Characterizations of Don Juan

753 Words4 Pages
Characterizations of Don Juan There are so many different versions of the Don Juan story. The original Don Juan story is called The Playboy of Seville and was written by Tirso de Molina. Many people believe that the play was based off a real person named Miquel de Mañana. There is no way that this could be true though because Miquel was born in 1626 and the play became very popular in the 1630’s. There are three main parts of the play. The first act is the introduction, second act is the complication, and the third act is the resolution. The play begins in Italy and then moves to Spain. At the beginning of the play Don Juan is in a girl’s room pretending to be another man. When the girl realizes what is going on she screams for help. Everyone is searching for Don Juan because he either has to marry Isabela or die in a battle. He has dishonored Isabela and now has to pay for it. Don Juan is able to escape to Spain where he seduces Tisbea and Donna Ana. These women are very upset with him and want him killed. Don Juan goes to Seville where he seduces Arminta. Arminta tells Don Juan that he will pay for what he has done to him but he responds by saying, “I will have time to repent later” (Mandel). By saying this is he finalizes his deal with the devil. At the end of the play a statue comes alive and goes to Don Juan’s house. He is very afraid when he opens the door and see a statue. Don Juan invites the statue to dinner and the statue agrees. After dinner the statue invites Don Juan to dinner the following night and he says he will go. Don Juan goes to what he thinks is dinner and the statue tells him to follow him. Don Juan follows him and they go to a cemetery. When they get to the cemetery the statue tells Don Juan that he is going to Hell. The statue takes Don Juan by the arm and drags him to Hell. This is the double invitation. Tirso’s play is often used to
Open Document