First Folio
by Molièretranslated, adapted and directed by
Stephen WadsworthJanuary 24—March 19, 2006
Teacher Curriculum Guide
Don Juan
Table of Contents Page Number
A Brief History of the Audience…………………….1
About the PlaywrightMolière’s Life………………….…………………………………3Molière’s Theatre…….……………………………………….417thCentury France……………………………………….6
About the PlaySynopsis of Don Juan…………………...………………..8Don Juan Timeline….……………………..…………..…..9Marriage & Family in 17thCentury France…………………………………………………...10Splendid Defiance……………………….....................11
Classroom Connections• Before the Performance……………………………13 Translation & Adaptation Censorship Questioning Social Mores Playing Around on Your Girlfriend/ Boyfriend Commedia in Molière’s Plays
• After the Performance………………………………14 Friends Don’t Let Friends... Molière on Don Juan: Moral Judgment or Cheers? Don Juan in the 21st Century Women in the Play Chivalry—Then and Now The Moral of the Story
Suggested ReadingDon Juan Resource List……………..………………...15
Welcome to the Shakespeare TheatreCompany’s production of Don Juan byMolière!
Each season, the Shakespeare Theatre Companypresents five plays by William Shakespeare and otherclassic playwrights. The Education Departmentcontinues to work to deepen understanding,appreciation and connection to classic theatre inlearners of all ages. One approach is the publicationof First Folio: Teacher Curriculum Guides.
In the 200506 season, the Education Departmentwill publish First Folio: Teacher Curriculum Guides forour productions of Othello, The Comedy of Errors,Don Juan, The Persians and Love’s Labor’s Lost. TheGuides provide information and activities to helpstudents form a personal connection to the playbefore attending the production at the ShakespeareTheatre Company. First Folio guides are full ofmaterial about the playwrights, their world and theplays they penned. Also included are approaches toexplore the plays and productions in the classroombefore and after the performance. First Folio isdesigned as a resource both for teachers andstudents.
The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s EducationDepartment provides an array of School,Community, Training and Audience Enrichmentprograms. A full listing of our programs is availableon our website at ShakespeareTheatre.org or in ourEducation Programs Brochure. If you would likemore information on how you can participate inother Shakespeare Theatre Company programs,please call the Education Hotline at 202.547.5688.
Enjoy the show!
Note: Throughout the articles in the Folio, key words orphrases may be underlined to highlight important ideasand concepts. Definitions can be found in the margins.Please review these key words with your students.
First Folio Teacher Curriculum Guide
A Brief History of the AudienceI can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across thisempty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that isneeded for an act of theatre to be engaged. — Peter Brook, The Empty Space
ended with what the Christians called “morallyinappropriate” dancing mimes, violent spectator sportssuch as gladiator fights, and the public executions forwhich the Romans were famous. The Romans lovedviolence, and the audience was a lively crowd.Because theatre was free, it was enjoyed by people ofevery social class. They were vocal, enjoyed hissingbad actors off the stage, and loved to watch criminalsmeet large ferocious animals, and, soon after, enjoyedwatching those same criminals meet their death.
The Far EastIn Asia, theatre developed in much the same way ithas elsewhere, through agricultural festivals andreligious worship. The Chinese and Japaneseaudiences have always been tireless, mainly becausetheir theatre forms, such as the Japanese “Kabuki” and“Noh” plays and Chinese operas, could last anywherefrom one to three days, beginning between six andnine in the morning! In China, the audience wasseparated; the higher classes sat closer to the action ofthe play, and the lower classes, generally a louder,more talkative bunch, would be placed in stalls at theback. The audience expected a superior performance,and, if it lacked in any way, the audience could stopthe production and insist on a different presentation.In Japan, theatre began with allday rice festivals andtemple plays sponsored by priests. These evolved into“street performances” where the performers led theaudience on a trip through the village. In theatrehouses, the upper classes sat in constructed boxes,and women in disguise (it was not considered properfor a respectable woman to be seen at the theatre)and lower classes would stand below with the“inspector” standing on a high platform in the middle,keeping a strict eye on everyone.
A Couple of Hundred Years without ArtTolerance took a holiday during the period ofEuropean history known as the Dark Ages. During thistime period culture of all kinds went on hiatus—mostespecially that frivolous, godless display of lewd andlicentious behavior known as theatre. Fortunately it
The nature of the audience has changed throughout history, evolving from a participatory crowd to agroup of people sitting behind an imaginary line, silently observing the performers. The audience iscontinually growing and changing. There has always been a need for human beings to communicatetheir wants, needs, perceptions and disagreements to others. This need to communicate is thefoundation of art and the foundation of theatre’s relationship to its audience.
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In the BeginningTheatre began as ritual, with tribal dances andfestivals celebrating the harvest, marriages, gods, warand basically any other event that warranted a party.People all over the world congregated in villages. Itwas a participatory kind of theatre. The performerswould be joined by the villagers who believed thattheir lives depended on a successful celebration forthe harvest to be plentiful or the battle victorious.Sometimes these festivals would last for days and thevillage proved tireless in their ability to celebrate.Many of these types of festivals survive today in thefolk history of areas such as Scandinavia, Asia, Greeceand other countries throughout Europe.
It’s Greek to MeThe first recorded plays come from the Greeks (fourthand fifth centuries BCE). Their form of theatre beganin much the same way as previous forms did. Itstemmed from the celebration of the wine harvestand the gods who brought citizens a fruitful harvest—specifically Dionysus, the god of wine. Spectators hada great deal of respect for their gods, and thousandswould flock to the theatre to experience a full day ofcelebration. The day of drama and song made for alively crowd. Staffbearers patrolled the aisles to keepthe rowdies under control. While theatre was free,your seat was determined by your station in life. Therich had cushioned seats at the front, while thepeasants, artisans and women were forced to takeseats at the back. In the later years, after a full day ofdrink, Greek audiences were not above showingdisapproval at a lessthanspectacular performance.Stones were thrown, as well as other sloppy objects,hissing was popular; and loud groanings ofdiscontent could usher any actor into earlyretirement.
The Romans, or the Inspiration for GladiatorThe Romans took the idea of “spectator” an inch or sofurther. Their theatre (first through third centuriesBCE) developed in much the same way as the Greeks,with comedy, tragedy and festivals, but unfortunately
reemerged, with some severe restrictions, during theMiddle Ages.
