What is the confrontation between man and death in Don Juan Tenorio?

Don Juan Tenorio: Religious-Fantasy Drama in Two Parts, by José Zorrilla, can definitely be said to have the conflict of man vs. death as you indicate in your question. The actual confrontation can be found in Part 2 when Don Juan is told by the ghost of Don Gonzalo (the father of Dona Inés) that he has only one day to live.

Don Juan confronts death and experiences this particular conflict near the end...

Don Juan Tenorio: Religious-Fantasy Drama in Two Parts, by José Zorrilla, can definitely be said to have the conflict of man vs. death as you indicate in your question. The actual confrontation can be found in Part 2 when Don Juan is told by the ghost of Don Gonzalo (the father of Dona Inés) that he has only one day to live.

Don Juan confronts death and experiences this particular conflict near the end of the play. Five years have elapsed since Don Juan decided to continue his evil ways (by abandoning Dona Inés and killing her father Don Gonzalo). Don Juan returns to Seville and visits the graves of both Dona Inés and Don Gonzalo. At this point, Dona Inés’ statue on her grave comes to live and tells Don Juan that he only has one day to live and that he must choose to live in either heaven or hell eternally with her. Don Juan puts off his decision for a bit when Centellas and Avellaneda arrive, but the three do end up in a sword fight. The third act (being a bit more mysterious than the ones before it), has Don Juan back in the cemetery looking at an hourglass that represents his own life. The hourglass is almost empty. Don Juan learns that he has already been stabbed by Centellas, and Inés’ father attempts to take Don Juan’s hand in order to lead him straight to hell. Don Juan protests that he is not dead yet, and pleads with heaven for mercy. It is the ghost of Dona Inés who redeems Don Juan. The two walk hand in hand to heaven.

Don Juan, then, loses the battle with death, but doesn’t lose the battle with damnation. The reason? Dona Inés. Don Juan does die, even though it is debatable (and argued among scholars) whether Don Juan loses his life in the sword fight with his friends or not. Death wins. More importantly, the battle for Don Juan’s soul, up until the last moments of the play, appears to have been lost. It is only in these last moments that Don Juan finally repents and goes to heaven.

In conclusion, it is important to note that Don Juan has really been cheating death (and, therefore, has been versus death) since the beginning of the play. His numerous exploits and duels often cheat death . Instead, the focus of this particular answer is about Don Juan’s actual encounter with death at the end of the play. Luckily, although Don Juan does eventually die, he doesn’t get damned to hell for all time. Dona Inés takes him to heaven.