Don Giovanni Essay

Don Giovanni is an eighteenth century opera written and composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The narrative follows the affairs of a young, immoral, and promiscuous nobleman by the name of Don Giovanni. The opera begins with his attempts to sleep with Donna Anna, the fiancé to another noble named Don Ottavio. Before accusations can be made against Don Giovanni, however, his subsequent actions are viewed as he continues to attempt to seduce more women. One of the more prominent characters to appear later within the opera is a woman by the name of Donna Elvira: a past lover and of Don Giovanni himself. Donna Elvira is shown to be a neurotic character, as she constantly obsesses over her past affairs with Don Giovanni and allows her negativity

Lipking focuses mostly on Mozart’s Don Giovanni, making the occasional reference to other literary works for the sake of comparison. Lipking begins by giving a general discourse on who precisely Donna Elvira is in the context of Don Giovanni. Put simply, Donna Elvira is a woman who fell victim to the treachery of Don Giovanni. Don Giovanni entered her life quite suddenly and proceeded to romance her and propagate some sense of love between them. Soon after Don Giovanni took it upon himself to abandon Donna Elvira suddenly, leaving her in a state of despair and madness. As tragic as the scenario appears, it is not particularly unique to Don Giovanni’s Donna Elvira. Lipking notes that “So many women in literature have shared [Donna Elvira’s] grievances...” (Lipking, 36). This suggests that this type of female character was a recurring element of stories at this time. This in turn suggests that this was an archetype, even if it may have not necessarily been established as such at the time. Lipking goes on to state that “... [Donna Elvira’s] case is far from unique,” explaining that “The majority of great heroines and prima donnas, in Western tradition, have been abandoned women.” (Lipking, 37). Lipking then goes on to cite a number of literary and artistic works contemporary with the time of Don Giovanni also involving major female