The Character of Tirso's Don Juan of El burlador de Sevilla: A Psychoanalytical Study

THE CHARACTER OF TIRSO'S DON JUAN OF EL BURLADOR DE SEVILLA A PSYCHOANALYTICAL STUDY GeraldE. Wade, Professor Emeritus University of Tennessee It is apparent that theories to be found in modern psychological systems may provide an added comprehension ofthe nature of Tirso's Don Juan and of his motivations as these are observed in El burlador de Sevilla.(í) Tirso's understanding of what we now call biology and psychology was slight; the concept of his time of the bodily humors could hardly lead to an accurate comprehension of the human psyche, and this in spite of his intuitive understanding of what people were and ofwhy they acted as they did. We assume that the basic elements ofthe human personality are today essentially as they were then, and that the fundamental character traits of a Tirsian-type Don Juan lend themselves to a scrutiny following modern paradigms. As for Don Juan's perversions, there had been no basic concepts developed for them in Tirso's time except that of the Christian's original sin inherited at birth by all persons. Thus modern concepts, whether those of Freud, Jung, Adler or others, may add substantially to our understanding of human nature, even though psychologists often disagree among themselves about the basic elements of their theories. Don Juan's character is not a «pretty» one. To Tirso he was so vile that his author sent him to Hell at the end of the play. Inasmuch as El burlador de Sevilla is built mostly about the protagonist's sexual exploits, it is the sexual elements of his psyche that interest us here; elements other than the sexual will enter in as supportive ofthat major interest. The contemporary psychologist who is to lead us into the character analysis of Tirso's Don Juan is Robert J. Stoller, a physician, a practicing psychiatrist and a psychoanalyst largely of the Freudian persuasion.(2) Not that Dr. Stoller's volume restricts itself to the Don Juan theme or type (even though he names Don Juan twice). Rather, the study that Stoller offers has to do more broadly with the basics of the human personality as these are revealed in sexual behavior. The elements of the sexual theory proposed by Stoller provide the measuring instrument used here for Don Juan. In his Introduction Stoller agrees that some of what he will say is tentative ,(3) since research as yet does not fully demonstrate its validity. He realizes that non-psychoalanysts may be skeptical, and that not all of his fellow-psychoanalysts will agree with everything he says. The reader may or may not find the Stoller theory valid, although it does, for the present 33 34Bulletin ofthe Comediantes commentator, throw plausible light on the Don Juan psyche as Tirso portrays it. It is realized that methods of character analysis other than the psychoanalytic may be pertinent. Their consideration for our purpose here will not be undertaken, however.(4) For the present study, the Stoller book must of course be synopsized. This will be done as briefly as possible. Where necessary, passages will be reproduced verbatim, and numbers will be given the pages concerned. Otherwise, page references will be considered unnecessary. As stated above, Stoller is a Freudian in his basic theories. His task of explaining the psychic element of sexuality is eased by the fact that theories about it have changed little since Freud first elaborated them. He finds Freud's use of the term «sexual» less than entirely clear, and adds: «So let us focus this discussion almost completely on the two areas of behavior for which the term 'sexual' is commonly used: the search, originating in the drive toward reproduction, for erotic pleasure, and the development and maintenance of masculinity and femininity.» (p. 13) Stoller is of course familiar with Freud's concepts of sexuality. Of these, he uses three: that of bisexuality, that of infantile sexuality and the oedipus complex, and that of conflict theory. The fear of bisexuality, a normal fear for most persons, comes from two sources. The first is biological, and it leads men to fear that they may not be manly and may lead some women to want to become like...