Pageant WagonsWestern theatre further developed from the Greekand Roman traditions through the Middle Ages with“Mystery Plays” sponsored by the church. Organizedtheatre was frowned upon, as it was a place forcongregation of the lower classes, encouragingdisease and immoral behavior. Church leaders wouldallow performances of bible scenes, however, for thepeople who could not read. These productionsmoved to different locations much like traveling the“stations of the cross.” To spread the good word tothe broadest section of the population, these playsleft the confines of the church building and began totravel on what were known as “pageant wagons.”These wagons held one entire location, and a seriesof wagons hooked together permitted a company totell an entire story just about anywhere. Troupes ofactors would roam the countryside setting up makeshift theatres in inns, pubs, public squares—prettymuch anywhere they could park.
Within This Wooden ODuring Shakespeare’s era—the Elizabethan period—theatre companies were awarded status andprivilege based on patronage from wealthylandholders or the royal family. With patronage camemoney, so the companies began building theatres.The theatre of Shakespeare’s day was attended by all,was inexpensive and was known to be an incrediblygood time. Surrounding the stage was the lower “pit”where the “groundlings” (or lower classes)congregated, and above, octagonally surroundingthe pit, were the stalls reserved for the upper classes.If you were stationed in the pit, it was not uncommonto have a goblet of wine dumped on your head—orto be drooled or spat upon by the “more civilized”people above you. Elizabethan audiences did notknow what it meant to be quiet for a performanceand would talk back to the actors. Thought to beinvolved in spreading the “black plague,” the theatresclosed in 1592, abruptly ending the good time.
Look at Me, Look at Me...During the Restoration, theatre became a luxury. Forthe almost entirely upper class audience, the purposeof going to the theatre was “to see, and to be seen.”The stage was a rectangular area between a longhallway of boxes. The best seats in the house wereoften right on stage! The house lights were up full sothe audience could see each other better, not theaction on stage. The theatre of the Restorationconsisted mainly of light, fluffy comedies performedin an oratorical style—actors posing, wearing BIGcostumes and practically screaming over the din of
the audience. Theatre companies still existed on thepatronage of the very wealthy and often performedplays exclusively in the salons of the rich, famous andpowerful. A few hundred years later, opera composerRichard Wagner figured out that to focus theaudience’s attention away from themselves and ontothe stage, the lights needed to be off—forcing theaudience to watch the performance. Since that timethe audience has taken its cue that the performance isabout to begin from the lights overhead beginning todim. This small adjustment in lighting effectivelyerected a permanent barrier between the actiononstage and the audience.
Freud—Tell Me about Your MotherWhile dimming the house lights has drasticallychanged the overall aesthetic of theatre, anothermodern movement has had even greater impact ontheatre in the 20th century. Psychoanalysis—id, ego,superego and subconscious desires—made theatremore introspective in its search for truth. Twentiethcentury theatregoers spend a great deal of timepondering the psychological motivations ofcharacters. There is now an imaginary wall, called the“fourth wall,” separating the performers and theaudience. It affects how we view the performanceand how actors portray characters—we can observethe people onstage as they relate their problems, fearsand desires without them noticing us at all.
Now the Options Are EndlessToday, for the audience, just about anything goes.History has shared with us many types of theatre andwe, the spectators, bring our own experiences andhistories to the event, causing us to react differently todifferent productions. Unlike movies or television, theactoraudience relationship is a “live” relationship:each is in the other’s presence, in the same place atthe same time. It is the exchange between the twothat gives theatre its unique quality. As audiencemembers we have an obligation to be attentive,allowing the performers to fulfill their obligation—toentertain and enlighten us. There is always a dialoguebetween audience and performer, whether visual orvocal. All individuals participating in the theatricalevent, whether as audience or performer, bring to it apersonal background and experience that becomesvital to their response to the interaction. In the sameway, participants leave the performance enrichedboth by their own individual experience and by that ofthe larger community to which they belong for a briefmoment within the confines of the theatre walls. Wemust listen to capture and understand what theperformers are trying to communicate, and, at thesame time, they must listen to us.
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Je a n B a p t i s t ePoquelin (laterknown as Molière)
was baptized onJanuary 15, 1622; hisparents, Jean Poquelinand Marie Cressé,were stolid Frenchmiddleclass. His fatherwas a master tapissier,what today might beknown as an interiordecorator; he suppliedtapestries, furnishings,and magn i f ice ntmatrimonial beds torich families. JeanBaptiste attended the
Collège de Clermont, a fashionable Jesuit school in theLatin Quarter, and he was clearly intended for a careerin the family business. After studying civil law at theUniversity of Orléans, JeanBaptiste began a life in thetheatre, much to the displeasure of his parents.
In June 1643, JeanBaptiste formed the Illustre Théâtrewith his girlfriend and actress Madeleine Béjart, anindependent, redheaded woman several years olderthan him. Although a young company, the IllustreThéâtre took on the Hôtel de Bourgogne and theThéâtre du Marais, the two established professionaltroupes in Paris. JeanBaptiste assumed the stagename of Molière, a common practice for French actors.The Illustre Théâtre survived for 18 months, eventuallyovercome by debt, rivalry and a lack of leading men.The Compagnie du SaintSacrement, a fundamentalistreligious organization, also contributed to its demise,attacking the actors and discouraging parishionersfrom attending performances.
In 1645, Madeleine and Molière fled debt in Paris byjoining a touring troupe of actors. By 1653, the pairhad assumed management of the troupe. Molièrebegan to write and star in fulllength plays inspired bycommedia dell’arte scenarios, finding that his truetalent lay in comedy. In 1658, Madeleine and Molièrereturned to Paris. Madeleine had saved funds tosublease the Théâtre du Marais and Molière hadacquired a patron, the brother of Louis XIV. OnOctober 24, 1658, the troupe performed a tragedy byCorneille for the court, but Louis preferred the farcicaloneact that followed. Parisian audiences alsopreferred the troupe’s comedies to tragedies.
Molière wrote his first great comedy after settling backin Paris. Affected Young Ladies (1659) mocks thepretensions of upperclass Parisian women. The playangered several important people, a pattern thatwould be repeated over the next 14 years, as
Molière’s LifeMolière acquired a long roster of enemies bothpolitical and artistic. Molière then embarked on severalplays about obsessive jealousy, including The Schoolfor Husbands (1661), his first huge hit. These plays,which feature grasping older men attempting to attainyoung women, would prove strangely prophetic.Around this time, Molière and Madeleine began to liveapart; in 1662, he married her beautiful daughterArmande (passed off as Madeleine’s “sister”). Molière’senemies whispered that Armande, some 20 yearsyounger than the playwright, was his own daughter.If the oneact autobiographical comedy The VersaillesImpromptu (1663) is any indication, it was not ahappy marriage.
