# Gulbeyaz — Don Juan character guide

> Gulbeyaz in Don Juan by Lord Byron.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** fair Gulbeyaz, Sultana

**First appearance:** 0010-canto-v

## Snapshot

The Ottoman Sultana who buys a slave and expects to be obeyed, discovering that desire does not always command the obedience it assumes.

## Who they are

Gulbeyaz rules the harem with the absolute authority of a woman who has never been refused, and Juan's arrival as a purchased captive becomes an experiment in power and appetite. Her passion is imperious, wounded easily, and dangerous to refuse, and the scene between them turns on who is really the slave. She represents the poem's fascination with despotism in love, where command and surrender blur into the same gesture.

## Relationships

### [Baba](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_juan_se/characters/baba)

_professional_

Baba is the eunuch servant of Gulbeyaz, the Sultana, and carries out her commands regarding Don Juan.

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

_romantic_

Gulbeyaz, the Sultana, desires Don Juan as a lover, but he resists her advances, creating a tense power dynamic.

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

_romantic_

Gulbeyaz, the Sultana, desires Don Juan as a lover, but he resists her advances, creating a tense power dynamic.

## In the story

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

The Sultana, jealous and passionate, whose actions are critiqued by the narrator.

## Links

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