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The Eastern Tales: Islam versus ChristianityThe Eastern Tales discussed here are The Giaour, The Bride of Abydos, The Corsair,Lara, and The Siege of Corinth. The first two were published in 1813, the second twoin 1814, and the last in 1816. As such, all fall within the period of composition ofChilde Harold’s Pilgrimage, and so it is unsurprising that they do share some themeswith that poem. However, there are also very significant differences, not the least ofwhich is the much more prominent role which Islam plays in the Eastern Tales.The sources for Byron’s commentary upon Islam are multiple. First and foremostappear to be Samuel Henley’s notes to William Beckford’s Vathek: a great proportionof Byron’s notes on Islam borrow not only information but even phrasing fromHenley. Second, Byron lived among Muslims in Rumelia, the Balkan dominions ofthe Ottoman Empire, from 1809 until 1811. Third, he appears to have read GeorgeSale’s ‘Preliminary Discourse’ to his translation of the Qu’ran, and possibly thetranslation itself, although that is uncertain. Beyond that, he read and makes referenceto a number of other writers who also wrote about the East.The representation of Islam is, like the representation of religion in general andChristianity in particular in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, rather equivocal, but it oftenshades farther into the negative side. This is particularly relevant to thecharacterization of the Byronic Heroes. While the first of these, Childe Harold, andthe last, Manfred, have no significant interactions with Islam, the majority do. Thecontrasting representations of Islam and Christianity help to construct this hero, asthey also further characterize the two faiths themselves.EurocentrismThe mere fact of the Tales representing Islam served to disrupt the monologic ofEnglish Christianity, at least slightly, by presenting a religious alternative, 257 as did257 See Albert Hourani, Islam in European Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991),p.12ff.169