He is moreover only a representative
of the bored Upper Ten of the _ancien regime_, and not by any means
unique.
Thoughtful critics contend that Don Juan was an autocrat, a destroyer, a
criminal nature with satanic tendencies, bent on the enslavement of
women, on their social and moral death; that conquest only, not
enjoyment, was his passion. I do not altogether reject this
interpretation, but it fastens too exclusively on the external and the
obvious, and overlooks the essential. What is the reason of his
preposterous procedure? Is he really actuated by the evil desire to
injure the women he woos? Such a motive may occur occasionally (the
Vicomte de Valmont was so constituted), but it cannot be regarded as the
guiding principle of a life--and above everything its pettiness is the
exact reverse of so great and demoniacal a character as Don Juan. Were
he conqueror in the highest sense, then--ascetic and proud--he would be
content with the mere consciousness of victory.
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