Aurélia Gournay
Cahiers ERTA, Numéro 7 Addictions, 2015, pp. 9 - 24
https://doi.org/10.4467/23538953CE.15.001.3631Can Don Juan be seen as a sex addict ? In the twentieth century, authors and critics have tried to understand the inconstancy of the hero and multiply hypotheses to explain his inability to experience true love. The advances of the psychoanalysis and the psychopathology renew the perception of the myth and enrich the psychology of the character as these analyses have inspired the writers who integrate them within their works of fiction. Repressed impotence, latent homosexuality, badly overcome OEdipus complex… Such are a few of many attractive hypotheses to explain the famous « catalogue » of seduced women. Behind this reflection on addiction, the question of Don Juan’s ageing also arises. By allowing the access to the psychology of the hero, novelists also consider Don Juan from the angle of perversion and give us an opportunity to understand a pathological conscience.