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might occur here below. Much the same can apply to the figure of a saint. In anidealised form of religion, dogmatic idiosyncrasies and clerical or ecclesiasticalfailures can be displaced from significance as being the natural imperfections of theincorrupt Ideal’s entelechy in the corrupt and corrupting world.Marian DevotionAs already mentioned at a number of points, Don Juan refers frequently toCatholicism, and notably treats Catholicism as Christianity, prompting objectionsfrom sectarian contemporary critics. Byron expressed considerable enthusiasm forwhat he described, to RB Hoppner, as “the best religion as it is assuredly the eldest ofthe various branches of Christianity” (BLJ 8.98, 03/04/21), in stating his wish that hisnatural daughter, Allegra, should be raised Catholic. 239 The usage of the superlativerather than the comparative indicates that the poet was including Orthodoxy in theconsideration of age, making this a considered, if still partisan opinion.In some respects, Catholicism is a stick for beating English Protestantism. AsGraham comments on Don Juan I, “The canto’s two betrayed spouses, Inez andAlfonso, do not react as Spanish Catholics would.” 240 He rightly points out, forexample, that, even if they did seek the dissolution of a marriage, it would not be fromDoctor’s Commons. Since much of Don Juan is a satire on English culture andsociety, Catholicism has a role to play in this satire: “Byron makes use of the contrastbetween Catholic orthodoxy and English values as one of several ways of presentingthe cultural insularity summed up in the nation’s capital.” 241Being a foil to Protestantism is not Catholicism’s only role, however, and the olderfaith can be a target of satire, as in the shipwreck:239 Byron’s love for theatre-going might have played a part in this enthusiasm: as Halévy notes, “thetwo celebrated actors, Kemble and his sister Mrs. Siddons, no doubt did more to make their Churchpopular than all these intellectuals together.” (Halévy I, 474n3). See also David Goldweber, ‘Byron,Catholicism, and Don Juan XVII’, in Renascence Spring 1997 (49:3), 175-89, for a quite adept, if notunbiased, treatment of Byron’s interest in Catholicism.240 Graham, p.26.241 Graham, p.173.157