Don Juan in Search of Identity in the Play "La Nuit de Valognes" by Éric-Emanuel Schmitt

The first play by the contemporary French writer Éric-Emanuel Schmitt, The Night in Valognes (La Nuit de Valognes, 1989), represents a completely new interpretation of the myth originating from the 17th century, and celebrated in the writings of many subsequent authors, from Tirso de Molina, over Mo...

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Autor principal:	Nikola Bjelić
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN FR SR
Publicado:	University of Belgrade 2021
Materias:	Éric-Emanuel Schmitt myth Don Juan identity search sexuality homosexuality Anthropology GN1-890
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/6b1ad713d99a4345850c18fee4178f18
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:6b1ad713d99a4345850c18fee4178f182021-11-17T19:15:42ZDon Juan in Search of Identity in the Play "La Nuit de Valognes" by Éric-Emanuel Schmitt10.21301/eap.v16i3.120353-15892334-8801https://doaj.org/article/6b1ad713d99a4345850c18fee4178f182021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.eap-iea.org/index.php/eap/article/view/206https://doaj.org/toc/0353-1589https://doaj.org/toc/2334-8801The first play by the contemporary French writer Éric-Emanuel Schmitt, The Night in Valognes (La Nuit de Valognes, 1989), represents a completely new interpretation of the myth originating from the 17th century, and celebrated in the writings of many subsequent authors, from Tirso de Molina, over Molière and Mozart, to Ballester and Handke. The play is situated in a castle in northern France, taking place some thirty years after the well-known adventures of Don Juan, and represents a trial organized by five women, his former lovers. However, the penalty – to marry his last victim, is not executed. The aim of the paper is to argue that in this humorous philosophical play, written by the end of the 20th century, Schmitt is not interested in the problem of seduction, represented in the classical myth, but in the quest of the main character for his identity. His hero does not give the answer to the key question: “Who am I?”, but instead poses the question if our sexual identities are solid and unchangeable. The hero’s search for identity is presented as the quality of contemporary man, re-examining his sexuality through search for love, as well as homosexuality, hinted at in the play as one possible modern identity of Don Juan. Nikola BjelićUniversity of BelgradearticleÉric-Emanuel SchmittmythDon Juanidentity searchsexualityhomosexualityAnthropologyGN1-890ENFRSREtnoantropološki Problemi, Vol 16, Iss 3 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN FR SR
topic	Éric-Emanuel Schmitt myth Don Juan identity search sexuality homosexuality Anthropology GN1-890
spellingShingle	Éric-Emanuel Schmitt myth Don Juan identity search sexuality homosexuality Anthropology GN1-890 Nikola Bjelić Don Juan in Search of Identity in the Play "La Nuit de Valognes" by Éric-Emanuel Schmitt
description	The first play by the contemporary French writer Éric-Emanuel Schmitt, The Night in Valognes (La Nuit de Valognes, 1989), represents a completely new interpretation of the myth originating from the 17th century, and celebrated in the writings of many subsequent authors, from Tirso de Molina, over Molière and Mozart, to Ballester and Handke. The play is situated in a castle in northern France, taking place some thirty years after the well-known adventures of Don Juan, and represents a trial organized by five women, his former lovers. However, the penalty – to marry his last victim, is not executed. The aim of the paper is to argue that in this humorous philosophical play, written by the end of the 20th century, Schmitt is not interested in the problem of seduction, represented in the classical myth, but in the quest of the main character for his identity. His hero does not give the answer to the key question: “Who am I?”, but instead poses the question if our sexual identities are solid and unchangeable. The hero’s search for identity is presented as the quality of contemporary man, re-examining his sexuality through search for love, as well as homosexuality, hinted at in the play as one possible modern identity of Don Juan.
format	article
author	Nikola Bjelić
author_facet	Nikola Bjelić
author_sort	Nikola Bjelić
title	Don Juan in Search of Identity in the Play "La Nuit de Valognes" by Éric-Emanuel Schmitt
title_short	Don Juan in Search of Identity in the Play "La Nuit de Valognes" by Éric-Emanuel Schmitt
title_full	Don Juan in Search of Identity in the Play "La Nuit de Valognes" by Éric-Emanuel Schmitt
title_fullStr	Don Juan in Search of Identity in the Play "La Nuit de Valognes" by Éric-Emanuel Schmitt
title_full_unstemmed	Don Juan in Search of Identity in the Play "La Nuit de Valognes" by Éric-Emanuel Schmitt
title_sort	don juan in search of identity in the play "la nuit de valognes" by éric-emanuel schmitt
publisher	University of Belgrade
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/6b1ad713d99a4345850c18fee4178f18
work_keys_str_mv	AT nikolabjelic donjuaninsearchofidentityintheplaylanuitdevalognesbyericemanuelschmitt
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Don Juan in Search of Identity in the Play "La Nuit de Valognes" by Éric-Emanuel Schmitt

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