Self-Agency and Sexuality in Don GiovanniDon Giovanni, composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, follows the efforts of a libertarian, sexual deviant, and member of the elite of the company, Don Giovanni. Both from the libretto and many interpretations of the text, it is clear that Don Giovanni has a blatant disregard for the "rules" of society, despite his high position in the feudal system in which he lives. His actions are apparently guided by his personal character. whims, which are not “morally” influenced by many social norms or the opinions of others; he has a “sense of action”, motivating his decisions based solely on his desires. Even when threatened into repentance by a statue of the returned Commendatore (whom he had murdered earlier in the room), he remained steadfast in believing and insisting that his actions were not wrong resulting in that he is eternally damned in hell. Donna Elvira, jilted lover and victim of Don Giovanni's sexual prowess, also demonstrates a sense of agency in her public retaliation against him. Elvira denounces him in the densely populated streets, revealing his betrayal without concern for how the proclamation might negatively affect her own social status. However, we see her struggle with her continued physical attraction to Don Giovanni, despite her understanding of his wickedness. How does a character's sense of autonomy or control over their own decisions, especially when they are pushed by societal factors to make those decisions differently, affect their role in the opera? One scholar, Jonathan Miller, in Don Giovanni: Myths of Seduction and Betrayal, proposes the answer that Donna Elvira's sense of her own agency allows her to be Don Giovanni's only true viable "antagonist." His freedom from societal norms, in particular those relating to women and their sexuality, allows him to better understand his “adversary” and therefore to become a better adapted “equal” antagonist. Miller also posits, like many others, that Don Giovanni's free will and freedom from societal norms allows him to move freely as he desires and results in his sexual domination. Miller contrasts Don Ottavio as being “totally [dependent] on a social system,” completely stripping the character of any independence or agency (Miller 87). This answer seems to identify the characters' roles well, but a closer reading of the libretto reveals that Don Giovanni does not in fact have the sense of action he thinks he can have, and the effects of social expectations on Giovanni are more deeper than he thinks. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Miller concludes in his text that the fundamental theme of Don Giovanni is “Don Giovanni against society” (Miller 86). Thus, Miller believes that Don Giovanni acts knowing that his actions are not influenced by the structure of society or societal morality. Miller analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the other characters in relation to the Don, and specifically references the agency of Don Ottavio and Donna Elvira. He also discusses Zerlina and Masetto, but given their feudal peasant status, he concludes that any individual action or societal dependence is obligatory and is not necessarily attributed to their character. However, he finds Ottavio dependent on a social system in all his actions constrained by its structure, and he commends Elvira for her fluidity without regard to societal norms and principles. He attributes part of this praise to Elvira to the simple fact that she "escapedfrom a convent in Burgos. Donna Elvira's escape from a convent indicates that she does not wish to remain in the role that society, at the time, deemed socially appropriate for many women, and physically escapes that role and its setting. For this reason, Miller considers Elvira to be "the only character in the cast who could understand Don Giovanni, because, like him, she moves independently of the prevailing social rules and conventions...[Donna Elvira] is the main antagonist of Don Giovanni" (Miller 87). He goes on to say that Don Ottavio, by being so dependent on the social system: for example, by being blind to Don Giovanni's murderous guilt due to his presumption that a man of high societal stature would be incapable of such an act, has “practically dehumanized himself” (Miller 87). Therefore, Miller's thesis seems to be that the freer a character is from the social contract, the more capable he is of competing with Don Giovanni, and the more "character" he has in the Opera. Don Ottavio is a “slave to social conventions…without any human dimension,” and Donna Elvira is “the most interesting figure among Don Giovanni’s adversaries” (Miller 87). Miller compares the action of all of Mozart's characters to that of Don Giovanni, which assumes that Don Giovanni is the authoritative figure for agency. Although his interpretation offers an interesting insight into the opera's characters, it is both incomplete in its analysis and assumes too much about Don Giovanni. First, Miller's interpretation ultimately recognizes that "Don Giovanni's goal is the satisfaction of power, which must be achieved by the destruction of the greatest obstacle he encounters in his path: the laws of society...The adversary of Don Giovanni is not a single person but an overall social system, and the weakest link in this system is undoubtedly the relationship between the sexes” (Miller 86). Miller assumes that Don Giovanni, as a domineering sexual predator, preys on the weakest link in society, the relationship between men and women. This assumption further implies that Don Giovanni does not follow any societal rules in his conquests, making this the ultimate attack on society. However, observing the manner in which Don Giovanni carries out his conquests, it becomes clear that he does indeed follow certain rules and societal norms: “look, this not-so-small book is completely filled with the names of his beauties; every house, every village, every town has witnessed his enterprises with women” (Mozart 18). Although Leporello, Don Giovanni's servant, makes it clear that it was he who compiled the list, it can be assumed that he would not do something as long and detailed as this without an order from his lord , Don Giovanni (this can also be inferred because Leporello deplores his position under Don Giovanni and would probably do no additional work without being ordered to do so directly) (Mozart 1). So why does Don Giovanni keep a list of his sexual conquests? This would seem to be of no practical use (given that he doesn't return to these lovers) other than to show other people, akin to a "bragging right", or some sort of physical record to prove his conquests. Why, then, would he need to prove it to people other than himself? Surely, if he only wanted sex, he would just have sex without making a recording. In fact, recording one's sexual relations seems to be a way of proving one's masculinity through sex, a way for men in many societies to prove their masculinity, and therefore their worth, in that society. If his goal was indeed to break societal rules, he wouldn't waste his time with this.