Language and Seduction in El burlador de Sevilla

Abstract

Seduction in Tirso de Molina's El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra is not merely sexual in nature; it also has serious implications for language, including the ways in which language can be used and abused. In this study of the comedia , I explore the linguistic implications of seduction, relating them to concerns pertinent to seventeenth-century Spanish society and religious orthodoxy. Moreover, this interpretation demonstrates the ways in which Don Juan serves a positive function in patriarchal society as well as the extent to which Tirso was profoundly concerned with language and its capacity both to create and to deceive. By recognizing and recuperating the worldly importance of language as it relates to seduction in El burlador de Sevilla , I hope to restore to the comedia the lessons it offers us as readers and critics. (JM)