The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest () is a play written by Tirso de Molina. Its title varies according to the English translation, and it has also been published under the titles The Seducer of Seville and the Stone Guest and The Playboy of Seville and the Stone Guest. The play was first published in Spain around 1630, though it may have been performed as early as 1616. Set in the 14th century, the play is the earliest fully developed dramatisation of the Don Juan legend.
Main characters
Don Juan – protagonist (a young noble); relentlessly seduces all women possible by promising them marriage Duchess Isabela – Duchess that Don Juan tricks; she was going to marry Duke Octavio Don Gonzalo – nobleman and military commander, Doña Ana's father Doña Ana – noble woman and Don Gonzalo's daughter; is engaged to Don Juan for a time (but the engagement is broken off)
Secondary characters
Octavio – Duke, Isabela's lover
Don Pedro – Don Juan's sympathetic uncle
Tisbea – peasant girl seduced by Don Juan
Catalinón – Don Juan's servant
Don Diego – Don Juan's father
Marqués de la Mota – another womanizer, who is in love with Doña Ana
Aminta – another peasant girl seduced by Don Juan
Batricio – peasant man who is newly married to Aminta
Fabio – Isabela's servant
Summary
Act One
The play begins in Naples with Don Juan and the Duchess Isabela who, alone in her palace room, have just enjoyed a night of love together. However, when Isabela wants to light a lamp, she realizes that he is not her lover, the Duke Octavio, and screams for help. Don Juan's uncle, Don Pedro, comes to arrest the offender. But Don Juan cleverly reveals his identity as his nephew and Don Pedro assists him in making his escape just in time. Pedro then claims to the King that the unknown man was Duke Octavio. The King orders Octavio and Isabela to be married at once, with both of them to be held in prison until the wedding.
At home, after Octavio speaks of his love for Isabela, Don Pedro comes to arrest him, claiming that Octavio had violated Isabela the previous night. Octavio, of course, had done no such thing, and starts to believe that Isabela has been unfaithful to him. He flees from Don Pedro, planning to leave the country.
By the seashore of Tarragona, a peasant girl named Tisbea happens to find Don Juan and his servant, Catalinón, apparently washed up from a shipwreck. She tries to revive Don Juan, who wakes and immediately declares his love for her. Tisbea takes Juan back to her house, intending to nurse him back to health and mend his clothes.
Back in Seville, the King speaks to Don Gonzalo, a nobleman and military commander, about arranging a marriage between Don Juan and Gonzalo's daughter, Doña Ana. Gonzalo likes the idea and goes to discuss it with his daughter.
Back at the seashore, Don Juan and Catalinón flee, apparently after Don Juan has already seduced Tisbea. Catalinón scolds him, but Don Juan reminds him that this is not his first seduction, and jokes that he has a medical condition in which he must seduce. Catalinón says that he is a plague for women. Tisbea catches up with the two men, and Don Juan assures her that he intends to marry her. Tisbea is so overcome with grief and anger over what happened that she exclaims "fuego, fuego" (meaning that she is burning up with hate and a desire for revenge). She is also overcome with shame at the undoing of her honor and flings herself into the ocean.
Act Two
In Seville, Don Diego, Don Juan's father, tells the king that the man who seduced the Duchess Isabela was not Octavio, but Don Juan, and shows a letter from Don Pedro as proof. The King declares Don Juan banished from Seville and retracts his plans to have him marry Doña Ana. Just then, Octavio arrives, begging the king's forgiveness for having fled earlier. The King grants it, and allows him to stay as a guest in the palace.