The Technological Improvements of the Press and Lord Byron as a Celebrity Elle Costa Pastorino Lima 10th Grade

The phenomenon of celebrity culture is not a unique feature of our contemporary moment, the British poet Lord Byron (1788-1824), was one of the most influential figures of romanticism, of strong personality, defied the moral and religious conventions of his time and his texts continue to inspire many works to this day. This essay aims to analyze how the rise of newspapers; developments in new printing techniques, image reproduction, and infrastructure improvements have made the figure of the English poet Lord Byron, a celebrity known not only for his work but also for his personal life.

In a period when the media were not as efficient as it is today, the poet was able to be greatly recognized by the press of the time, not only for his work but also for his personal life which earned him ample speculation from the time he lived to the present day. Considered by many the first celebrity in the molds we know today. In Byron's Romantic Celebrity: Industrial Culture and the Hermeneutic of Intimacy, the author Tom Mole understands "celebrity" as a cultural apparatus, consisting of the relationships between an individual, an industry, and an audience. Being the mutual work of these three components working together to make an...