Mozart's Don Giovanni and Byron's Don Juan: A cultural shift

A while back, I got to see my first live opera at the Washington Pavilion. Don Giovanni. My favorite. Mozart’s masterpiece, often called the opera of operas. A brilliant work from start to finish. But, as with many operas, and other forms of media, the story of Don Giovanni did not originate with Mozart (or his liberist Da Ponte). His is simply a reinterpretation of an old legend: Don Juan. Some have proclaimed it was Mozart’s opera that gave the legend staying power.Throughout history and even today, artists have been reimagining some of history's greatest stories, often to prop their own worldviews. Some have done this well, keeping true to the source material, some have not. The legend of Don Juan has gone through many such reinterpretations. Even recently, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s directorial debut, Don Jon, fit this category. (I have not seen it.) In fact, with so many reinterpretations out there, I wonder how many truly know the themes, the purpose of the original. Let’s try an experiment. If I were to say someone was a Don Juan, what image pops into your head? A suave, romantic lady’s man who knows how to charm any woman with his beautiful gestures, music and words? (You know, the kind of man I was when I was younger…) Or, do at least we think of Don Juan as a sympathetic figure, as opposed to a creeper. 

To me, it seems Don Juans are propped in our culture. Whereas Mozart’s opera and legends of old portray the man as an unsympathetic figure who only sees women as numbers to place in his book of conquests, refusing to acknowledge and repent of his deceiving, ravaging and murdering ways. 


How has the legend so shifted? Now, I’ve not dug deep into such research, but I think it likely stems from Lord Byron’s version of Don Juan. I read this some time back, mainly because my oldest son’s name is Byron. (Interestingly enough, Tea--the town where I live--used to be named Byron.) And, in my pursuit to read something from all the greats, I thought why not read Don Juan, an epic poem, or as Byron called it, an Epic satire. The poem makes it quite clear from the beginning, that Byron is out to mock traditional thought, whether it be the poets or morals of the day. 

In his epic, Byron portrays Don Juan as a tragic figure whom women throw themselves at because he is so irresistible. Since he cannot control the fact that so many women love him and because society looks down upon such activities, he gets into trouble. Now, I’m not out to say that Byron’s Don Juan is absent of valid criticism, but I think this work illustrates a general shift in thought at the time. A shift that I think is more and more prevailing in western philosophies. That our actions are simply a product of the societies we live in. Improve the culture, and you improve individual. Personal responsibility shifts to societal responsibility. 

Yes. There are people who are truly victims of circumstance. Don Giovanni’s victims were such. But, the cure then, is for the individual who cast such despair repent of such offenses. How can a society make up for such a crime, without reaching the heart of the individual? I believe a societal-responsibility-first mindset is dangerous, for it free individuals to shift focus elsewhere. In the end, aren’t societies simply a collection of individuals? And if no individuals believe they are at fault for a culture’s problems, how will anything get fixed? Ultimately, even the most of the societal-responsibility mindsets are in actuality crying out for our leaders to take personal responsibility in order to fix our problems. Either way, they still cast the fault at the feet of individuals. 

Many see Lord Byron as a voice for the common man, but I see him as just another Don Giovanni. A wealthy aristocrat, who lived wildly, had numerous affairs, and wasted money on lavish living. Byron had his share of troubles. How many were self-inflicted? How many were from circumstance? I don’t know, but to get a sense, he would have blamed most of his trouble on societal issues. (Surely, he had good reasons for some such blamings.)

And, Mozart was quite similar in nature. But, Don Giovanni carries what I believe to be deeper truths. Mozart’s Don Giovanni was given a chance to repent, but refused. Byron's Don Juan had no need to repent, because he was a victim of circumstance. Or, the victim of the standards that were placed upon him. And, within us all (I know this to be true of myself) there is a bit of Don Giovanni. We can look at our trespasses and trivialize them, deny them and/or blame others (as Don Giovanni does). There’s also a tendency to refuse to admit we messed up. But, that is when we must swallow our pride and take any opportunity to apologize and make things right.