Don Juan Tenorio - Interpretation

Interpretation

This don Juan shifts away from the moralistic theme of Tirso de Molina's play. This carefree character is much more conflicted than Molina's original and highlights the manner in which the values of the myth can be reinterpreted. Zorilla's play (and don Juan's final repentance) is often understood as an assertion of the author's conservativism and Catholic faith.

Don Juan Tenorio is the longest-running play in Spain: it has become a tradition of Spanish theater to perform el Tenorio on All Saints Day, so the play has been performed at least once every year for over a century. It is also one of the most lucrative plays in Spanish history. Unfortunately, the author did not benefit from his play's success: not long after he finished writing it, Zorrilla sold the rights to the play, since he did not expect it to be much more successful than any of his other works. Aside from the price paid for the rights, Zorrilla never made any money from any of the productions. Later, he wrote biting criticisms of the work in an apparent attempt to get it discontinued long enough for him to revise it and market the second version himself. However, the ploy never succeeded. This is Ruiz's version of Don Juan, because he believed a story can never end sad, and must always have a happy ending.