The Process of Reversal and Recognition in Mozart's "Don Giovanni"

The opera Don Giovanni was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1787. The two-act work tells the story of Don Giovanni, a womanizer, a seducer and an overall sinner. A literary device that can be found in Don Giovanni is "reversal and recognition." Reversal is the transformation of a character from a favorable condition at the beginning of a piece of literature to an unfavorable condition at the end. Recognition is the evolution of the truth a character knows from a level of recognizing no truth at the beginning to a level of recognizing the whole truth at the end. Three characters that travel through this process during the opera are Don Giovanni himself, and two women Giovanni tries to seduce, Donna Elvira and Donna Anna.

Don Giovanni is, believe it or not, the main character in the production named after him, and goes through the process of reversal. At the beginning of the opera, Giovanni is trying to keep Donna Anna, the Commendatore's daughter, quiet after he has attempted to seduce her. The Commendatore comes to her rescue but is killed in a duel with Giovanni. At this point in the performance, Giovanni believes himself to be unstoppable when it comes to getting women into bed. He often boasts about his "conquests" of seduction, even going as far as to have his servant Leporello list his streak of triumphs, which he categorizes into countries. The first omen of his downfall comes when he confronts a lady by the name of Donna Elvira, who Giovanni has seduced before. Elvira helps protect other women from falling for Giovanni throughout the course of the opera. Also, Donna Elvira joins with Donna Anna, who has recognized Giovanni as the killer after another meeting with him, and her fiancé Don Ottavio. At a wedding feast Giovanni is holding for two peasants, Zerlina and Masetto, the three blame Giovanni, who has tried to pass the burden off to his servant Leporello, for attacking Zerlina in another room. This is the midpoint of Giovanni's reversal. Now, many people are convinced of Giovanni's guilt in the murder and various attacks, and they form a band, led by Masetto, which begins to sweep across the city in search of the scoundrel. Giovanni and Leporello switch clothing in an attempt to disguise themselves but, after cornering Leporello, Anna, Ottavio, Zerlina and Masetto find out he is not Giovanni. In a cemetery, the real Don Giovanni hears a supernatural voice seeming to emanate from a statue of the Commendatore. Foolishly, he asks the statue to meet him for dinner; to Giovanni's shock, the statue agrees. Giovanni has dinner along with two other women, and, unbelievably, the Commendatore's statue enters the room. He asks Giovanni to repent and, upon his refusal, the statue carries Don Giovanni off to hell! The reversal is complete. Don Giovanni, though under the impression that he was too smart to ever be caught, got too involved in the dealings of this community. Once the truth is revealed, word traveled quickly. Although he had many chances to change his ways, he snubbed them and ended up paying his dues in the end.

The recognition for Don Giovanni is a modified version of the normal "truth" aspect and often coincides with the reversal. For Giovanni, the recognition comes in the form of a development of a self-awareness that he can't escape or control his "conquests" all the time and he is maybe not as smart as he thinks. The first tell-tale sign of this recognition is when Giovanni runs into Donna Elvira, who has tracked him down from Burgos. Elvira foils his plan to seduce Zerlina and plants the idea in Donna Anna's head that he is an immoral being. This shows him that sometimes his victims don't forget. Just like the reversal, the midpoint of Giovanni's recognition is the wedding feast. Here he discovers that some individuals are aware of his prior crimes. When Leporello and his master trade cloaks, Giovanni thinks he has escaped danger once again. His strategy fails as the group of angry civilians discover that Leporello is not actually the man they are looking for. At this point in the opera, Giovanni finds that he cannot even manage Leporello. It takes many demands to make the servant ask the Commendatore's statue to visit them at dinner. When, in fact, the statue does appear at the dinner, Giovanni finally realizes his sins will not go unpunished. As Giovanni is dragged to hell, the recognition has finally reached its conclusion.

Donna Elvira, a woman that was added to Don Giovanni's conquest list in Burgos, has a very complicated reversal and recognition process throughout the course of the opera. When first arriving in the town Giovanni has settled in, Elvira seems to recognize the truth already: Don Giovanni, the man she used to have feelings for, is self-indulgent and did not truthfully give her love in return. She confronts Giovanni and her intuitions are proven true when Leporello reads off a file of all the women that have succumbed to his master's lure. The beginning of ACT II sees Donna Elvira admitting a change of heart: she is still in love with Don Giovanni. She listens from her perch in a balcony to Leporello, dressed as Giovanni, serenading her. Afterwards, she quickly meets him in the street below. They take a walk, with Leporello trying to lose her the whole time, until finally Masetto, Elvira, Ottavio and Anna surround who they think is Giovanni. Elvira begs them to let him go, and she is shocked when Leporello reveals he is not Don Giovanni after all. Donna Elvira has been duped once again and is enraged! In Giovanni's abode, a few minutes before the Commendatore's statue appears, Elvira enters to persuade Giovanni one last time into apologizing for the error of his ways. He shoos her away. In Don Giovanni, Donna Elvira's reversal is based on her love for the nobleman. She is a proud, independent woman that wants revenge in the beginning. By the end she has been tricked and disgraced by Giovanni once again and must feel a bit silly and pathetic. This would account for her deciding to enter a convent at the end of the opera. Her recognition seems to function like a roller coaster. She knows the truth at the beginning, disregards it due to her overwhelming love, and then is enlightened once again at the end. If there is one reality that is built up through the course of the story in regards to Donna Elvira, it is that she will never have the full love and devotion of Don Giovanni.

Donna Anna's reversal begins very early in the first act. She is attacked by Don Giovanni and her father is killed when he tries to protect her. We then learn that Anna is the daughter of the Commendatore and she has a fiancé named Ottavio. Donna Anna goes from a life of happiness and privilege to a life of mourning in the first five minutes of the opera. Her recognition of the truth is blurred though at this point, so she makes Don Ottavio swear to avenge the murder of her father no matter who the assassin may be. The end of the recognition comes when Donna Anna and Don Ottavio ask Giovanni to help them catch the murderer. Anna recognizes his voice and, thus, pinpoints Giovanni as the murderer. Although the couple are quick in finding the truth, their happiness continues to plummet due to the pitiful and miserable disposition of Donna Elvira. The reversal continues as Anna decides to reject Ottavio's marriage proposal until he retaliates against Giovanni. At the end of Don Giovanni, after the seducer has lost his life for his crimes against the town, Donna Anna says she is not finished mourning. She agrees to marry her loved one in one year even though Don Ottavio is confident in their love.

Almost every character in Don Giovanni goes through their personal process of reversal and recognition. With Don Giovanni--from a cocky, arrogant womanizer to a man dying for his sins--Donna Elvira--from a victim trying to right wrongs to a woman who is victimized by her own emotions--and Donna Anna--from a joyous bride-to-be to a pathetic griever--you are reminded of the personal struggles and discoveries of truth that take place in the opera.

Works Cited

Synopsis help from Classical-Music-Opera.com (http://classical-music-opera.com/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/don-giovani-synopsis.html)