CHARACTERS of The Trickster of Seville: main and secondary

The myth of Don Juan Tenorio was picked up for the first time in the theater thanks to the appearance of "El burlador de Sevilla", a play whose authorship is not known for sure although the vast majority of experts attribute it to Tirso de Molina. It is a work that was published in 1630 and that has become one of the most representative of Spanish theater. The plot revolves around a legendary character called Don Juan who has been present in a large number of artists such as Molière, Goldoni, Lord Byron, Espronceda, and so on. In this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to discover you characters from The Trickster of Seville so that you better know this key work in our literature and you can deepen more in its analysis and knowledge.

Before entering to analyze the characters in El burlador de Sevilla, it is important that we pause on the way to know the summary of this mythical theatrical work, therefore, here we leave you a very brief summary of El Burlador de Sevillathat he will take you into the plot that is narrated between its pages.

This work introduces us to Don Juan Tenorio, a Spanish nobleman and seducer who tricks women to get the only thing he wants from them: a sexual relationship. And this is precisely how "The Trickster of Seville" begins, with a deception that takes place in Naples and that the protagonist does to Isabela, Octavio's fiancee.

Faced with this deception, Don Juan flees to Spain by sea. His ship will be shipwrecked and he will arrive on the shores of Tarragona converted into a castaway. There he will meet Tisbea, a fisherwoman that she will save him and whom Don Juan will also end up seducing and abandoning.

Don Juan will travel to Seville and, there, what happened in Naples will have reached the ears of King Alfonso XI who, to compensate for his disgrace, decides to commit the young man to Isabela. But the Marquis de la Mota will appear on the scene, an acquaintance of the protagonist who is madly in love with Mrs. Ana de Ulloa of which he speaks with unparalleled love and devotion. Faced with this, Don Juan feels the need to try to seduce her by cheating and deceiving her.

Don Gonzalo de Ulloa is Ana's father and, when he learns of the deception that Don Juan has committed against his daughter, he decides to face each other in combat. In the battle Gonzalo will die and Don Juan will flee to Dos Hermanas. At the end of time, the nobleman will return to Seville and find Gonzalo's tomb. Before her, Don Juan will mock her and invite her to dinner.

Against all odds, Gonzalo, already dead, accepts the invitation and they meet for dinner the next day in his chapel. When dinner time comes, Don Gonzalo will take revenge on the seducer by leading him headfirst to hell. With the death of Don Juan, the deceived women can regain their honor and marry their suitors.

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Now that we have better known the story that is told in this work, we are going to analyze the characters in El burlador de Sevilla, starting with the main ones. Although during the plot we meet multiple characters, the truth is that there are some who have a more prominent role than others. Here we discover them.

Don Juan Tenorio, the protagonist of El Burlador de Sevilla

Without a doubt, of all the characters in The Trickster of Seville the most important is the protagonist of it: Don Juan Tenorio. He is a noble man who has a dubious moral since his only goal in life is to seduce and possess all the women who come his way. Also, enjoy more if you get deceive and dishonor them, they are like a challenge to achieve, a goal to achieve. He depersonifies women to treat them solely as trophies, and in the face of his gruesome undertaking, there is no rival to stand. He can put you on the road: in fact, he kills Don Gonzalo when the only thing he wants to do is defend the honor of his daughter deluded.

It's about a selfish character to whom he can vanity. He has an evil engine that makes him enjoy more the more he hurts his victims. He is not satisfied with seducing women but what really satisfies him is taking away their honor and stealing their virginity so that they cannot marry anyone. The lack of honor, respect and ethics are what most characterize this character.

Other main characters of the Burlador de Sevilla

Although Don Juan is the most important character in this play, the truth is that there are other main characters who are key to the future of the play. His presence in the plot is essential for it to unfold. They are as follows:

• Don Gonzalo de Ulloa: He is the second most important character in El Burlador de Sevilla since, due to his actions, Don Juan's fate is determined. He is the father of Ana de Ulloa, a young woman who is disgraced by the protagonist and who, to avenge her, her father duels with Don Juan. He will end up dying in battle but not even dead will he allow Don Juan to get away with it, he will end up taking him to hell to pay for everything he has done.
• Catalinon: he is Don Juan's servant and who accompanies him during most of the play. He gives a lot of very valid advice to the protagonist but that, due to his vanity and pride, he never applies or pays attention. In fact, Catalinón warns Don Juan not to go to dinner in the chapel, which will turn out to be the one that ends his life. His fidelity is the most outstanding point of him since, although Don Juan does not treat him well or pay the least attention to him, he always watches over his safety.
• King of Castile: he is a friend of Don Juan's father and intervenes to try to save the character from what happened in Naples. He is in charge of ordering her to marry Isabela to improve her image and repair the damage caused. The king is the one who embodies the supreme power in the work and who shows that, if you are connected with power, all your sins can be perfectly covered.
• Don Diego Tenorio: he is the father of Don Juan, an elderly man who is strongly linked to Spanish royalty. He is totally ashamed of the acts of his son but his paternal love will try to protect him at all times and, therefore, he aligns himself with the king to prevent the truth from coming to light. Although his direct relationship with his son is cold, the truth is that he will always try to protect and take care of him.
• Duke Octavian: is another of the most prominent characters in El burlador de Sevilla. He is about the fiancé of Isabela of Naples and ends up being unjustly condemned for the actions of Don Juan. He will end up fleeing Italy to take refuge in Seville.
• Marqués de la Mota: he is an acquaintance and supposed friend of Don Juan whom he will also betray. He is about to marry Ana de Ulloa, a woman whom Don Juan also ends up seducing and for whom the protagonist's destiny will be decided.

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Now we will talk about the characters in El burlador de Sevilla that are secondary but are also essential to configure this work and to help us better understand the figure of Don Juan. The most prominent are those indicated below:

• Tisbea: is the woman who rescues Don Juan from the shipwreck on the coast of Tarragona. Without her, the protagonist would have died at sea, but she is equally mocked by the seducer who deceives her, disgraces her and goes to Seville.
• Don Pedro Tenorio: it is about Don Juan's cousin who is an ambassador of Spain in Italy. He is the character who allows Don Juan to leave after knowing the dishonor he committed with Isabela. Without him, Don Juan would not have been able to reach Spain or continue with his lies.
• Arminta: she is another of the women that Don Juan seduces. The way he has to conquer her victims is by promising that he will marry them, however, once he steals their virginity, he runs away and no one ever sees him again.
• Gasen: He is Arminta's fiancé who also suffers the deceptions that Don Juan does to his future wife.

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