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intoxicatedturtle's review against another edition
4.0
Another classic by Moliere. I could have done without the contrived ending, both the style and the attempt to kiss up to social mores for the finale, but it is somewhat understandable given the furor surrounding Tartuffe. I suppose by making the ending more socially acceptable, it freed Moliere to produce another great work mocking his two favorite targets, religion and hypocrisy.
elle_0808's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
miadesjardins's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
addicted2booksstefania's review against another edition
3.0
I think this is my second or third Molière book. This man is on something. Anyways, it was okay, I enjoyed it but not immensely. I am happy that the main character got what he deserved because tbh he was such a slutty republican. It’s a quick read so, enjoy?
anastasiarozova's review against another edition
3.0
*Read for class.
What a horrible person! But I did like the play itself, much better than Calderon, that's for sure. I know they're different genres, but still.
What a horrible person! But I did like the play itself, much better than Calderon, that's for sure. I know they're different genres, but still.
jaxattax354's review against another edition
2.0
I thought the story was interesting and entertaining until all that weird ghost stuff starting happening...haha.
katya_m's review against another edition
(...)I know my Don Juan inside and out, and I know that your heart is the most restless thing in the world; it likes to slither from one sacred bond to another, and it can't bear to settle in one place.
DON JUAN
And have I a right, do you think, to behave that way?
SGANARELLE
Well, Sir....
DON JUAN
What? Go on.
SGANARELLE
Certainly it's your right, if you insist one wouldn't dare contradict you. But if you didn't insist, one might answer otherwise.
Por qualquer razão, dei comigo neste início de ano a pensar que preciso aperfeiçoar a minha cultura donjuanesca... Ele há anos bons e anos menos bons, o que querem?
O certo é que peguei no Don Juan de Ballester e percebi, pelo andamento complexo da coisa, que devia rever os meus outros don Juans e revê-los com olhos de quem não atura madurezas, mas consegue, ainda assim, apreciar a criação de um mito que se presta a várias leituras. Por isso, peguei na versão de Molière que nunca tinha lido (que assim se junta, entre outros que estão por ler, a Tirso de Molina, Baudelaire e à adaptação de DaPonte - a qual, devo dizer, é de longe a melhor versão que conheço desta obra) e deitei-me ao trabalho - que esta leitura foi mais isso do que outra coisa.
(...)just to prepare you for the worst, I tell you inter nos that the person you've known as Don Juan, my master, is the greatest scoundrel who ever walked the earth, a mad dog, a demon, a Turk, a heretic who doesn't believe in Heaven, or Hell, or werewolves even. He lives like a brute beast, an Epicurean swine, an absolute Sardanapalus, closing his ears to all reproaches and treating all our noblest credences as nonsense.
Desde logo, mesmo que se não conheçam outras versões, don Juan é uma personagem cuja caracterização é sobejamente conhecida: um homem belo e sedutor, audaz e vaidoso; um niilista que vive à margem das normas e convenções sociais e sobretudo um homem que reforça o paradigma patriarcal no qual a mulher é a metade passiva a ser conquistada, subjugada como o inimigo num campo de batalha:
It's a delicious thing to subdue the heart of some young beauty by a hundred sweet attentions; to see yourself making some small progress with her every day; to combat her modest innocence, and her reluctance to surrender, with tears and sighs and rapturous speeches; to break through all her little defenses, one by one; to vanquish her cherished scruples, and gently bring her round to granting your desires. But once
one is the master, there's nothing more to say or wish for: the joy of passionate pursuit is over, and all that remains is the boredom of a placid affection—until some new beauty appears and revives one's desires, enchanting the heart with the prospect of a new conquest (...).Nothing can withstand the impetuousness of my desires: I feel my heart capable of loving all the earth; and, like Alexander, I wish that there were still more worlds in which to wage my amorous campaigns.
Por outro lado, a figura de um don Juan é perfeitamente subjetiva oferecendo uma personagem arquétipo pela forma como é dada à autocriação e à autopreservação, oferecendo, no contexto da época uma vertente moralista que denuncia a hipocrisia religiosa - don Juan é um católico cuja fé não consente a doutrina calvinista pela qual se é ou não um eleito, não em virtude dos méritos ou arrependimentos, mas da misericórdia de deus e da predestinação:
What! You still don't believe in anything at all, and yet you intend to pose as a pious, right-thinking man?
DON JUAN
Why not? There are plenty of others who play that game, and who wear the same mask as I to deceive the world.
SGANARELLE
Oh, what a man! What a man!
DON JUAN
It's no longer shameful to be a dissembler, hypocrisy is now a fashionable vice, and all fashionable vices pass for virtues. The part of God-fearing man is the best possible role to play nowadays, and in our present society the hypocrite's profession has extraordinary advantages. It's an art whose dishonesty always goes unchallenged; even if the whole world sees through the imposture, no one
dares denounce it.
Apesar de o interesse de Molière não estar nestas rivalidades entre credos, a sua posição também é uma de censura à igreja que lhe impede um Tartufo de ver a luz do dia e que, muito brevemente após a estreia, encerra também as representações de don Juan (cuja versão censurada continua a circular muito depois de a Inquisição ser desmantelada).
Ainda assim, o seu don Juan salta aos nossos olhos mais como uma figura perfeitamente insensível e surda para a compaixão, para o entendimento do outro, como um hedonista clássico (que ainda não cede ao romantismo dos séculos seguintes):
Come, now, let's give no thought to the bad things that might happen to us; let's think only of what might bring us pleasure.
Apesar de a misoginia de don Juan ser difícil de digerir, a sua capacidade de renegar convenções a favor de uma liberdade total continua a ser um atrativo do mito ao qual se juntam - com o passar do tempo - personagens femininas que (embora com Molière isso não seja tão evidente) oferecem um manacial de análise e contraposição extremamente interessante:
I tell you once again, faithless man, that Heaven will punish you for the wrong you've done me; and if you have no fear of Heaven,
fear at least the anger of an outraged woman.
Quanto mais não seja, don Juan resiste pelo valor de comicidade da peça na qual um libertino é justiçado pelas mãos de uma estátua de um comendador já morto e lamentado por um criado cuja mente já está mais no soldo do que no amo:
Oh! My back wages! What about my wages? My master's death gives satisfaction to everyone: the Heaven he offended, the girls he ruined, the families he dishonored, the laws he broke, the parents he outraged, the wives he led astray, the husbands he drove to despair—they're all well pleased. I'm the only
one who's unhappy. Alas, my wages! My wages! Who'll pay me my wages?