Popular Culture Review Vol. 1, December 1989 | Page 15

Finally, however, there is another, existential explanation, a
sort of black humor latent in the concept of perdition. Are we all
doomed, and so, laugh lest we cry? Is there even a basic absurdity
in demanding morality from fallible man (here, feminists may not
cavil at the exclusive use o f the masculine noun), when he lacks the
strength to carry out his mandate? The great cosmic jest?
For whatever reason, common man enjoys stories that re
semble the dirty joke. No character in all literature better exempli
fies what makes such jokes run.
West Virginia University

Armand E. Singer

Endnotes
1. There exist several thousand versions o f the Don Juan theme, many o f them
to some degree humorous. The only comprehensive listing is to be found, I must
confess, in my own Don Juan Theme, Versions and Criticism: A Bibliography
(Morgantown, WV: WV UP, 1965) and its five supplements in the Htor Va. Univ.
Philological Papers 15(1966): 76-88; 17 (1970): 102-78; 20 (1973): 66-106; 22
(1975): 70-140; and 26 Suppl. (1980): 1-112. A new, synoptic listing o f all the
preceding versions plus many more is expected in 1990, from the WV UP.
Among many studies o f the Don Juan theme, one of the most recent in
English and the best is Leo W einstein’s The Metamorphoses o f Don Juan
(Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1959). Oscar M andel’s The Theatre o f Don Ju [