation actually intensified his sense of his own Britishness. The latter category everywhere underpins and complicates his relationship to Italy. As this chapter shows, even as the British poet was ‘rebranding’ himself as almost but never entirely Italian, the Italianised British aristocrat was re-imagining himself as a Scottish mercenary in the midst of Italian revolution. Under the influence of Madame de Staël’s Lord Nelvil (from her 1807 novel Corinne) and Walter Scott’s novels (which Byron avidly read while in Italy), the poet depicted himself in his letters home as an aristocratic Scottish lord leading a band of troops or as serving the Italian cause ‘like Dugald Dalgetty’ in Scott’s A Legend of Montrose. As this chapter demonstrates, Byron never felt himself ‘more Scottish’ than when residing in Ravenna, Venice, Genoa and Pisa.Less
This chapter focuses primarily on Byron’s letters from his Italian years in order to examine the extent to which his Italianisation actually intensified his sense of his own Britishness. The latter category everywhere underpins and complicates his relationship to Italy. As this chapter shows, even as the British poet was ‘rebranding’ himself as almost but never entirely Italian, the Italianised British aristocrat was re-imagining himself as a Scottish mercenary in the midst of Italian revolution. Under the influence of Madame de Staël’s Lord Nelvil (from her 1807 novel Corinne) and Walter Scott’s novels (which Byron avidly read while in Italy), the poet depicted himself in his letters home as an aristocratic Scottish lord leading a band of troops or as serving the Italian cause ‘like Dugald Dalgetty’ in Scott’s A Legend of Montrose. As this chapter demonstrates, Byron never felt himself ‘more Scottish’ than when residing in Ravenna, Venice, Genoa and Pisa.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226886015
- eISBN:
- 9780226886039
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226886039.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter discusses conceptions of the economy of limited time through the works of Homer, Adolf Franz Friedrich Freiherr von Knigge, Plutarch, André Gide, Jean Paul Richter, and Madame de Staël.
This chapter discusses conceptions of the economy of limited time through the works of Homer, Adolf Franz Friedrich Freiherr von Knigge, Plutarch, André Gide, Jean Paul Richter, and Madame de Staël.
Jeff Horn
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- December 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780197529928
- eISBN:
- 9780197529959
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780197529928.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History, Political History
Rousselin managed to return to public service, but he continued to face recriminations for his participation in revolutionary violence. He became a confidential secretary for General Lazare Hoche, ...
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Rousselin managed to return to public service, but he continued to face recriminations for his participation in revolutionary violence. He became a confidential secretary for General Lazare Hoche, then Paul Barras, and finally Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte when he became minister of war. Forced out by Napoleon’s rise to power, Rousselin devoted himself to writing biographies of Republican generals and to finding new friends Benjamin Constant and Germaine de Staël. He also had a relationship with Josephine Beauharnais, which angered Napoleon, who tried to send him to Egypt as a diplomat. He went into hiding, had a child, and got married to a cousin of Barras, all while serving as a police spy. In 1813 he was adopted by his mother’s second husband and when he died, became comte de Saint-Albin. Surprisingly, he rallied to Bonaparte during the Hundred Days serving as secretary-general under Lazare Carnot at the Interior Ministry.Less
Rousselin managed to return to public service, but he continued to face recriminations for his participation in revolutionary violence. He became a confidential secretary for General Lazare Hoche, then Paul Barras, and finally Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte when he became minister of war. Forced out by Napoleon’s rise to power, Rousselin devoted himself to writing biographies of Republican generals and to finding new friends Benjamin Constant and Germaine de Staël. He also had a relationship with Josephine Beauharnais, which angered Napoleon, who tried to send him to Egypt as a diplomat. He went into hiding, had a child, and got married to a cousin of Barras, all while serving as a police spy. In 1813 he was adopted by his mother’s second husband and when he died, became comte de Saint-Albin. Surprisingly, he rallied to Bonaparte during the Hundred Days serving as secretary-general under Lazare Carnot at the Interior Ministry.
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781846316432
- eISBN:
- 9781846317163
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/UPO9781846317163.016
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
Coppet's tripartite division could accommodate members of Madame de Staël's immediate family, the visiting English, the local intellectuals of a liberal cast, and some princes, dukes, and titled ...
