SOURCE: Martin, Eleanor Jean. “A Consideration of the Role of Honor in Tirso de Molina's El burlador de Sevilla.” Kentucky Romance Quarterly XXVII, No. 3 (1980): 273-80.

In the following essay, Martin argues that critics have been incorrect to depict Don Juan as the only villain in El burlador de Sevilla; society and its notion of honor, she insists, are also partly to blame for the social disorder caused by Don Juan's actions.

The mention of El burlador de Sevilla immediately brings to mind the plight of four women, deceived and dishonored by the villainous, unscrupulous, immoral Don Juan. The protagonist's mockery of women's honor is contained in the famous words:

Sevilla a voces me llama el Burlador, y el mayor Gusto que en m í puede haber es burlar una mujer y dejalla sin honor.(1) 

That Don Juan dishonors not only women, but also friends and relatives is well known...