Main characters of Don Juan Tenorio

Don Juan Tenoriois, without a doubt, one of the top works of the 19th century Spanish literature. Published in 1844, it is the most emblematic text of the Valladolid poet and playwright José Zorrilla. In this theatrical piece the most characteristic elements of the Spanish romanticism: the exaltation of loving feelings in a dark, gloomy and dangerous environment, the search for individual freedom, fleeing from social conventions or the tragic ending, which usually ends with the death of one of the protagonists, thus preventing love from succeed.

In this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to study the characteristics that make Don Juan Tenorio a fundamental work within romantic Spanish literature. And we will also analyze in depth the main characters of Don Juan Tenorio.

Index

1. Brief summary of Don Juan Tenorio's argument
2. The character of don Juan
3. Doña Inés, Don Juan's beloved
4. Other main characters of Don Juan Tenorio

Before starting to analyze the main characters of Don Juan Tenorio, we are going to delve into his plot to discover a brief summary of this literary work. Don Juan Tenorio it is a dramatic piece with a religious, spiritual or fantasy theme. Its structure is divided into two clearly differentiated parts: first, a comedy and second, a religious-fantastic drama that takes place after five years.

The theatrical action is located in Seville in the mid-sixteenth century where the protagonist, Don Juan Tenorio, makes a bet with Don Luís Mejía to see who of the two is capable of conquering the naive Doña Inés.

Don Juan is victorious in the bet because he manages to win the unconditional love of the young woman but what don Juan did not have is the fact that he also falls madly in love with doña InésSo he decides to ask for the girl's hand from his father, Don Gonzalo de Ulloa, who, mad with rage, confronts the protagonist, along with Don Luis, who ends up killing both of them.

Faced with such atrocity, don Juan decides to flee, leaving behind Doña Inés, who cannot bear the pain of the absence of her lover and dies of grief. Some time later, don Juan returns to Seville and finds the tomb of his beloved Inés.

The work concludes with the image of Don Juan deeply repentant and asking forgiveness for his love affair and his vain conquests. At that very moment, the ghost of Doña Inés appears to him and he saves the soul of Don Juan, who was about to go to hell for having led a sinful life.

Don Juan is the protagonist of this romantic theatrical piece. He embodies all the vices of the time: he is arrogant, womanizer, libertine, disrespectful, selfish, immoral and reckless. He does not believe in anything, he makes fun of death and religion, he uses tricks and deceptions to deceive and manipulate women, of whom he takes advantage of without any kind of regard.

This type of character is also known as the nickname "trickster" and, in the seventeenth century, he will have a real image in the figure of Miguel de Mañara, founder of the brotherhood of Santa Caridad de Sevilla.

Such is the importance and universality of the character of Zorrilla that the dictionary includes the terms Don Juan as a "seducer of women" and Don Juanism to refer to the "set of characters and qualities of Don Juan Tenorio". Moreover, today, when we want to say that a person does not like to commit or have a love relationship with someone but he prefers to be one day with one person and another with another, we say that "she is a Don Juan". For this reason it is essential to study the character of don Juan, since he ise is about a literary myth with enormous influence and repercussion in all subsequent literature.

Another of the main characters of Don Juan Tenorio is Doña Inés. She is, along with don Juan, the other protagonist of this romantic drama. A 17-year-old girl, she is the daughter of the Commander of Calatrava, Don Gonzalo de Ulloa.

Mrs. Ines she embodies naivety and innocence She is typical of adolescence, since she is a pure and chaste young woman who follows to the letter the religious precepts marked for a girl of her rank and social position. From a very young age, she has been in the Calatrava convent by order of her father, in order to avoid the sinful temptations of society.

Despite being a kind, virtuous and religious young woman, can't help falling in love madly of don Juan, which will mean his downfall and his subsequent death, upon learning that his lover has murdered his father and fled.

In addition to the protagonist, Don Juan and Doña Inés, in Zorrilla's work we also find other very important characters within the history of nineteenth-century Spanish literature. Next, we analyze these characters:

Don Luis Mejía, another character from Don Juan

Young libertine who, in parallel to don Juan, defies religious morality and deceives the ladies to take advantage of them. He is the great rival of Don Juan Tenorio in the conquest of the heart of Doña Inés and dies at her hands after losing the bet.

Don Gonzalo de Ulloa

Commander of Calatrava and father of Doña Inés. Like any father, he cares for the good and, above all, for the honor of his daughter. He is a serious, responsible and formal man, who cannot help but confront don Juan when he knows that he has seduced his beloved daughter. His death is one of the triggers for the death of Doña Inés.

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