During the final decade of Molière’s life he achievedgreat success; he wrote entertainments for the court,garnering patronage from the king and furtherprovoking his rivals. Molière’s later works were maturesatires tinged with sadness. The School for Wives(1663), The Misanthrope (1666), Tartuffe (16649),Don Juan (1665), The Bourgeois Gentleman (1670),and The Imaginary Invalid (1673) all explore obsessivemale behavior. They also attack hypocrites in society,from the simpering courtiers flattering Louis XIV to thereligious fanatics preaching salvation while lining theirpockets. Outraged by the attack on religious hypocrisyin Tartuffe, the Compagnie du SaintSacrement usedtheir court connections to have it banned. In thisinstance, even Molière’s close relationship with theking could not save him. After countless rounds ofcensorship, the play was finally performed five yearsafter it was written.
Molière’s final years were filled with bad health andpersonal troubles. He and Armande had separatedseveral times, and only one of his children survivedinfancy. Theatrical myth has it that Molière diedonstage during The Imaginary Invalid. Molière actuallymade it through the performance; afterwards hebegan hemorrhaging from tuberculosis contractedyears earlier anddied several hourslater on February17, 1673. Anothermyth is thatM o l i è r e w a sdenied burial insacred ground.A r m a n d epetitioned thearchbishop of Parisand the king, andwas granted theright to bury herhusband at theparish cemetery ofStEustache.
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Portrait of JeanBaptiste Poquelin(Molière) by Coypel.
Portrait of Madeleine Bèjart, Molière’s loveand business partner, by Nicolas Mignard.(Detail of “Mars and Venus.”)
Molière’s theatre was a theatre of artificiality.Like the literature, art and social customs ofthe time, the 17thcentury French theatre
was based on a formal set of rules and customs.While there were touring troupes who would travelthrough the country, often performing in makeshifttheatres and on the streets, attending the theatre inParis or at the court was a formal social event.
Performances in Paris were held either in publictheatres or by special invitation only at the palacecourt. The theatres had a proscenium arch or aborder framing the stage. Behind the arch, thescenery was composed of lavish painted sets, and theactors’ costumes were ornate. The lights remained onover both the audience and the stage, allowing themembers of the audience to see and be seen at theevent. When performing at court, the king would sitin an enormous throne in the center of the roomwith the rest of the audience positioned around him.Like any event at court, strict rules of social behaviorwere expected to be followed.
The creation of theatre was also subject to rigorousguidelines. The Académie Française, created byCardinal Richelieu in 1635, was a group ofintellectuals charged with regulating Frenchlanguage and culture. Their taste in theatre wasfirmly Neoclassicist: “Neo” meaning new, and“classicist” referring to the classics, the great works ofGreek and Roman drama. The Académie createdguidelines for “good” theatre, based on the writing ofthe ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. Aristotle
Molière’s Theatre
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wrote that a tragedy contains three unities: time,place and action. Unity of time dictated that theaction of the play take place in a single day, and unityof place that the play take place at a single location.Unity of action determined that the action of the playcontribute to the main story—there are no distractingsubplots. French tragedies were criticized byacademics based on how well they adhered to theseunities. While these rules might seem limiting, therewere several playwrights, including Pierre Corneille(16061684) the father of French tragedy, whoflourished within them. In Corneille’s heroic epic LeCid (1637), as well as many of his other plays, themain character makes a moral choice to do what isright, regardless of personal cost. Jean Racine (16391699) was another highly respected writer oftragedy. His plays, including Phèdre (1677), are verypassionate and poetic and often focus on doomedlove.
The language of tragedy was also expected toconform to strict rules. French plays were written inAlexandrine couplets—a verse form that consists oftwo rhyming lines of twelve syllables each. Eachrhyming couplet was to contain a complete thought.As the verse form developed, so did rules aboutwhen pauses could occur (between the sixth andseventh syllable of each line.)
Portrait of Molière portraying Sganarelle in Don Juan. Molièreoften played major roles in his own plays.
Molière’s company performing at Louis XIV’s palace at Versailles.
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Chronological List of Molière’sWorks
• The Jealous Husband (c. 1645)• The Flying Doctor (c. 1648)• The Scatterbrain (1653)• A Lovers' Quarrel (1656)• Affected Young Ladies (1659)• The Imaginary Cuckold (1660)• The Jealous Prince (1661)• The School for Husbands (1661)• The Nuisances (1661)• The School for Wives (1662)• The School for Wives Criticized (1663)• A Versailles Improvisation (1663)• The Forced Wedding (1664)• The Princess of Elida (1664)• Tartuffe (1664, 1667, 1669)• Don Juan (1665)• Love's CureAll (1665)• The Misanthrope (1666)• A Doctor Despite Himself (1666)• Mélicerte (1666)• A Comic Pastoral (1667)• The Sicilian (1667)• Amphitryon (1668)• The Confounded Husband (1668)• The Miser (1668)• Monsieur de Pourceaugnac (1669)• The Magnificent Suitors (1670)• The Bourgeois Gentleman (1670)• Psyche (1671)• Scapin's Schemings (1671)• A Pretentious Countess (1671)• Learned Ladies (1672)• The Hypochondriac, or The Imaginary
Invalid (1673)
Molière began his career in the theatre as an actorbut found French tragedy too difficult. Delivering theAlexandrine lines was very demanding on an actor’svoice. As a performer, Molière found he did not havethe breath to perform the Alexandrine verse oftragedy, but he instead excelled as both an actor andwriter of comedy. An evening at the theatre wouldoften include a comedy as a companion piece to themore serious tragedy that was considered the mainevent. Louis XIV and the courtiers would often preferthe lighter fare of the comedies, especially Molière’s.While French tragedies were considered greatliterature by the academics, comedies were not takenas seriously and therefore not as subject to criticism ofform and language. Molière had the freedom to writein both verse and prose, and he was considered thegreatest comic writer of his time.
Molière’s comedies were influenced heavily by Italiancommedia dell’arte troupes touring Europe.Commedia dell’arte was based in improvisation andincluded stock characters in a variety of predetermined scenarios. The actors wore masks todefine their character type and performed slapstickgags called lazzi. Molière’s early comedies were basedon commedia scenarios with scripted dialogue,instead of improvised. They included stock charactersand stunts, many of which Molière performedhimself. Acting companies at the time were strongensembles founded together, in the face of socialprejudice. Molière wrote comedies for his company,knowing who would play each part, and generallyhe would play the lead role.
Molière also incorporated masks into his work, butinstead of simply using them to define charactertypes, Molière used the masks as a metaphor for themasks people wear to hide their true selves. Molière’scomedies were sharp social commentaries, satirizingthe behavior and hypocrisies of the nobility. ThoughMolière’s company had the support of the court, andwere frequently asked to perform there, his playswere often censored or banned because they wouldinsult the nobility and the religious clergy.
