This thesis explores the various manners in which schadenfreude – taking pleasure in the misfortunes of others – functions in the theatrical works of Golden-Age Spain, specifically in three donjuanesque plays of the seventeenth century. The first chapter of the thesis analyses schadenfreude as exercised in Tirso de Molina’s "El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra," a play in which Don Juan’s pleasurable deceptions incur the enjoyment of his demise. In the second chapter, a variation on the theme of Don Juan finds playwright Alonso de Córdoba y Maldonado applying schadenfreude as a literary technique in his play "La venganza en el sepulcro." Finally, a female representative of the Don Juan archetype is examined in the third chapter, which features María de Zayas y Sotomayor’s only known comedy "La traición en la amistad." / Graduate / 0465 / 0294 / 0313 / tmak@uvic.ca