This dissertation presents a study of Lord Byrons historical dramas (Marino Faliero, The Two Foscari, Sardanapalus, and Werner) alongside the performative aesthetics of Don Juan, and it uses performance theory as a hermeneutic for examining this relationship. It provides a literary analysis of some neglected works and important issues in Byrons writings, it explores the legacy of Byron in the nineteenth-century theater, and it tests the limits of current scholarship on Romantic drama. The dissertation brings together a large amount of scholarship and provides a new perspective on Byron, Romantic drama, and the Victorian theater.
