30th Annual Student Research Conference
Don Juan with a Thousand Faces: A Comparative Study of the Don Juan Myth
Sebastián G. Maldonado-Vélez
Dr. Marilyn Yaquinto, Faculty Mentor
The character of Don Juan is of interest to scholars for a multitude of reasons, standing out as one of the first examples of a libertine who seduces women without thinking about the consequences. My project will be combining comparative literature theory and film adaptation theory so as to look at how this Spanish character has been represented in French, Russian and American cultures as a conduit for sins and the damnation of such actions (or redemption, in one respect). The focus will be on three plays (El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra by Tirso De Molina, Dom Juan ou le festin de pierre by Molière, The Stone Guest by Pushkin) and one film (Don Jon dir. Joseph Gordon-Levitt). The main question I wish to answer through this project is to what extent is Don Juan’s hypocrisy represented throughout these adaptations while utilizing unique cultural lenses.
Keywords: Don Juan, Comparative Literature, Literary analysis, Film Adaptation
Topic(s):Interdisciplinary Studies Major
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 307-4
Location: MG 2090
Time: 1:45