This document provides an overview of the origins and evolution of the Don Juan myth. It begins by describing Tirso de Molina's original 17th century play featuring the character Don Juan as a seducer and adventurer in Seville. It then discusses how the legend emerged in Europe and was adapted by various authors and composers over centuries. The myth took on different interpretations as it spread across Europe, with figures like Moliere, Mozart, and others putting their own spin on Don Juan. While the exact origins are unknown, the myth has endured and inspired many modern literary works and expressions.

1. DON JUAN
Adrián Caspueñas, Iván Fernández, Laura Cañas, María Roldán,
Yaiza lopez y Marta bonilla

2. INTRODUCTION
• The first time that appears in the Spanish literature
a character called Don Juan Tenorio is in a play of
Tirso De Molina called El burlador de Sevilla o el
convidado de piedra.
• Don Juan is a Spanish knight from Sevilla, is a
seducer and a very adventure man. Also he has a
exalted personality, he is restless and he loves the
action. He doesnt want to get in love with anyone
he only wants to satisfy his sexual desires. He never
be sorry for his sins

3. ORIGINS
• The legend of Don Juan emerged in Europe during the Middle Ages.
In "El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra" (1630) of Tirso de
Molina.
• Don Juan conquers over a thousand women in his life, dishonors
them and blames other men. He is a hero and a villain at the same
time, and at the end of the story, the public is not sure if he deserves
his luck or deserves to be unlucky.
• José Zorrilla, in 1844, makes the most modern version of this legend,
transforming the arrogant and incredulous character into a
sympathetic hero who ends up in the arms of his beloved, even in the
afterlife.
• From the seventeenth century credit was given to the idea that Don
Juan Tenorio really existed.

4. IMPACT IN EUROPE
• The Don Juan legend had become widely known throughout Europe and led to many different literary incarnations.
• However, the figure of Don Juan captured the imagination of succeeding generations of poets, dramatists, and even
composers, each of whom brought their own unique perspective to the character. This was especially true of artists
from other European countries. In Dom Juan ou lefestin de pierre (1665), written by the French dramatist Jean-
Baptiste Molière, the story became more intellectual and sophisticated, less a man of action than a calculating
seducer. The Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart tried a different approach in his opera Don Giovanni
(1787); his character combines the wit and cynicism of Molière’s Don Juan with the passion and daring of Tirso’s.
• Other versions strayed even further from Tirso’s interpretation and made Don Juan a figure of fun. When the story
grew popular in Italy among the comedia dell’arte (masked ensemble actors), the legend’s comic aspects began to
overshadow the religious and moral themes.
• In England, on a somewhat more serious note, eighteenth-century theatergoers enjoyed such productions as Don
John; or the Libertine Destroyed (Drury Lane; 1782), and Don Juan; or the Libertine Destroyed: A Tragic Pantomimical
Ballet (Royalty Theatre; 1788).
• Nonetheless, the nineteenth century also saw a resurgence of more serious treatments of the Don Juan story,
especially after the Romantic Movement took hold in Germany, Britain, France, and Spain. More attention was paid to
Don Juan’s individuality and motivations, to the desires and frustrations underlying his libertine behaviour.

5. AUTHORS
• We don't know who was the exact writter or author of
the myth, but many people speculate that it could be
Tirso de Molina.
This character has been used in many novels and
plays,it was recreated by Lord Byron, Mozart, Moliere,
Carlo Goldoni, Espronceda, Tirso de Molina, Zorilla,
Richard Strauss, Max Frich...
It is also believed that he was a real character that
lived during the XV century.
Tirso de Molina

6. INTERPRETATIONS OF THE MYTH
• All of these different are versions of the theme: Don Juan as a conqueror, as a seducer, Don Juan
voluptuous and sensual, symbol of the masculine, symbol of masculine femininity, the cynic, atheist,
sinner, scoundrel, latent, etc.
• According to Youssef Saad, Don Juan of Spain is an authentically Spanish figure, but he has many
similarities with an Arab figure, Imru al-Qays, who lived in Arabia during the fifth century: Like Don
Juan, he was a mocker and a famous seducer of women; like Don Juan de Zorrilla, he was rejected
by his father for his ridicule and he also openly defied divine wrath.
• According to Víctor Said Armesto, the literary roots of Don Juan can be found in medieval Galician
and Leonese romances. His predecessor typically bore the name of "Don Galán" and this man also
tries to deceive and seduce women, but he has a more pious attitude towards God.
• None of the feudal Don Juanes has managed to go down in history as Don Juan de Tirso.

7. DON JUAN TODAY
• Nowadays Don Juan has become an inspiration for today’s lyterarys like
Bernard Shaw in his play John Tanner.
• As well as singers use Don Juan to compare that man end seduced by love in
his regaetton songs.
• Also we use expressions like "you are a Don Juan" to refer to a man that
seduces and conquests the girls.