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nor wholly mortal, and the Virgin Mary plays a significant part in Don Juan. <strong>The</strong>Marian focus is linked particularly with the character <strong>of</strong> Aurora Raby, and BernardBeatty draws a parallel between the poem’s depiction <strong>of</strong> Aurora and its representation<strong>of</strong> the Virgin, via Norman Abbey:<strong>The</strong>re can be no doubt that Aurora represents, in a precise and pondered way,that holiness, a specific feminine wholeness, which the original building(dedicated to the Blessed Virgin) was designed to celebrate and, oddly, stilldoes. 245Cooper concurs, noting also the “fairy” associations <strong>of</strong> ‘Mary’ (5.4.27) and <strong>of</strong> Aurora(15.43.339). 246 In the process <strong>of</strong> this association <strong>of</strong> figures, both the character and thefaith are somewhat romanticised. Joseph agrees with Beatty to some extent:In spite <strong>of</strong> his awareness <strong>of</strong> corruptions <strong>of</strong> Italian society, his residence in Italycaused him to modify his earlier stock-response and gave him a considerableregard for the older religion, which is reflected in the splendid idealisation <strong>of</strong>Aurora Raby[.] 247Further, Aurora is “left an only /Child to the care <strong>of</strong> guardians good and kind”(15.44.345-6), in much the same way as the young Mary is left to the care <strong>of</strong> theTemple by her parents. 248 Juan’s religious identification is declared by the poem, andis one <strong>of</strong> the aspects which particularly connects him with Aurora Raby: when LadyAdeline is indulging in her match-making schemes and cannot comprehend why Juanshould have a preference for Aurora, “Juan rejoined – “She was a Catholic, /Andtherefore fittest, as <strong>of</strong> his persuasion”” (15.50.393-4). <strong>The</strong> text contrasts the twowomen in religious terms: Aurora is only named for a pagan goddess, whereasAdeline is explicitly associated with pagan deities, “Venus” (14.55.436) and even“Dian <strong>of</strong> the Ephesians” (14.46.363), the goddess whose worship leads to Paul andBarnabas being chased from Ephesos in Acts 19:24-41, and who is, therefore, an245 Beatty, p.152.246 Cooper, p.46.247 Joseph, p.308.248 <strong>The</strong> narrative <strong>of</strong> Mary’s childhood is in the second-century Protoevangelium <strong>of</strong> James.159

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