In a society of artifice, Molière used the theatre tomock the affectations of his audience of socialites.While occasionally getting him into trouble, his satiresearned him the reputation of one of the greatestcomedians of all time.
The 17th century is perhaps one ofthe most important centuries in theshaping of the modern world. It
was during the 17th century that majordiscoveries were made by Galileo andNewton that would become thefoundation for modern science; thatmodern philosophy and the concept ofinternational law were introduced; andthat European countries such as France,Spain, England and Portugal werecompeting with one another for wealthand power in the colonization of Americaand Asia. It was also a time that Francebegan to rise as one of the greatest powersin Europe.
The century began under the leadership ofKing Louis XIII, who took the throne afterhis father’s assassination in 1610. At agenine, Louis was too young to rule so hismother, Marie de Medici, along with heradvisor Cardinal Richelieu, acted as regentuntil Louis turned 16. In 1615, Louis XIIImarried the Spanish Infanta, Anne ofAustria. The union, which was an arrangedmarriage that had been settled by theTreaty of Fontainbleau, was an unhappyone and they spent many years apart.Although declared of age to rule in 1614,Louis XIII was barred from affairs of thestate by his mother. In 1617 he, along withone of his favorites, was accused of
bringing about the assassination of his mother’s minister Concino Concini, thereby forcingMarie de Medici into exile. He eventually reconciled with his mother and entrusted thegovernment to Cardinal Richelieu. Marie de Medici, noting the influence that CardinalRichelieu had over her son, urged him to get rid of him. Instead, Louis XIII sent his motheryet again into exile, from which she would not return.
Louis XIII relied heavily upon Cardinal Richelieu during his reign, and, as a result, Louisbecame one of the first examples of an absolute monarch. Richelieu strengthened thepower of the royal authority and kept the nobility in check by limiting the power of thesovereign courts: “noble courts around the country with so many rights they were nearlyindependent of the crown” (Richard Cohen, By the Sword).
Richelieu’s control extended to media and the arts. He was one of the first to use the mediato further the government’s agenda. The Gazette, a weekly periodical sponsored by thegovernment, often contained articles written by the king and got its news stories directlyfrom Cardinal Richelieu. In 1635, Cardinal Richelieu founded the Académie Française withthe primary goal of establishing a French dictionary. The Académie Française not onlycreated the official French language but also approved literature, art and architecture.
Anne of Austria gave birth to the royal couple’s first child after 23 years of marriage. LouisXIV, christened LouisDieudonné—meaning “Gift of God”—was born on September 5, 1638.Louis XIII died shortly thereafter and the great Sun King, Louis XIV, assumed the throne of
17thCentury France
Infanta:Daughter of aSpanish orPortuguesemonarch who isnot heir to thethrone.
AbsoluteMonarch:A king who hascompleteauthority over hiscitizens andcountry, with littleor no legalrestrictions on hispower.
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Cardinal Richelieu, who founded the Académie Française, in a portrait painted byPhilippe de Champaigne, 1637.
France in 1643 atthe age of five. Thelongest reigningm o n a r c h i nEuropean history,Louis XIV ruled asKing of France andKing of Navarre, as m a l l c o u n t r ysituated betweenFrance and Spain,for the next 72 years.Because of Louis’young age, hismother, Anne ofAustria, ruled asregent along with
her advisor Cardinal Mazarin for 18 years. It wasduring the years of Mazarin’s rule that the French civilwar, known as the Fronde, began. Mazarin,continuing where Richelieu left off, attempted toincrease the power of the crown at the expense ofthe nobility through taxation and other financialedicts. When Cardinal Mazarin arrested members ofParliament for not paying taxes in 1648, Paris brokeout into rioting, and Louis XIV fled Paris along withhis court. The rioting was led first by the nobility andthen by commoners.
Anne’s regency ended when Louis XIV turned 13,but Louis continued to allow Cardinal Mazarin tocontrol the affairs of state until his death. When Louisfinally took over full control of the throne in 1661, hechose to rule without a chief minister—intending torule as an absolute monarch. Louis XIV believed thathis power came from God and therefore took the sunas his emblem. Many pieces of art from that timedepict Louis as the Greek sun god, Apollo.
Louis XIV continued to reduce the influence of thenobility. He began by appointing only commoners tohigh executive offices, believing that he could moreeasily dismiss a commoner than a nobleman. He alsomoved his court outside of Paris to his new, lavishpalace in Versailles, which became the officialresidence of the king. Louis XIV housed courtiers inthe chateau and its outbuildings, thereby keeping thenobility close and unable to plot against him.
At the palace of Versailles, life centered on grandeur.Courtiers were expected to be dressed marvelouslyand display expensive and luxurious items. Life atVersailles was filled with balls, dinners, performancesand celebrations, which kept the nobility endlesslybusy.
“Having gathered a deliberately underemployedhigher aristocracy under his watchful eye atVersailles, Louis XIV elaborated endless rules ofbehavior and extremes of formality. Every move was
prescribed by a court convention, dress wasdetermined by social standing, and l’étiquette wasstrictly maintained. Unlike the English aristocracy,who oversaw their lands or attended Parliament, theFrench nobility stewed in a pressure cooker of egosand intrigue—literally thousands of courtiers allfighting for favor” (Cohen, By the Sword).
Louis loved the flattery and adulation of the court. Ina letter, the Duc de SaintSimon said of the king,"There was nothing he liked so much as flattery, or, toput it more plainly, adulation; the coarser andclumsier it was, the more he relished it. … His vanity,which was perpetually nourished—for even preachersused to praise him to his face from the pulpit—wasthe cause of the aggrandizement of his Ministers."
Louis XIV was a great supporter of the arts, andunder him France became the cultural center ofEurope. During his reign, the five basic steps ofclassical ballet were established, the architecture ofVersailles influenced numerous buildings, and theFrench Academy dictionary was completed, ensuringthat French “became the European tongue, themedium of diplomacy, the language of aristocracy,even of fine cooking” (Cohen, By the Sword). Theatrewas an important form of entertainment and theplays of Racine and Molière were extremely popular.In fact, Molière was a favorite of the king’s, and, in1664, Louis XIV became the godfather of Molière’sson. Molière, like Shakespeare, drew much of hisinspiration from the world around him, and, eventhough his plays were social satires mockingcommoners and nobility alike, he was careful not todirectly attack the king or the Church.
