# Catherine the Great — Don Juan character guide

> Catherine the Great in Don Juan by Lord Byron.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Catherine, Catherine II, the chaste Catherine

**First appearance:** 0014-canto-ix

## Snapshot

The Russian empress who rewards Juan's battlefield heroism with a place in her favor, and whose favor is a career with hazards.

## Who they are

Catherine receives Juan at court after his exploits at Ismail and installs him as her latest favorite, a position of glittering privilege and short tenure. She is shrewd, voracious, and utterly unsentimental about the young men she collects, and Byron treats her with mock deference as 'the chaste Catherine.' Her court shows Juan the imperial version of the same appetite he has met everywhere else, scaled up to a throne.

## Relationships

### [Don Juan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_juan_se/characters/don_juan)

_romantic_

Catherine the Great takes Don Juan as her lover and favorite after he impresses her in Russia, using him for pleasure.

### [Lanskoi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_juan_se/characters/lanskoi)

_romantic_

Lanskoi is one of Catherine the Great's many young lovers, a favorite before Don Juan arrives.

### [Don Juan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_juan_se/characters/don_juan)

_romantic_

Catherine the Great takes Don Juan as her lover and favorite after he impresses her in Russia, using him for pleasure.

### [Don Juan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_juan_se/characters/don_juan)

_romantic_

Catherine the Great takes Don Juan as her lover and favorite after he impresses her in Russia, using him for pleasure.

## In the story

### [Canto IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_juan_se/chapters/canto-ix)

Catherine is portrayed as a passionate and powerful empress who takes a romantic interest in Juan.

### [Canto X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_juan_se/chapters/canto-x)

The Empress whose favor is agreeable to Juan, though the duty waxes a little hard.

### [Canto XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_juan_se/chapters/canto-xi)

Bestowed a monstrous diamond upon Juan in a moment of 'ivresse'.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_juan_se/characters/catherine_the_great
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_juan_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_juan_se/characters