In Mozart’s opera, Don Giovanni, the main protagonist is a ruthless character who desires nothing but hedonistic pleasure. He constantly harrases women, about 2,000 to be more precise, and disregards them afterwards. The theme that resonates in this opera is Aristotle's concept of a tragic hero. Aristotle gave the name tragic hero to someone that is better than us but, because of his tragic flaw, he meets his downfall. Don Giovanni is always better than any of the the characters because of his nobility. Don Giovanni definitely represents a tragic hero but what is so abstract about Don Giovanni’s tragic flaw is that it could be many things. With so much interpretations of the text, it’s hard to know what truly is his flaw. It could be his perpetual…show more content… Don Giovanni's materialist nature eventually brings about his own downfall. Conversely, one could say that is not his tragic flaw but Don Giovanni’s hubris, excessive pride, brings about his downfall. With all this being said, what is Don Giovanni’s tragic flaw? If one looks closely, Till’s doesn’t do justice in answering this question.
Till tries to explain the Don’s tragic flaw by explaining why he is a libertarian bourgeois materialist and he connects that to his tragic flaw. First, Till tries to explain the motive behind Don Giovanni’s actions when he says, “...and the materialist arguments that man attains his truest freedom in the unrestrained satisfaction of his desires…” “Materialists” are those who only seek pleasure in material things. He further backs up this claim when he says, “...To Giovanni, sexuality is a natural and necessary as eating and breathing…” (Till 213). Don Giovanni can only receive pleasure from material things so sex is his only way of reaching freedom. The Don needs to continuously pursue women so he can reach hedonistic pleasure. Till goes on to compare the Don’s pursuit of women to a daemonic spirit who are but “an a moral, elemental force of nature, an inner, driving destiny”(Till 214). The important…show more content… Some may say that it is the classic hubris, excessive pride, that brings about the Don’s downfall. Don Giovanni shows how full of hubris he is throughout the play. In fact, in the beginning of the play, Leporello lists all the women that the Don has had a relationship with when Leporello says “...Dear lady; this is a cataloger of the beauties my master has loved; it is a catalogue which I have made; look at it, read it with me! Look at it, read it with me! In Italy, six hundred and forty…”(Ponte 19-20). The list of Don Giovanni’s women continues on to list over 1,000 women. This shows how much hubris he has. He is so proud of how much women he had a relationship with that he had Leporello write them down. Don Giovanni carries his pride throughout the play and that eventually leads to his downfall. Don Giovanni’s hubris also gives the Don a false sense of security. In act two, scene four, Don Giovanni and Leporello are in the graveyard next to the Commendatore’s statute. Leporello reads the inscription on the statue: “...Here, I await vengeance on the wicked man who brought me to my death…”(Ponte 100). The message is directed towards Don Giovanni because he killed him. After Don Giovanni, heard this message, he was not scared at all. His hubris gives him a false sense of security so he did not think the Commendatore was a real threat at all. Instead, he invites the Commendatore to dinner when he
