Don Juan (Molière play)

Common card · No. 409069

Don Juan (French: Dom Juan ou le Festin de Pierre, "Don Juan, or, The Feast with the Stone [Statue]") is a five-act 1665 comedy by Molière based upon the Spanish legend of Don Juan Tenorio. The aristocrat Don Juan is a rake who, while charming and intelligent, moves from woman to woman, seducing and ruining them. He confides in his servant Sganarelle who acts as a weak and ineffective voice of conscience trying to tame his master's vices. Before the play has begun, Don Juan has already slain the Commander and seduced Donna Elvira, a noble lady, away from her vows to the Church, yet abandoned her rather than live in marriage with her. Don Juan and Sganarelle navigate society as he tries to continue his conquests while attempting to evade any responsibility or debt. Molière's comedy derives from the Spanish play The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest (1630), by Tirso de Molina. However, each playwright presents a different interpretation of the libertine protagonist. Molière's Don...

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