Introduction
Literary works often focus on what kind of a cruel joke life can play on a person. One of those things, that many believe in is a phenomenon of karma. In other words, individuals assume that there is a causal relationship between actions and that for all the wrong things, a person will get what they deserve in the future. This theme can be traced in the play “The Trickster of Seville,” written by Tirso de Molina in the 17th century. Through the story of the heart stealer Don Juan Tenorio, the author reveals the theme of how all the misdeeds committed by the main character catch up with him, leading to his eventual downfall.
The Downfall of Don Juan in Tirso de Molina’s “The Trickster of Seville”
The play “The Trickster of Seville” consists of three acts, each of which tells about the notorious womanizer Don Juan or Juan Tenorio. This work created one of the most famous archetypes of a man, Don Juan, who has many partners and sexual or romantic relationships (Luque 143). Throughout the play, the author gradually reveals how the carefree attitude of this character to life and people adversely affects his fate. At the same time, for the public, Don Juan has become synonymous with an attractive and seductive man who has many relationships with women.
The theme of karma permeates the entire narrative of the play. In the first act, the author shows the reader the true nature of Don Juan. The young man is introduced as witty, charming, and irreverent towards authority. In addition, he has a reasonably large fortune and a noble title, which allows him to lead a relatively carefree and frivolous life. Hence, the action opens with the fact that the main character decides to seduce a young girl Isabela. She is a Duchess in Naples and already has a fiancé; however, this fact does not decide Don Juan (De Molina 4). With the help of his charisma, he charms a young woman and asks her to marry him. Having achieved what he wanted, the main character left Isabela heartbroken and humiliated. This event becomes the first link in the chain of others that will lead to the downfall of a young person.
The first hint of fate is that after dishonoring Isabela, Don Juan is almost caught red-handed, but he shifts all the blame to Don Octavio, the woman’s fiancé. After that, the main protagonist has to flee the city with his lackey (De Molina 24). Further, Don Juan seduces and abandons another woman, Tisbea, a fisherman’s daughter. He is overwhelmed with confidence in his actions and rightness, and the main character believes that he cannot face punishment. Tisbea, like Isabella, falls under the spell of Don Juan and brings him to her home after finding him after the shipwreck. The main character confesses his love to her and tells the young woman that he wishes nothing more than to marry her. However, all this was done only to get her to seduce and no more. As in the previous case, Don Juan leaves Tisbea, forgetting about his words about love and marriage. Unable to withstand what happened, the woman attempts suicide by throwing herself into the sea.
After these two incidents, the author talks about how the main character dishonored two more young women, Ana and Aminta, who fell victim to his seduction. It is worth noting that these events also show the growing consequences of the actions of a young man. Hence, after taking advantage of Ana, he is caught by the victim’s father. The main character has no choice but to kill a man and substitute a dishonored woman lover. Ana’s father’s last words were that he would hunt Don Juan (De Molina 43). The last victim, Aminta, was supposed to marry a man from her village. The protagonist deceived everyone by saying that by law, he should take her as his wife since they had already been in a relationship before (De Molina 57). He cruelly takes advantage not only of innocent people that believe the nobleman but also of the law. This action once again confirms that Don Juan was an unrepentant womanizer who seduces and abandons women without any remorse. He was also a manipulator, and a crucially cruel man.
The final scene of the play, “The Trickster of Seville,” fully conveys how karma works in human life. Mystically, Don Juan visits the statue of the Commander, Ana’s father, whom he once killed. His spirit came to seek revenge for the death of his daughter, as he promised when he died from a knife stabbed by the main character. Commander arranges a dinner for Don Juan right in the churchyard, during which he serves him vipers and scorpions (De Molina 67). All this does not frighten the young man, and he brags about how he will marry Isabella, who was promised to him by the King. However, the statue breaks down and kills Don Juan, ending his bullying of women and cruel, unforgivable adventures.
Throughout the play, the author clearly shows how karma slowly overtakes Don Juan. Henceforth, with each of his actions, he became more and more reckless and carefree, which was reflected in the fact that he was caught. Moreover, his lackey Catalinón constantly told him that his actions were dishonorable and that he would one day receive his punishment. One of the central representations of karma can be considered the statue of the Commander, at the hands of which the main protagonist dies. Don Gonzalo is initially portrayed as a vengeful and angry man; however, he becomes more of a moral authority, warning Don Juan that his actions will have consequences.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Don Juan character becomes an outstanding representation of how karma overtakes a person for wrong actions. Throughout the play, the young man takes advantage of and dishonors multiple women. At the same time, he felt neither pity nor remorse and only gained more confidence in his impunity. Thus, this led to him being killed and paying for all his sins. “The Trickster of Seville” by Tirso de Molina is a cautionary play about the consequences of one’s actions and the idea that justice will eventually come for everyone.
“The Trickster of Seville” also contributed to the creation of the archetype of Don Juan in many other literary works. At the same time, it is often forgotten that behind the attractive heartbreaker is the image of a cruel man who was caught up and punished by karma. The man believed that nothing could stop him, and that justice is too far away from him, however his misdeeds catch up with him and lead to his downfall.
Works Cited
De Molina, Tirso. Don Juan, The Trickster of Seville. Linguatext, Limited. 2022.
Luque, Frank Otero. “Portrait in Don Juan: Individualization of Myth and Redemption from Sin.” Studium, vol. 26, 2021, pp. 121-138.