Three Major Plays Read online

  Lope also wrote a number of powerful tragedies, some inspired by historical stories, others based on popular or literary sources. Two of the very best of these -- justifying their inclusion here -- are The Knight from Olmedo (El caballero de Olmedo) ( 1620-5) and Punishment Without Revenge (El castigo sin venganza) ( 1631). The former is the story of two young lovers, Inés and Alonso, who foolishly conduct their love affair through the machinations of a cunning go-between, Fabia. Punishment Without Revenge is a still darker piece, its action centred on the womanizing Duke of Ferrara, his illegitimate son Federico,

  ____________________ 4 For a more detailed survey of the plays, see E. M. Wilson and Duncan Moir, A Literary History of Spain, the Golden Age: Drama 1492-1700 ( London, 1971), Margaret Wilson , Spanish Drama of the Golden Age ( Oxford and London, 1969), and Melveena McKendrick , Theatre in Spain 1490-1700 ( Cambridge, 1989).

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  and the Duke's young bride Casandra, who, abandoned by her husband, engages in a fatal affair with her stepson.

  Fuente Ovejuna

  Fuente Ovejuna was first published in Madrid in 1619 in the Docena parte de las comedias de Lope de Vega(volume 12 of his collected plays). As far as the date of composition is concerned, S. Griswold Morley and C. Bruerton have suggested, on the basis of their study of Lope's metres and rhyme schemes, that it was written between 1611 and 1618, and probably between 1612 and 1614. 5

  The action of Fuente Ovejuna is set in 1476, roughly 150 years before its composition, and is based to a large extent on historical events. In 1469 Princess Isabella of Castile had married Ferdinand of Aragon, joining the destinies of the two great kingdoms and paving the way for Spain's great achievements in the years ahead, in particular the completion of the Reconquest of Spain from the Muslims and the discovery and conquest of the New World. Although Isabella did not succeed to the throne of Castile until the death of her half-brother, Enrique IV, in 1479, 1476 proved to be an important year in several ways. First, in March of that year the forces of Isabella and Ferdinand defeated in the Battle of Toro the troops of Juana la Beltraneja and her husband, Alfonso of Portugal, claimants to the throne of Castile, and thus consolidated Isabella's position. Secondly, in support of the claims of Juana and Alfonso to the crown of Castile, the 17-year-old Rodrigo Téllez Girón, Grand Master of the Military Order of Calatrava, attacked and seized the town of Ciudad Real, important for its strategic position near the border of Castile. And thirdly, 1476 was the year in which the citizens of Fuente Ovejuna, a town in the province of Cordoba, rebelled against their overlord, Fernán Gómez de Guzmán, a Commander of the Order of Calatrava under the authority of Rodrigo Téllez Girón, killing him in revenge for his cruel and brutal behaviour towards them. When the incident was subsequently investigated by an emissary of the royal authorities, and the villagers were interrogated and even tortured in an attempt to discover the guilty

  ____________________ 5 S. Griswold Morley and C. Bruerton, Cronología de las Comedias de Lope de Vega ( Madrid, 1968), 330-1.

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  parties, the only response proved to be a communal one: 'Fuente Ovejuna killed him'. Consequently, no individual guilt could be established and no one was punished.

  Various sources have been suggested for the play: in particular, Francisco de Rades y Andrada Chrónica de las tres Ordenes y Cavallerías de Santiago, Calatrava y Alcántara, published in Toledo in 1572, and two works by Sebasti n de Covarrubias Horozco: the Emblemas morales of 1610, and the Tesoro de la lengua castellana of 1611. In the Emblemas morales Covarrubias described the confusion of the judge sent to investigate the incident at Fuente Ovejuna when he is confronted by the solidarity of the inhabitants. In the Tesoro de la lengua castellana he provided a more detailed account of the villagers' rebellion against their overlord, drew attention to the latter's alleged offences against his vassals, and explained the origin of the subsequently popular phrase 'Fuente Ovejuna lo hizo' ('Fuente Ovejuna did it'). Nevertheless, the information provided by Covarrubias is relatively limited in comparison with the detailed account presented by Francisco de Rades y Andrada in the Chrónica, and there can be no doubt that this became the principal source of Lope's play. 6

  In general, Lope followed Rades Chrónica quite closely, but also introduced significant changes. One of the most important concerns the attack on Ciudad Real by Rodrigo Téllez Girón. In the Chrónica he is persuaded to seize the town by his cousin and his brother, but in the play it is Fernán Gómez who urges him to do so. Fernán Gómez is thus presented as an even greater villain, for he is responsible both for the atrocities against the citizens of Fuente Ovejuna and for an act of treachery against the Catholic Kings. The play's main plot -- the events of Fuente Ovejuna -- has a local significance which, through the events of the sub-plot -- the attack on Ciudad Real -- acquires a much more national, political dimension, underlining the fact that it is in part a play about the abuse of political power. Writing it between 1612 and 1614, when Spain was ruled by Philip III, Lope knew that power was effectively in the hands of a royal favourite, the Duke of Lerma. Lope's play is thus a comment

  ____________________ 6 On the sources, see J. B. Hall, Lope de Vega, Fuente Ovejuna, Critical Guides to Spanish Texts ( London, 1985), 11-19, and Victor Dixon, Lope de Vega, Fuente Ovejuna (Warminster, 1989), 2-4, 218-23.

