Byron and Romantic Period Neoclassicism

Abstract

In accordance with David Hume’s sceptical philosophy of identity, Byron is considered to be a chameleon and a typical border crosser of his age. Commuting between the progressivist Augustan Neoclassicism of the old school and Romanticism of the new heretical school, Byron shows his indebtedness to the Classical Tradition and endorses the artistry of formal Augustan verse-making, schooled on Horace, Dryden, and Pope. In this respect, Byron belongs to a coterie of famous code switchers between Classicism and Romanticism who wavered in their political allegiance between liberalism and conservatism and consequently eluded neat classifications.