The Ambivalence of Sganarelle's Portrait of Dom Juan
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Sganarelle, Dom Juan, Molière, Ambivalence, Criticism, Hypocrisy, Exposition scene
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Abstract
This excerpt from Scene 1 of Act I of the play Dom Juan by Molière (1665) presents the ambivalence of Sganarelle's behavior towards his master, Dom Juan, as he criticizes him while also seeming to admire him. This analysis will focus on the ambivalent attitude of Sganarelle through an analysis in two parts: first, the criticism he makes of his master, then the hypocritical attitude that Sganarelle adopts towards him. This scene serves as an exposition scene and presents the two main characters of the play.
Extract
[...] In this long tirade, Sganarelle strongly criticizes Dom Juan by presenting him as a great libertine. He begins by qualifying him as the 'greatest scoundrel that the earth has ever borne' (line which summarizes the way he considers him. This definition is followed by a list of various adjectives, all more negative than the others. Through this list, we learn that Dom Juan does not believe in anything heretic, who does not believe in Heaven, Hell, or werewolves' lines 21-22), that he is a seducer ready to do anything to achieve his goals ('with her he would have even married you, his dog and his cat' lines 26-27, 'he is a husband to all hands' lines 28-29). [...]
[...] This fear makes him almost deny having confided all this to Gusman at the end of the excerpt: Sganarelle seems to retract himself by saying 'this came out of my mouth a bit too quickly' (line trying to nuance his words. In addition, he threatens Gusman with calling him a liar if he ever comes to repeat all this to Dom Juan: 'if it were to come to his ears, I would loudly say that you had lied.' (Line 44-45) To conclude, this scene allows us to present the respective characters of Dom Juan and his servant Sganarelle: Dom Juan is a man who inspires fear and respects no value; Sganarelle is a comical and hypocritical character who is loyal to his master while not hesitating to portray him in the worst possible light to others. [...]
[...] ] and often reduces me to applauding what my soul detests.' (Lines 40-41). This loyalty is even presented as a real obligation: must be loyal to him' (lines 38-39), we have the impression here that Sganarelle has no choice and that it's a force that surpasses him. From the beginning of his tirade, Sganarelle specifies that he confides all this to GusmanLet's get in» (This means that it's a secret that must not be repeated and that he would not say all this if they were not just between them. [...]
[...] Dom Juan, Scene Act I - Molière (1665) - To what extent does Sganarelle brush an ambiguous portrait of Dom Juan? This text is an excerpt from Scene 1 of Act I of the play Dom Juan written by Molière in 1665. This play features a great seducer, Dom Juan, accompanied by his valet Sganarelle. This first scene serves as an exposition scene and presents the two main characters of the play. In this excerpt, Sganarelle dialogues with Gusman and presents to him 'what a man is Dom Juan'. [...]
