The Vindication of Don Giovanni

The Vindication of Don Giovanni

"Analysis is Death." So say those of us who react violently to the analytical approach to art which so often debases that which was intended to be elevating.

Leonardo suffered thus at the hands of Freud. Useful analysis of the product of one man's mind can be accomplished only by the sympathetic and reverent attitude of another's.

With the hope that I may lessen the risk of bad taste that attends this kind of activity let me state that my purpose is to define the stature of Don Juan as revealed by Mozart.

"A man is either a fighter or a lover." So rings this cliche down through the ages. In effect what is meant by the statement is that either of two instincts are paramount in a man but not both equally. The instincts are those of Self-Preservation and Preservation of the Species. Fighting results in the former; loving in the latter. However, Don Giovanni happens to be a formidable hero in whom both instincts vie for prominence. As a fighter he is pugnacious. As a lover he is insatiable.

But then comes the fly in the ointment. The Don reveals himself as a true Greek hero. His pride is his undoing. So long as he relied on his instincts no one could do him in. But it is his pride that leads him to challenge the infernal forces. Let's not make the mistake of allowing for the subversion of the Don's instincts as being at the root of his ruination. What prevails in the Don is something akin to honor, though he pays dearly for it. Why, after all, does he refuse to repent in the end at the demand of the Commandant? If he were as dissolute as some would have us believe he could easily have admitted to anything to save himself.

After being convinced that he is a monumental archetype of the instinctual behavior, we are shown his demise as a result of the fatal flaw. Why, this is tragedy of the first order!