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Coppet's tripartite division could accommodate members of Madame de Staël's immediate family, the visiting English, the local intellectuals of a liberal cast, and some princes, dukes, and titled dignitaries from continental Europe. Part of de Staël's small family group was Jean Rocca, who was rumoured to be her lover despite being much younger than her. In truth, Rocca and de Staël had been secretly married in 1811. Born in 1766 and widowed in 1802, de Staël was known for falling for handsome young men who could match her intellectually. One such man was Benjamin Constant, who wrote a novel entitled Adolphe to describe his early experience of trying to break up with de Staël. Whereas Adolphe is a modified roman à clef, another novel, Glenarvon, is a glaring example of the genre and one which cannot be considered a masterpiece. Glenarvon was Caroline Lamb's fictionalised account of her affair with Lord Byron.Less
Coppet's tripartite division could accommodate members of Madame de Staël's immediate family, the visiting English, the local intellectuals of a liberal cast, and some princes, dukes, and titled dignitaries from continental Europe. Part of de Staël's small family group was Jean Rocca, who was rumoured to be her lover despite being much younger than her. In truth, Rocca and de Staël had been secretly married in 1811. Born in 1766 and widowed in 1802, de Staël was known for falling for handsome young men who could match her intellectually. One such man was Benjamin Constant, who wrote a novel entitled Adolphe to describe his early experience of trying to break up with de Staël. Whereas Adolphe is a modified roman à clef, another novel, Glenarvon, is a glaring example of the genre and one which cannot be considered a masterpiece. Glenarvon was Caroline Lamb's fictionalised account of her affair with Lord Byron.
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781846316432
- eISBN:
- 9781846317163
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/UPO9781846317163.017
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
Percy Bysshe Shelley did not go with Lord Byron to Coppet. An attractive and eloquent young poet, he would have been welcome there, and Madame de Staël would have been interested to meet Mary ...
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Percy Bysshe Shelley did not go with Lord Byron to Coppet. An attractive and eloquent young poet, he would have been welcome there, and Madame de Staël would have been interested to meet Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin. Instead, Shelley planned a trip to Chamonix with Mary and Claire Clairmont. Their Mont Blanc excursion had important literary consequences for both Mary and Shelley. Meanwhile, Byron had almost completed canto 3 of his poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage as well as The Prisoner of Chillon. He had also written several shorter works, including three poems based on his own dreams, daytime visions, or haunting memories from the past. The first poem, entitled ‘The Dream’, reflects on the nature of dreaming and the particular dreams or visions with which he appeared to have been preoccupied at the time.Less
Percy Bysshe Shelley did not go with Lord Byron to Coppet. An attractive and eloquent young poet, he would have been welcome there, and Madame de Staël would have been interested to meet Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin. Instead, Shelley planned a trip to Chamonix with Mary and Claire Clairmont. Their Mont Blanc excursion had important literary consequences for both Mary and Shelley. Meanwhile, Byron had almost completed canto 3 of his poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage as well as The Prisoner of Chillon. He had also written several shorter works, including three poems based on his own dreams, daytime visions, or haunting memories from the past. The first poem, entitled ‘The Dream’, reflects on the nature of dreaming and the particular dreams or visions with which he appeared to have been preoccupied at the time.
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781846316432
- eISBN:
- 9781846317163
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/UPO9781846317163.004
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
Some members of the group who were with Lord Byron during his stay in Switzerland did not fare well on their own. Matthew Lewis, for example, spent a year in Europe after leaving Diodati, visiting ...
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Some members of the group who were with Lord Byron during his stay in Switzerland did not fare well on their own. Matthew Lewis, for example, spent a year in Europe after leaving Diodati, visiting the cities of Rome, Florence, and Naples in Italy. He returned to England in October 1816 and sailed again for Jamaica the following month. He died of yellow fever on board a ship in mid–ocean at the age of forty–two. Meanwhile, Madame de Staël moved from Coppet to Paris in October 1816 but quickly became bed–ridden and died on July 14, 1817 at the age of fifty–one. Byron made references to de Staël in the verses he wrote for his publisher, but their main topic was actually John Polidori, who went to Milan in September 1816, weary and depressed. When he recovered, Polidori reestablished his good ties to Byron and John Cam Hobhouse. On August 24, 1821, Polidori was found in a desperate state in his room and died very shortly afterwards. He apparently committed suicide by swallowing prussic acid.Less
Some members of the group who were with Lord Byron during his stay in Switzerland did not fare well on their own. Matthew Lewis, for example, spent a year in Europe after leaving Diodati, visiting the cities of Rome, Florence, and Naples in Italy. He returned to England in October 1816 and sailed again for Jamaica the following month. He died of yellow fever on board a ship in mid–ocean at the age of forty–two. Meanwhile, Madame de Staël moved from Coppet to Paris in October 1816 but quickly became bed–ridden and died on July 14, 1817 at the age of fifty–one. Byron made references to de Staël in the verses he wrote for his publisher, but their main topic was actually John Polidori, who went to Milan in September 1816, weary and depressed. When he recovered, Polidori reestablished his good ties to Byron and John Cam Hobhouse. On August 24, 1821, Polidori was found in a desperate state in his room and died very shortly afterwards. He apparently committed suicide by swallowing prussic acid.