The Don Juan Legend

Originally published in 1924 by the renowned Austrian psychoanalyst Otto Rank, this study of the Don Juan legend is a powerful interpretation of one of the most popular themes in Western culture. Also valuable for the insights it offers into Rank's thought immediately before his break with Freud the book was not available in English until this translation by David G. Winter. -- Rank's study draws on psychoanalysis, literature, history and anthropology to suggest some psychological mechanisms that operate both within and the principal characters of the legend and within the audience or reader. In contrasting the original version of Tirso de Molina with later versions by such authors as Moliere, Mozart, Byron and Shaw, he analyzes the changing emphases on guilt, repression, and the role of women. -- Professor Winter's translation is based on Rank's definitive German edition; modifications reflecting Rank's break with Freud made at the time of the 1932 French version are discussed. An introduction by David Winter examines Die Don Juan-Gestalt and its relation to the life and thought of Otto Rank