Can’t get away forever

Some uncritical citizens believe the press, moderate Republicans, all Democrats, lawyers, judges, and other evil characters have conspired to go after Donald Trump with baseless attacks, prosecutions, and lawsuits. Let’s consider whether Mr. Trump is really a victim.

Anthony Tommasini, in a review of Patrick Mackie’s “Mozart in Motion,” said Mackie suggests Don Giovanni, the title character of Mozart’s great opera, “is pursued nonstop … by the consequences of his own hedonism. This self-destructive imperative drives not just Giovanni, but … [also] claims all the characters.”

It seems clear Don Trumpiovanni is indeed a victim, but of his own doing. His reckless manner was highly successful, until it wasn’t. Look at the people Giovanni brought down: Il Commendatore (murdered, but not on Fifth Avenue); Donna Anna (sexual assault); Donna Elvira (foolishly in love with him despite his repeated cheating), Leporello (the servant/gofer who hates Giovanni but follows his every command); innocent Zerlina (a near-victim of Giovanni’s seduction on her wedding day); the many the Don actually did seduce; and poor Don Ottavio (Donna Anna’s boyfriend, a bit incompetent but propped up by the strong Anna).

There are contemporary comparisons to each of these characters. Many who have helped Mr. Trump have paid a price that the Don himself has yet to pay. They sit in jail, have lost their careers and reputations, or have gone bankrupt while the Don continues his merry way. And moderate Republicans (Ottavio) just sit and take it, unable to stop the rich and powerful Don. Someone (not the Don) always gets stuck with the bill.

In the end, of course, Giovanni is dragged off to perdition by the ghost of the Commendatore, in statue form. The moral of the 1787 opera is clear: You can’t get away with it forever. The only question is whether the 2024 production will play out to that conclusion. We shall see. RICHARD CHAPMAN

Little Rock