The Stone Guest

The Scene opens with Don Juan and Leporello discussing Don Juan’s return from banishment. Exiled by the King for murdering the husband of the beautiful Dona Anna, Don Juan feels no regret for his actions and believes that the King only banished him as protection from possible revenge, thus would not kill Don Juan if discovered. We soon learn that Don Juan is a ladies’ man, and has no limits, whether the woman is single, married, or widowed. He sees beauty and feels compelled to have it for himself. He returns in a poor disguise, that Leporello believes would not fool anyone and wants to reunite with Laura, whom he already assumes is in the arms of another man. Don Juan of course has no problem ridding Laura of any pesky men. We are introduced to Laura in scene II during the middle of a dinner party. She is an actress who appears to have no shame in bragging about her talents whether they are perfectly reciting lines or singing. After singing a song that was written by her past lover Don Juan, her current beau, Don Carlos shows his jealousy. They meet up after the party and Laura confesses her love for Don Carlos only to find Don Juan knocking at her the door. Don Juan and Don Carlos sword fight, resulting in the demise of Don Carlos. Laura and Don Juan are reunited and both suggest an unfaithful past but agree to discuss this in the future.

Scene III begins with Don Juan disguised as a monk trying to gain the heart of yet another woman, Dona Anna, the very woman whom he made into a widow. Since Dona Anna speaks only to men of deep faith, his disguise as a monk allows him the privilege of speaking with the widow. He reveals himself as a man who has fallen in love with Dona Anna’s beauty and yearns for the grief she has over her deceased husband. Don Juan claims to be a man by the name of Diego de Calvado. The two agree to meet again the very next day. Don Juan divulges his plan to meet up with Dona Anna the next day and orders Leporello to invite the statue of Dona Anna’s dead husband, The Commander to join the two lovers the following evening. Strangely, the statue appears to have nodded in acceptance of the invitation. The following evening, in the final scene, Dona Anna and Don Juan are together at Dona Anna’s house. Eventually, Don Juan reveals his true identity as the murderer of her husband. At first she is shocked and faints, but eventually she succumbs to Don Juan’s charm and almost leaves him with a kiss when a knock at the door is heard. None other than the Commander in statue form appears as an invited guest to the two’s secret meeting. Dona Anna faints and Don Juan takes the Stone Guests hand and descends into the depths of Earth.