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| The Countess Guiccioli with Lord Byron, as the Attorney General, Robert F. Kennedy, looks on. |
International Gossip is Nothing New
There seems no analogy in modern times for Harriet Beecher Stowe, the most influential woman in the world of her day whose work, Uncle Tom's Cabin, is widely considered one of the five causes of the Civil War which ended slavery in America. Perhaps Mother Teresa in our time might wield the influence and respect which HBS wielded in her time, although HBS would be appalled at the Roman Catholic analogy.
Thus, when Harriet Beecher Stowe interceded to defend Lady Byron against accusations of having driven her husband out of the marriage bed and into the arms of countless women and ultimately the Countess Guiccioli, with her cold demeanor, it would be analogous to Mother Teresa intervening to defend Jackie Kennedy of having driven John F. Kennedy into the arms of Marilyn Monroe.
Although Lord Byron was not a king or president, his literary influence was worldwide --and the influence of the scandal of his life (accusations of incest with his half sister Augusta Leigh resulting in a daughter)-- is analogous to the Monroe/Kennedy scandal of our time in its intrigue and tragedy.
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| In her autobiography, Countess Guiccioli, Lord Byron's mistress, reveals all(or conceals all, depending on your faction),thirty years after his death. Mrs. Stowe refers to her as "this Guiccioli lady". |
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| Mrs. Stowe reveals Lord Byron's incest decades after Lady Byron's death. |
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