While Louis XIV placed France at the forefront of theEuropean powers, amassing land and wealth, towardthe end of the 17th century, the nation was quicklybecoming bankrupt. Louis’ constant wars,extravagant palaces and high taxes took their toll onthe people of France. While the royal court lived inlavish excess, the common people suffered extremehardships; many suffered starvation, fled France, orlived in fear of religious persecution. The peasantryalso opposed the royal absolutism established byLouis, something that would greatly influence theFrench Revolution in 1789.
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Portrait of Louis XIV, the Sun King.
The extravagant palace of Versailles, built by Louis XIV.
In a prologue delivered by the senior actor of thecompany, the audience is assured that no one willleave the theatre offended. While a previous work of
Molière’s, Tartuffe, was seen as an attack on the Frenchclergy, Don Juan is a work portraying a scoundrel sodevious, no man will be able to identify with him.
Don Juan has fled his latest conquest and wife, DonnaElvira, without warning. Gusman, Donna Elvira’s servant,chases Don Juan’s man Sganarelle through the streets ofSicily demanding to know why Don Juan has fled.Sganarelle confesses he knows nothing of Don Juan’smotives and informs Gusman that his master regularlytreats marriage as his sport and will marry any womanafter whom he lusts. While Sganarelle is disgusted by hismaster’s actions, he admits to being too cowardly to standup to Don Juan. His fear even keeps him from asking forthe wages owed him. Don Juan arrives and reveals thathe has returned to Sicily to pursue another of his “loves,” agentlewoman he has never met, whom he intends tokidnap and marry. He has rented a boat, hired a crew andwill carry out his plan when her lover takes her for apleasant sail.
Don Juan and Sganarelle almost drown in the river whileattempting the kidnapping. As they return from theirneardeath experience, still soaked to the bone, Sganarelleattempts to persuade Don Juan that this second chanceat life might be the perfect opportunity to change hisways. Rather than heeding his advice, Don Juan spies abeautiful young peasant girl named Charlotte andimmediately begins to seduce her. She agrees to marryhim, just in time for her suitor, Pierrot, to arrive andconfront Don Juan. As they fight, Mathurine, anotherlocal woman who helped to rescue Don Juan from theriver, arrives. It seems that Don Juan has promised tomarry her as well, and the two “fiancées” fight while DonJuan whispers false promises to both. Pierrot runs awaycompletely frustrated, and both women are satisfied thatthey are Don Juan’s betrothed. A messenger enters andinforms Don Juan that Donna Elvira’s twelve brothers arehunting for him and know exactly what Don Juan iswearing. Don Juan forces Sganarelle to exchange clothes.
As Don Juan and Sganarelle flee through the woods nowdisguised as a servant and doctor, they see a gentleman inthe woods being attacked by robbers. Don Juan rescuesthe man, while Sganarelle hides in the bushes. Thegentleman turns out to be Don Carlos, one of DonnaElvira’s brothers. Don Juan pretends to be a close friend ofDon Juan’s. Don Alonso, another brother of Donna Elvira,appears, recognizes Don Juan and attacks him. DonCarlos, in debt to Don Juan for saving his life, defendsDon Juan against his own brother, offering Don Juan oneday to give them satisfaction for their sister’s disgrace.Don Juan pulls Sganarelle from his hiding place and theycontinue on their way through the woods. They comeupon the tomb of a Commander killed by Don Juan yearsbefore. Don Juan mockingly invites the statue to dinner.The statue comes to life and nods yes to the invitation.
Upon returning home, Don Juan shrugs off the incident atthe tomb, claiming that it must have been a trick of thelight.
Don Juan is visited by Monsieur Dimanche, the tailor, whohas come to collect his fees. Don Juan puts the meeting offas long as he can but when face to face with the tailor,hails the creditor as his only true friend. Unable to utter aword, Monsieur Dimanche leaves no wealthier than whenhe arrived. When Don Juan and Sganarelle sit down tohave dinner, Don Juan’s father, Don Luis, and Donna Elviraarrive and plead with Don Juan to repent his wicked waysbefore being damned forever. Don Juan rejects theiradvice as the statue of the Commander appears for dinner.The statue asks Don Juan to join him for dinner the nextnight, if he dare. Don Juan accepts.
Don Juan meets with his father and renounces his sinfulways. After Don Luis departs, however, Don Juan revealsto Sganarelle that he has not truly repented. He hasdecided to become a hypocrite and pretend to be piouswhile still leading a wicked life. Don Juan and Sganarelleencounter Don Carlos, who urges Don Juan to honor hissister by reconciling with her. Don Juan, however, claimsthat his newfound piety and duty to God require him tolive without companionship or worldly goods. Don Carlosstorms out promising to fight Don Juan when next theymeet. Sganarelle warns Don Juan that this final act ofimpropriety, performed in the name of God, might finallyoutrage Heaven enough to bring down its wrath uponhim. As Don Juan mocks Sganarelle’s warning, a veiledspectre appears and demands Don Juan immediatelyrepent or be damned. When Don Juan seems to recognizethe spectre and approaches it, the spectre changes into theGrim Reaper. Don Juan defies the figure and tries to attackit as it disappears. The statue from the tomb reappears and,grabbing Don Juan’s hand, declares that the “anger ofHeaven can no longer be contained.” Don Juan burns fromthe inside out as the earth opens up and swallows himwhole. Everyone is satisfied but Sganarelle, who is left withnothing but lost wages.
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Synopsis of Don Juan
Molière’s Company Performing (1670.)
Don Juan is a legendary figure in literature whose story has been toldcountless times by many different authors. Most agree that the taleoriginated in 17thcentury Spain, and Tirso de Molina is credited with
the first published version around 1620. Some believe that the character is basedon an actual medieval nobleman named Don Juan Tenorio, who seduced ayoung woman and murdered her father, a commandant. He then was killed byavengers who claimed that he was carried off to hell by the statue of thecommandant.
In the legend, Don Juan is a libertine who seduces women, steals money andmurders noblemen. Different authors have had different opinions of thecharacter—some have used him to tell a cautionary tale against bad behavior,while others have viewed him as a rebel and freethinker who is not bound bysociety’s rules and hypocrisies. Almost always, the Don Juan story ends with thecharacter’s descent into hell. Don Juan is usually visited by a statue as aharbinger of his doom.
The Don Juan story has been rewritten in many languages and has inspiredpoems, plays, operas and ballets. See below for Don Juan incarnationsthroughout the ages.
1620El Burlador de Sevilla y Convidado de piedra(The Prankster of Seville and His Stone Guest)by Tirso de MolinaThis is the firstknown play on the Don Juan theme.
1650Il Convitato di pietra by Giacinto Andrea CicogniniThis play was the basis for countless commedia dell’arteversions and probably influenced Molière.
