It is a curious fact that Spanish Golden-Age plays seldom announce the name of the protagonist in their titles. Unlike contemporary drama in French (
Phèdre, Andromaque) and English (
Hamlet, Othello, King Lear), Spanish titles tend to highlight instead a profession or office (
The Mayor of Zalamea), a salient characteristic (
The Trickster of Seville), or a concept (
Life is a Dream).
The Burlador of Tirso’s play is the original Don Juan Tenorio, who has been reincarnated, rehabilitated, and even ridiculed by subsequent writers, in more than six hundred variations. As suggested by the title, Tirso’s Don Juan is more trickster than lover. We are still a long way from the mille tre of Mozart and Da Ponte’s Don Giovanni. The main character’s motivation in his deceitful acts is to
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Citation: Parr, James A.. "El Burlador de Sevilla". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 July 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13224, accessed 25 November 2024.]
