Gulnar and Conrad: Hegelian Master-Slave Dialectics in The Corsair

Abstract

Published in 1814, “The Corsair” was one of the most well-known poetical works of Lord Byron after Child’s Harold Pilgrimage”. Being a narrative verse, it follows the tradition of Byron in the creation of the Byronic Hero as the manifestation of his individuality of mind and self and as the reflection of his romantic revisionary idealist spirit. The character which embodies such features is Conrad whose descriptions in terms of agony, suffering, pleasure seeking and remorsefulness, highly resemble Byron. On the other side, an odalisque, the female character of this verse, contributes to the context of gender due to her role as a woman slave whose freedom is attained by Conrad. According to the theory of the Hegelian Master-Slave Dialectics, and, through consideration of the context of gender, the Byronic Hero is, primarily, the Master and the submissive female character is the slave of Sultan's Harem, in the first place and is assumed to be inferior to the pirates, afterwards. However, the close analysis of their interactions and communications shed light on an acute conclusion which presents the female character, Gulnar, as the superior, regardless of what gender specifications dictate. This reveals that the Byronic Hero is bonded. The present article attempts at elaborating this relationship through the three stages of confrontation, recognition and acceptance which are related to Master-Slave relationships and the three phases of thesis, antithesis and synthesis which are connected to the dialectical aspect of Master-Slave relationships.