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Why do Donna Anna, Don Ottavio, and Donna Elvira wear masks at Don Giovanni’s party?
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Don Giovanni
Illustration (c. 1914) of a scene from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Don Giovanni (1787), in which Don Giovanni attempts to seduce Zerlina.
In Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni, the characters Donna Anna, Don Ottavio, and Donna Elvira wear masks at Don Giovanni’s party because they are determined to expose his true nature to the other guests. By concealing their identities, they are able to enter the party and confront him, eventually revealing themselves to unmask his villainy before the crowd.1