Caroline Lamb (21)

Lady Caroline Lamb was born on November 13, 1785. She was a British aristocrat and novelist. Although she was married to William Lamb, the 2^nd Viscount Melbourne, she had a well-known affair with Lord Byron in 1812.

From March 1812 to August 1812, Lady Caroline embarked on a well-publicized affair with Lord Byron. He was 24 years old and she was 26. Upon their first meeting she actually rejected him, which only caused him to pursue her further. Lady Caroline and Lord Byron publicly criticized each other as they privately pledged their love over the following months. Through their affair, Byron referred to Lamb by the name "Caro" (a shortened version of Caroline), which she adopted as her public nickname. After Byron broke things off, her husband took the disgraced and desolate Lady Caroline to Ireland. When she returned to London in 1813, Byron made it clear he had no intention of re-starting their relationship. This spurred what could be characterized as the first recorded case of celebrity stalking as she made increasingly public attempts to reunite with her former lover.

Learning about Lady Caroline Lamb’s love affair with Lord Byron gives the readers a little insight to the few lines about her on pages 20-21 of Arcadia. The first glimpse we get of Caroline Lamb is while Bernard raves about the Hannah’s book Caro, which is about the life of Caroline Lamb. Bernard then asks bringing out any of Caroline Lamb’s works and making the connection with Lord Byron. Much of Caroline Lamb’s work was influences by Lord Byron. When Hannah interrupts Bernard, it is her not so subtle way to change the subject, which is probably how people would have acted when speaking about either of them, while the affair was taking place back in 1812.

Citation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Caroline_Lamb