Episode 315: "Don Juan" by Moliere, Introduction and Act 1

The Literary Life Podcast

Angelina Stanford

Arts, Books, Education

4.7 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2026

⏱️ 84 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today on The Literary Life podcast, Angelina and Thomas begin a new series discussing Moliere's farcical play Don Juan. They open the discussion with some background on Moliere's plays in general, as well as other drama of this time period, then the origins of the story of Don Juan itself. After this introduction, Thomas and Angelina read some of the play and discuss some of the key characters and ideas presented in the opening acts.

If you missed this year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human", you can still purchase the recordings at HouseofHumaneLetters.com.

Don't forget that you can find the full show notes for this episode at https://theliterary.life/315.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is not just another book chat podcast.
0:21.6	Lifelong reader Cindy Rollins joins teachers Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks for an ongoing conversation about the skill and art of reading well.
0:32.6	Explore the lost intellectual tradition and discover how to fully enter end to the great works of literature.
0:40.2	Learn what books mean while delighting in the sheer joy of imagination. Each week, we will rescue
0:47.1	story from the ivory tower and bring it to your couch, your kitchen, and your commute. The literary life is for everyone because in the
0:55.9	words of Stratford Caldecott, to be enchanted by story is to be granted a deeper insight into
1:02.2	reality. Join us for an ever-unfolding discussion of how stories will save the world.
1:09.7	This is the Literary Life Podcast.
1:30.9	Hello and welcome to the Literary Life podcast.
1:36.0	I'm Angelina Stanford, and here with me as always is my silent half.
1:39.6	I'm not going to say you're my better half, my silent half, the mysterious Mr. Banks.
1:41.7	Better than being Scanneryl, I guess.
1:45.1	Better than being anybody in this play.
1:55.3	Today we're kicking off our series on Moliere's play Don Juan, which is strangely enough called Don Juan when Byron gets a hold of it.
1:57.7	But that's a story for a few minutes from now.
2:00.2	Welcome. Welcome.
2:01.2	Welcome.
2:04.4	I'm excited to talk about this play.
2:06.0	This is my first time reading it.
2:07.6	This is another Mr. Banks pick.
2:13.3	And I don't know what I expected, but I don't think I expected it to be so funny.
2:17.0	It's more rambunctious, I think, than you might anticipate.
	...

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