The Metamorphoses of Don Juan's Women
Author | : Ann Davies |
Publisher | : Edwin Mellen Press |
Total Pages | : 316 |
Release | : 2004 |
Genre | : Literary Criticism |
ISBN | : |
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While many scholars have approached Don Juan in terms of myth, this study argues for the understanding of Don Juan as a discourse of gender relations, changing over time. Using examples from the plays by Tirso de Molina, Moliere, Mozart, Zorrila, Shaw and Frisch, it argues that Don Juan's entire identity as a male individual is constructed around women, but that over time - reflecting a growing sense of crisis in the male individual - the women appear more and more pathological in their desire for Don Juan. In contrast with early modern works where women fend for themselves in a positive manner, the heroines of later Don Juan works actively prey on the individual male.This book argues that these changes in approach to the female characters, and, in tandem, the developing identity of the male protagonist, suggest Don Juan as dischronic discourse rather than myth.