Don Juanism

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Don Juanism or Don Juan syndrome is a non-clinical term for the desire, in a man, to have sex with many different female partners. The name derives from the

psychological disorder.[1]

Analytical psychology

Psychiatrist Carl Jung believed that Don Juanism was an unconscious desire of a man to seek his mother in every woman he encountered. However, he did not see the trait as entirely negative; Jung felt that positive aspects of Don Juanism included heroism, perseverance and strength of will.[2] Jung argues that related to the mother-complex "are homosexuality and Don Juanism, and sometimes also impotence. In homosexuality, the son's entire heterosexuality is tied to the mother in an unconscious form; in Don Juanism, he unconsciously seeks his mother in every woman he meets....Because of the difference in sex, a son's mother-complex does not appear in pure form. This is the reason why in every masculine mother-complex, side by side with the mother archetype, a significant role is played by the image of the man's sexual counterpart, the anima."[3]

One of

narcissist variations is the amorous narcissist which includes histrionic features. According to Millon, the Don Juan or Casanova of our times is erotic and exhibitionistic.[4]

Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud explored the connections between mother-fixation and a long series of love-attachments in the first of his articles on the 'Psychology of Love';[5] while Otto Rank published an article on the Don Juan gestalt in 1922.[6] Otto Fenichel saw Don Juanism as linked to the quest for narcissistic supply, and for proof of achievement (as seen in the number of conquests).[7] He also described what he called the 'Don Juans of Achievement' – people compelled to flee from one achievement to another in an unconscious but never ending quest to overcome an unconscious sense of guilt[8] Sándor Ferenczi stressed the fear of punishment (Hell) in the syndrome, linking it to the Oedipus complex.[9]

Contemporary psychoanalysis stresses the denial of psychic reality and the avoidance of change implicit in Don Juan's (identificatory) pursuit of multiple females.[10]

Cultural references

Aspects of the character are examined by

Kierkegaard discusses Mozart's version of the Don Juan story.[13]

Albert Camus has also written on the subject;[14] while Jane Austen was fascinated by the character of Don Juan: "I have seen nobody on the stage who has been a more interesting Character than that compound of Cruelty and Lust".[15] Anthony Powell in his novel Casanova's Chinese Restaurant distinguishes Don Juan from Casanova: "Don Juan merely liked power. He obviously did not know what sensuality was....Casanova, on the other hand, undoubtedly had his sensuous moments".[16]

In the 4th season Cheers episode "Don Juan is Hell", Diane Chambers writes a sexual history study that suggests Sam Malone as a perfect model for Don Juanism.

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-393-04838-1
  2. ISBN 978-0-691-01833-1
  3. ^ Jung, Carl. 1959. Symbols of Transformation. New York: Princeton University Press. p85.
  4. ^ Millon, Theodore, Personality Disorders in Modern Life, 2004
  5. ^ Sigmund Freud, On Sexuality (PFL7) p. 234-6
  6. ^ Otto Fenichel, The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (1946) p. 646
  7. ^ Otto Fenichel, The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (1946) p. 243-4
  8. ^ Otto Fenichel, The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (1946) p. 502-3
  9. ^ S. Ferenczi, Further Contributions to the Theory and Technique of Psychoanalysis (1994) p. 358
  10. ^ Juliet Mitchell, Siblings (2013) p. 178-82
  11. ^ Ian Kelly, Casanova, 2008, p. 335
  12. ^ Charles Rosen, The Classical Style (1977) p. 323-4
  13. ^ Søren Kierkegaard, Either/Or, "The Immediate Stages of the Erotic, or Musical Erotic."
  14. ^ Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus, "The Absurd Man: Don Juanism"
  15. ^ D. Le Faye ed., Jane Austen's Letters (1996) p. 221
  16. ^ Anthony Powell, Casanova's Chinese Restaurant (1980) p. 38

Further reading

  • Juliet Mitchell, Mad Men and Medusas (2000)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Don_Juanism&oldid=1105656430"