Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, Dom Juan, ou le festin de Pierre [Don Juan]

Emilia Wilton-Godberfforde (The Open University)

Ed. by Julia Prest, University of St Andrews
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.03: French Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century: Classical and Baroque, 1600-1700.
Vol. editors: Heather Kirk (University of Western Ontario), Kathrina LaPorta (New York University), Polly Mangerson (DePaul University), Julia Prest (University of St Andrews), Allison Stedman (University of North Carolina, Charlotte), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1665

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

The figure of Dom Juan and his rebellious exploits has attracted the interest of many writers across the centuries and much of this enduring fascination arises from his potential both to entertain and disturb. The Dom Juan character is viewed as “exuberant, promiscuous, amoral”, with “a youthful sexuality that knows no boundaries and will dare the abyss” (Mitchell, p. 259). Molière’s version of the story with the Dom Juan figure as crafty protagonist was presented for the first time at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal on February 15 1665 and immediately ran into opposition, arousing a storm of protest. The fact that by the second performance, on the 17 February, a number of controversial …

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3448 words

Citation: Wilton-Godberfforde, Emilia. "Dom Juan, ou le festin de Pierre". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 January 2017 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5555, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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