András Mészáros: The Motive of Sin and Suffering in the Don Juan works – Fórum Társadalomtudományi Szemle

The essay analyses Don Juan works from the aspect of the motives of sin and suffering. He thinks that the motive appeared because in the original literature figure of Dona Juan, the life of two historical persons, Don Juan Tenorio and Don Miguel de Manara were combined, and the issue of penance and suffering was assumed by Don Miguel. The author thinks that in the case of Don Juan it is not suffering, because he represents a morality conception based on modern, individual autonomy, that excludes the transcendental criteria of moralistic judging. According to him, the fall of Don Juan, was caused rather by the extinction of mistification, due to which the fate of Don Juan loses its tragedy character. The author demonstrates this theorem in representative Don Juan works, and autobiographic novels introducing Don Juan.