1658Le Festin de Pierre, ou le Fils criminelby Nicholas DrouinA spectacle play, featuring multiple settings and borrowingheavily from the commedia treatment by Cicognini. Thepopularity of these plays probably inspired Molière to writeDon Juan for his company, badly in need of a hit.
1659Le Festin de Pierre ou le fils criminelby Claude Deschamps VilliersMuch imitated, this version influenced Molière directly.
1665Dom Juan ou le Festin de Pierre(Don Juan, or the Feast of Stone) by MolièreOne of the three or four most influential of all versions ofthe Don Juan story.
1750Il Cavaliere del buon gusto by Carlo GoldoniThis famous author of commedia dell’arte scripts wasinspired by Molière to pen his own version.
175861Don Juan, oder das steinerne Gastmahlby Christoph Willibald GluckThe first of a series of ballets on Don Juan, it was still beingdanced well into the 19th century.
Don Juan Timeline
Yuri Yuriev as Don Juan in VsevolodMeyerhold’s production,1910.
1787Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus MozartMozart’s opera has inspired countless musical variations,including ones by Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt.
1821Don Juan by Lord ByronByron’s long narrative poem based on the legend,considered by critics to be his masterpiece, was nevercompleted.
188084Our Friend Platonov by Anton ChekhovIn Chekhov’s take on the Don Juan tale, the amorous hero isshot dead at the end by one of his many conquests.
190103Don Juan in Hell by George Bernard ShawThe famous third act of Man and Superman features theshameless hero crafting a philosophical justification for hisendless pursuit of women.
1974The Joker of Seville by Derek WolcottThe Royal Shakespeare Company commissioned Wolcott towrite this modern musical version of Tirso’s Burlador; GaltMacDermott composed the musical score.
1986The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd WebberOne of the final scenes includes an operatic rendition of oneof Don Juan’s seductions.
1995Don Juan de Marco, dir. Jeremy LevenStarring Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando, this film presentsa modern twist on the legend. Lord Byron is given a writingcredit.
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In Molière’s Don Juan, the title character disdainstraditional courtship and marriage customs inpursuit of his own physical desires. What were the
accepted customs in Molière’s time? Why did Molièrerepeatedly satirize marriage in his plays, and how wasthis different in Don Juan?
In all time periods, family and marriage are closelylinked, however attitudes toward family in 17thcentury France differed greatly from our modernnotions of family. During this time there was rarelyovert affection in the family unit; rather, family was animportant social structure. Wives depended on theirhusbands for financial support, and husbands countedon their wives for domestic responsibilities. Childrenwere vital to the preservation of the family name, aswell as business and fortune, if these existed. Thefamily also served a larger social function as well. Priorto the 17th century, France was plagued by politicalupheaval and social disorder. The structure of thefamily—which was unquestionably patriarchal—represented a smaller version of what authorities
Marriage & Family
hoped for in France. Just as the father ruled over hisdutiful wife and children, so did the reigning monarchrule over his loyal subjects.
In keeping with the hierarchical family structure,marriages were arranged by parents as a financial orbusiness transaction. A good match could bringwealth and honor to a family, and a poor match couldbring ruin. Marriage “for love” was a rarity, to whichsome historians attribute high rates of adultery. This isnot to say that the institute of marriage was devoid offeeling, the importance of friendship andcompanionship in marriage was stressed by bothpublic and religious officials. The subjection of women,however, was not deemed inappropriate or unusualand was standard practice for centuries preceding andfollowing the 1600s.
In 17thcentury France, all people were thought to beruled by the humors: blood, phlegm, choler andmelancholy. Women were generally thought to beaffected by cold and wet humors (phlegm andmelancholy), making them changeable and deceptive.Men, on the other hand, were thought to be ruled byhot and dry humors (blood and choler), making themlevelheaded and aggressive. There was a commonmisconception that a woman’s womb was like ahungry animal desiring fertilization; when it was not“fed,” the womb would control the woman’s actions,leading to depression or hysteria.
Contrary to what Molière’s licentious character mayhave us believe, the time in which Molière wrote wascharacterized by intense sexual repression. It wasn’tuntil the 1600s that private bedrooms beganappearing in France; previously, entire families wouldcommonly occupy the same bed. This practice wasfrowned upon, and stricter laws were written andenforced to prevent incest, adultery and other “lewdacts.”
In Molière’s plays, we see many social norms satirizedand criticized. In Don Juan, promiscuity is emphasizedin the title character, rather than repressed, and theusual practices involving courtship and marriage areboth vilified and ignored. Molière gave his audiencewhat they did not have in their daily lives, and theyenjoyed it, although the censors did not: Don Juanwas banned after only two weeks for angering localreligious and public officals. As European society madeits way toward the conservative, oppressive Victorianera, Molière portrayed exactly the opposite on stage,contrasting an increasingly rigid social structure with a“hero” who is anything but.
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in 17thCentury France
Don Juan (Adam Stein) pursues Charlotte (Mary Bacon) in The OldGlobe’s 2004 production of Don Juan translated, adapted and directedby Stephen Wadsworth.
Phot
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Cra
ig S
chw
artz
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CS: Don Juan had his beginnings in Spanish legendand, over the centuries, has inspired plays, movies andoperas, including Mozart’s Don Giovanni. What is itabout the character of Don Juan that brings him backto life, again and again, in the popular imagination?
SW: In most manifestations, Don Juan is a charismaticrake who lives by his own rules and with absolutesingleness of purpose, and as such he excites a varietyof erotic and romantic fantasies. But I think that’s onlythe first layer of the onion. He’s also an anarchicthinker, an iconoclast, splendidly defiant and true tohis vision to the bitter end. He uses his sexual magic toexpress this anarchic spirit, to defy the society at hand,but he also has other ways of doing this.
CS: What are some of these other ways? How do theyemerge in Molière’s play?
SW: Well, every important artist who has adapted theDon Juan story has needed to say things about thesociety at hand, and in Don Juan’s fearlessness andlawlessness (so attractive to the public) they’ve founda formidable mouthpiece. Molière, hard hit by therejection of Tartuffe itself (already a rather shockingcommentary on a decadent, hypocritical society) cuteven deeper with his Don Juan play. Molière gives hishero a diamondpoint intellect and lets him loose onreligion, politics and the social contract. Sex is part ofit, but by no means all.
Splendid Defiance
CS: What is it about this play that so disturbed theauthorities?
