Canto VII Summary

Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.

  • Just when it looks as if Don Juan is done for, the Russian army invades the Turkish city of Ismail and all hell breaks loose. It turns out there are quite a few Englishmen fighting with the Russians.
  • Eventually, Don Juan and his old buddy Johnson (from the slave market) escape and find their way to the Russian commander, Suwarrow. They have a couple of women with them, and Suwarrow eventually agrees to help them all.
  • Johnson is an old hand at fighting with the Russians, so he joins the battle against Ismail. Don Juan figures he might as well do the same.
  • And so the battle rages on.