Printable View
Alright so as to Don Jaun 'adventures' ... where does the term come from? is there a book (the idea comes from hearing the term mentioned by Chekhov's short story...something or other) or a play (an opera maybe - the idea comes from hearing the term mentioned in the phantom of the opera)
anyways... enlighten me.
You forgot to say 'Please'. ;)
did I?
Quite an assumption.
Enlighten me, please.
This page may help, regarding the term "Don"
ce.berkeley.edu/~coby/essays/figaro.htm
etymonline.com/index.php?l=d&p=15
don (n.)
1523, from Sp. or Port. don, title of respect, from L. dominus "lord, master." The university sense is c.1660, originally student slang; underworld sense is 1952, from It. don, from L.L. domnus, from L. dominus (see domain). Don Juan "philanderer" is from the legendary dissolute Sp. nobleman dramatized by Gabriel Tellez in "Convivado de Piedra" and popularized in Eng. by Lord Byron. The fem. form is Dona (Sp./Port.), Donna (It.).
literaturecollection.com/a/lord-byron/don-juan/12/
csus.edu/phil/brochure/spring00.htm
We will trace the development of the 'Don Juan' myth from Molina's original play through the later treatments of Mozart, Kierkegaard, Byron, and Bernard Shaw.
And, here is Asimov's Annotated Don Juan
homepage.mac.com/jhjenkins/Asimov/Books/Book130.htm
most informative. Thank you very much.
Ok give me some days and i'll give you the information you're looking for. I just have to translate everything i now which is enough i think 'cause i've studied it for an exam of Spanish literature.But i promise i'll let you know.Quote:
Originally Posted by imthefoolonthehill
hi everybody,
ok this is a message for someone(i can't remember who he/she was) who was looking for some informations about Don Juan.I think i've got something interesting.
It is something concerned with myth so it'd be better to explain first, what a myth is in literature.A myth borns when a character is structered with such features that it is possible the repetition of itself in the following literatures.
This is the case of Don J. but not only, look at Don Quijote for istance.
Well, D.J. appears for the first time, with Tirso de Molina - that's why in the original title "El Burlador de Sevilla" we haven't got the name Don Juan 'cause we can't speak yet of myth- and infact it didn't exist any character with his own features;by the way there were two characters in others literatures which became Molina's sources to create D.J.
They were the following:
1)from "1000 and 1 night" Simbad the sailor man with a woman in every port he had been.
2)from the medieval euoropean ballads a young guy who drunk, during the night walked through a cemetery ,stumbled on a skull and asked it to dinner,not respecting the sacredness of that place just like D.J. will do.
So we can say that from Molina and after he, this character will keep the name of Don Juan.
In addittion to this thesis we can say that being a myth D.J. has to keep some features:
1)It has to "show" a large group of women which has to be marked out, by its inner variety 'cause D.J.courts every kind of women being is attitude just a social provocation
2)His relationship with death which is the umpteenth social provocation.
3) he has always to kill well off paternal figures.
This is what i know. But if you want to know why it is called "Don" then it is the same thing of the brit."lord" and "Juan"'cause it is probably one of the most common name in Spain,but i bet you already knew that,so you could probably interested at the first part of the mail.
There is an opera called Don Juan aswell. I think it was writting by Mozart but I'm not sure. Anyway, it is quite good. It deals with the second "1)" from michela's post.
The famous scen has D.J. courting his wife who is wearing a mask. He thinks its another woman ... in the opera this is the downfall of his womanizing courtships. Poor fool.
Hello my friends this is Arturo Arias from Mexico: I am very happy because I am in this forum which means a wonderful opportunity to me in order to enjoy your exelent bibliotic.Quote:
Originally Posted by imthefoolonthehill
Very nice to meet you.