SW: Well, precisely that it isn’t just a fun romp about acool rake. I think they could have dealt with Don Juanthe womanizer, but Molière was cutting at thingsmuch deeper than that. Don Juan is a completelyanarchic spirit, a freethinker who stands on none ofthe ceremony of social life in 17thcentury France. Heseduces and abandons women, yes, without a qualm,and he also dishonors his father, ignores creditors, lies,and even kills freely when it is convenient to him to doso, but, most disturbing to the authorities, hequestions the existence of God with such brutal,gleeful frankness and at such length and with suchinexhaustibly rational arguments that he takes theidea of a stage play into a whole new realm, a realm ofbiting social and political criticism.
CS: Who is Molière’s Don Juan in relation to LouisXIV’s France?
SW: Well, he is an outsider criticizing the way societyworks. Throughout the 17th century, France, the mostpopulous and educated of the Western Europeanstates, was becoming increasingly aware ofrationalism, the philosophy that reason, intellect, wasthe key to knowledge, rather than the senses orpassions or religious doctrine. Rational thinking wasvery exciting in theory. But the minute you prove thatone organism is essentially like another, thatorganisms within a species are essentially equal in thatsense, you might realize that human beings, say, areall essentially equal as well. Take that thought onestep further, and you have to question everythingabout a society that doesn’t treat all human beingsequally. And if you’re running a religion used todetermining how men should imagine their world, areligion that has cozied up to a classist, racistgovernment of the privileged few, why then you havea serious dilemma facing you. We know reason finallygot the better of ancienrégime France in the bloodyend of the 18th century, but here’s Don Juan in 1665,unnerving censors and audiences with his rational,logical, unapologetic worldview. The biggest surpriseto me in working on this play was watching DonJuan’s skeptical, proveittome mind crash through thewall of the 17th century and march into the Age ofEnlightenment, full of prescience and anger and aweinspiring intellectual confidence.
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A Conversation with Stephen WadsworthBy Christine Sumption
Stephen Wadsworth—translator, adaptor anddirector of Don Juan.
CS: How much of Molière’s social criticism is explicitin the script? Surely his audience didn’t need to haveit all spelled out for them.
SW: Well, Don Juan does not mince words at all, butof course there are lots of things about daytoday lifein 17thcentury France that are implicit in the text.Some of these I’ve explicated in the adaptation –information about dueling, blasphemy, medical issuesand so on, and of course I’ve opened up some of theareas that the censors focused on.
CS: Most of us have some familiarity with Molière as awriter of comedy and social satire, having at somepoint seen or read Tartuffe or The Misanthrope. Butof course he was a leading actor with his owntheatre troupe. In your work on Don Juan, whatevidence did you find of Molière the actor?
SW: Lots, though it isn’t hard evidence; it’ssomething I hear about from the characters, in theways they have of using theatricality to make theirpoints. Molière played Sganarelle, as he had done inother plays, and this Sganarelle has at least oneItalian commedia dell’arte parent. Improvisation, inthe form of lazzi (a sort of vaudeville routine), is in theair Sganarelle breathes, so I let him dictate several ofthese to me as I adapted the play. I know lazzis werethe notable feature of the Italian comedians’ work,and Molière’s troupe alternated nights with them onthe same stage. They survive in the script that’s comedown to us—Don Juan sweettalking two women atonce, for instance. I’ll bet my bottom dollar thatMolière, clearly an awesome farceur, interpolatedplenty of lazzis in his own plays. Remember, this is a
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Andrew Weems as Sganarelle and Adam Stein as Don Juan in The Old Globe’s 2004 productionof Don Juan, adapted and directed by Stephen Wadsworth.
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guy who often said that he wrote his comedies to beplayed, not to be printed in books. That said, Molièreis a literary magpie in Don Juan: he sends up thesuperheroic flights of Corneille’s plays in thespeeches of Donna Elvira’s brothers, for example, andPierrot and Charlotte are written in the style of thepeasants in Cyrano de Bergerac’s plays. And thewhole play is highly theatrical in an actorcentric way.It’s all about performance.
CS: Is there an advantage to being both translator/adaptor and director?
SW: Yes! Writing the play out helps the directorabsorb the material deeply. Directing it, or preparingto direct it, helps the writer know what will work onthe stage, when he’s overwriting, how to cut to theheart of the scene, what it’s really about. Of course, Ican’t and don’t do all this alone. I have my editor anddramaturg, Janice Paran, along on the writingjourney. And the actors and designers and producers(and Janice again!), when I’m directing the show,have tons of input, direct and indirect. Doing bothjobs together, and collaborating closely with all thecrafts people on every detail of a work of art, one canstrive toward a kind of aesthetic integration that canoffer audiences a glimpse of the sublime. And that’swhat I want to give them.
Christine Sumption is Director of Dramaturgy atSeattle Repertory Theatre.
Reprinted by permission.
Classroom Connections Before the performance...
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Translation and Adaptation
Ask students to define the words “adaptation” and“translation,” then discuss what they mean in terms ofworks of literature. What forms of adaptation do studentsmost often see in popular culture? Molière’s Don Juan is aFrench play written in prose. Shortly after Molière’s death,his wife had another playwright adapt the piece intoverse. The Shakespeare Theatre Company is producingStephen Wadsworth’s prose adaptation of Molière’s play,which is a new translation from French to English. Askstudents to discuss the role of the translator and adaptor.What is involved in translating and adapting stories?Working in small groups, have the class select a favoritemyth or legend to adapt for a short performance.Bilingual students may choose to translate it into anotherlanguage as well.
Censorship
Censorship is a controversial issue. While the firstamendment guarantees our right to free speech, mediasuch as books, music, art, theatre, television and films canbe censored even in our country today. Discuss withstudents their opinion of censorship. Do they feel thatany material needs to be censored? What are the reasonsworks of art are censored or “toned down” for the public?Ask students to research a piece of art that has beencensored and write an opinion piece about why it shouldor should not have been censored. What were thereasons this particular piece was censored? What socialrules or conventions did it challenge? After studentspresent their pieces to the class, discuss what social rulesor conventions may have existed in Molière’s time to leadto the censorship of Don Juan.
Commedia in Molière’s Plays
Commedia dell’arte is a type of comedy developed in Italyin the 16th and 17th centuries and made popular inFrance through the work of playwrights such as Molière.It is a very theatrical art form characterized by the use ofstock characters in traditional masks and costumes. Themasks were often physical representations of eachcharacter’s personal traits and easily recognizable to anaudience. For example, the surly and pompous IlCapitano’s mask features a furrowed brow and long,upturned nose. Have students create masks to representthe stock characters that we are familiar with, such as“Mean Girl” or “Jock” or “Nerd.” What features definethese characters? Would an audience recognize thecharacter?
Questioning Social Mores
Social mores are the accepted traditional customs andmorals of a particular social group. Molière, likeShakespeare, drew much of his inspiration from theworld around him. His plays are social satires mockingcommoners and nobility alike. What social mores doesMolière mock in Don Juan? Discuss the customs andmorality of our respective communities. Are they similarto Molière’s? Have they changed? How?
Playing Around on Your Girlfriend/Boyfriend
Have two “couples” stand across the room with theirbacks facing each other. Play a CD of light “romantic”music. Narrate the following to the students; instructthem to embody each description: “You are waking upfrom a deep sleep. You slowly turn around, looking foryour true love. Then your eyes lock with the personstanding across the room. This is your true love. Youmove towards each other in slow motion.” One studentfrom each couple is given a special direction before theactivity starts—as the couples are about to join together,the members with the secret instructions turn to eachother and join hands, spurning their intended. As theyrun off together (still in slow motion) see how the jiltedlovers react. Do they chase their true loves, turn to eachother for comfort, or do they sit down and sulk? Askstudents to write a brief paragraph from either the pointof view of the jilted lover or the lover who dumped theirintended for another stronger attraction.
Classroom Connections …After the performance
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Women in the Play
The character of Don Juan is a famous “ladies’ man,”seducing many women and behaving unethicallytowards them. How were the women in the playportrayed in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’sproduction of Don Juan? How might a modern womanrespond to Don Juan’s behavior? Referring back to thearticle “Marriage and Family in 17thCentury France,” askstudents to make a list of reasons why Don Juan’sbehavior toward women did not comply with the socialnorms of courtship at the time. Then ask students tomake a list of reasons why Don Juan’s behavior towardwomen may or may not comply with the social norms ofcourtship in our time. Have students imagine that theyare a spokesperson for women’s rights in either Molière’stime or ours, and ask them to write and present a speechsupporting their opinion of Don Juan’s behavior.
Chivalry—Then and Now
Chivalry was a code of honor upheld by medievalknights, including such idealized qualities as defense ofthe church and its principles, love of country, bravery,honesty, courtesy and gallantry toward women. Thequalities changed throughout history to adapt tochanging societies but still maintained the essential idealsof truth and honor. Have the class create a chivalric codefor today’s society listing all of the ideals or qualities thatone would aspire to. What ideals would you include?Why?
The Moral of the Story
As children, many of us grew up reading or listening toparables from the Bible, Aesop’s fables or Grimm’s FairyTales. An important aspect to all of these stories is thatthey have a moral—a lesson that the author wanted us tolearn. While these stories from our childhood often hadvery clearly stated morals, Moliere’s adaptation is morecomplex and uncertain. Ask students to discuss the lessonthey felt was communicated to teenagers in 2006. Askeach student to write an epilogue of Don Juan speakingfrom Hell to relate the moral of the play.
Don Juan in the 21st Century
Discuss with students what kind of place Don Juan heldin his society. Did he have power or wealth that he couldhave used for good? Ask students to brainstorm a list ofpeople in recent history with the same circumstances asDon Juan. How did they use their wealth and power?What kinds of ends did they meet? Do we expect thoselike Don Juan to be punished, or do they get away withtheir evil deeds?
Friends Don’t Let Friends...
In the first performances of this play, Molière himselfplayed the role of Don Juan’s servant Sganarelle.Sganarelle attempts to convince Don Juan to repent andlive a good life. At the end of the play, Don Juan isdragged down into hell, leaving Sganarelle to fend forhimself. In his last speech, Sganarelle says, “Master! Oh,everyone will be satisfied by your death—the Heaven youoffended, the laws you violated, the creditors youdodged, the girls you deceived, the families youdishonored, the parents you demeaned, the women youruined, the husbands you drove to the brink. Everyone’shappy except me, with nothing in my pocket andnowhere to go! Oh Master! My wages, my wages! Mywages.” Ask students to discuss this final moment in theplay. What does Sganarelle really think of Don Juan? Askstudents to imagine that they are Sganarelle, and theymust write a letter home explaining what has happenedto Don Juan. How might Sganarelle relate the events ofthe play from his perspective? What will he do next?
Molière on Don Juan: Moral Judgement orCheers?
Don Juan is a legendary character famous for hisseduction of women. His name is often found as asynonym for “seducer.” Some people see him as a cruelphilanderer who uses women for his own personal gain,while others see him as a man who truly loves everywoman he seduces. What do you think Molière thoughtof Don Juan? Divide the class into two teams—one teamsupporting Don Juan as the “cruel philanderer” and theother supporting him as the “true lover”—and have themcreate arguments in support of their belief. Next, have theteams debate one another. Can one team persuade theother that they are right? What is the class’s verdict onMolière’s opinion of Don Juan?
Don JuanBooks or Essays on Don Juan
• Singer, Armand E. A Final Supplement to the Don Juan Theme: An Annotated Bibliography ofVersions, Analogues, Uses and Adaptations. West Virginia University, 2003.
• Wadsworth, Stephen, translator. Don Juan. Smith & Kraus Publications, 2005.
• Whitton, David. Molière: “Don Juan.”Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Books on Molière and French History
• Bermel, Albert. Molière’s Theatrical Bounty. Southern Illinois University Press, 1990.
• Bloom, Harold, ed. Modern Critical Views: Molière. Chelsea House Publishers, 2002.
• Calder, Andrew. Molière: The Theory and Practice of Comedy. Athlone Press, 1993.
• Cohen, Richard. By the Sword: A History of Gladiators, Musketeers, Samurai, Swashbucklers andOlympic Champions. Random House, 2002.
• Gaines, James F. and Michael Koppisch. Approaches to Teaching Molière’s “Tartuffe” and OtherPlays. Modern Language Association, 1995.
• Howarth, William D. French Theatre in the NeoClassical Era, 15501789. Cambridge UniversityPress, 1997.
• McCarthy, Gerry. The Theatres of Molière. Routledge, 2002.
• Norman, Larry F. The Public Mirror: Molière and the Social Commerce of Depiction. University ofChicago Press, 1999.
• Nurse, Peter Hampshire. Molière and the Comic Spirit. Librarie Droz, 1991.
• Scott, Virginia. Molière: A Theatrical Life. Cambridge University Press, 2002.
• Spingler, Michael. Molière Today. Routledge, 1998.
Websites
• www.historylearningsite.co.uk/france_1610_to_1715.htm—The History Learning Site on 17thCentury France.
• www.discoverfrance.net—Discover France, information about French history and culture, includingtheatre and Molière.
• www.theatredatabase.com/17th_century/moliere_001.html—Theatre Database: Molière Biographyand Links.
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