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  on contemporary events, a lesson both for kings and their ministers. In contrast to the essentially weak Philip III, the Catholic Kings are presented as model rulers, eager to bring peace and justice to a previously unruly Castile. When they are informed of wrongs and injustices, they send their representatives to investigate and seek the truth, and, in consequence of the findings, act fairly and justly. Moreover, they inspire a loyalty in most of their subjects which is emphasized throughout the play. In this respect Lope's idealization of the Catholic Kings is little different from his presentation of royal figures in other plays in which the stability of society is an important theme, nor indeed is it very different from the treatment of kings in some of the plays of Shakespeare. In order to draw attention to his political theme, Lope had no reservations about distorting historical truth, in accordance with the Aristotelian doctrine that fiction is superior to history. The fact that Fuente Ovejuna depicts the triumph of the oppressed over an evil overlord should not, however, be taken to signal Lope's approval of revolution. Rather, he shared the desire of his contemporaries for the continuity of established social structures, ending the play, therefore, not with the victory of the citizens but with the restitution of order by the Catholic Kings. 7

  The moral dimension embodied in the evil behaviour of Fernán Gómez towards essentially good peasants lies too at the heart of another of the play's principal themes: the contrast between court and country. Praise of the countryside and condemnation of city life -- a preoccupation of Classical authors such as Horace -- later found expression in European writers of the Renaissance, and in Spain, for example, in Antonio de Guevara influential Menosprecio de corte y alabanza de aldea (Contempt for the Court and Praise of the Village) of 1539. Praise of country life was based in part on aspects of the countryside -- freedom, fresh air, cheap and wholesome food and drink -- which were not to be found in the city or at Court. But equal, if not more, importance was attached to the moral superiority of country people, who were thought to lack the cunning and deviousness of those who lived in cities. As presented by Guevara and others, such a view was clearly both an idealization and an over-

  ____________________ 7 See R. D. F. Pring-Mill introduction to Lope de Vega, Five Plays, translated by Jill Booty ( New York, 1961), pp. xxiii-xxvi.

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  simplification of country life, and so it is, to some extent, in many of Lope de Vega's plays. On the other hand, there are in Fuente Ovejuna village girls who are far less virtuous than Laurencia, the principal female character, and who are persuaded by the Commander's promises. 8 Again, even if the traditional immorality of the city and the Court is embodied in Fer
nán Gómez, Lope's presentation of the Catholic Kings suggests that the Court is also a place where virtue and justice may be found. Lope's treatment of the court-country theme is, therefore, rather more complex than was the case with many other writers of his time.

  Another theme, central to Fuente Ovejuna and extremely popular in the drama of the Golden Age, is that of honour. 9 In the strictest sense, honour meant the respect and esteem accorded to a man who was virtuous, worthy, or of noble standing, and had been an important concept in Spain from Visigothic times. An individual could lose the respect and esteem of others, and thus be dishonoured, in a variety of ways: by being called a liar; by having his face slapped; by having his beard pulled; or by the sexual misdemeanours or the violation of his wife or daughter. The dishonoured man, according to medieval law, was socially dead until his honour was restored, and this could be achieved either by legal means, thus avoiding bloodshed, or by killing the offender of one's honour. Indeed, the obligation to avenge a dishonour done to another member of one's family was fully recognized by the law. Similarly, the law allowed for the killing of one's unfaithful wife and her lover, even in cases where adultery was suspected rather than proven. If the dishonour was a public one it required a public vengeance, if private, the vengeance should be concealed. Furthermore, there existed from medieval times the belief that honour was the prerogative of the nobility, and that commoners therefore were without honour, a prejudice which survived into the Golden Age but which by the late sixteenth century began to change somewhat as the more sensitive Spanish intellectuals began to recognize that all men merit respect. Honour, therefore, began to be associated more with nobility of spirit than with noble birth.

  ____________________ 8 See Hall, Fuente Ovejuna, 81.

  9 On the question of honour, see Margaret Wilson, Spanish Drama of the Golden Age, 43-8; and Julian Pitt-Rivers, "Honour and Social Status", in J. G. Peristiany (ed.), Honour and Shame: The Values of Mediterranean Society ( London, 1965).

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  In Fuente Ovejuna the concept of honour as something which stems from noble birth, and which has little to do with virtue, is exemplified above all in Fernán Gómez, for he believes that his social position allows him to indulge his every whim at the expense of others, and fails to acknowledge that it carries with it certain obligations to those in his charge. He does not, of course, consider that the peasants possess honour and that his violation of the village women and his abduction of Laurencia therefore dishonours them. The play suggests, too, that those who have prospered in life and put behind them their lowly origins are also entitled to respect and esteem, as in the case of Laurencia's father, Esteban, who has risen to a position of authority and power in the village. But above all, Lope advances in many of the characters the concept of honour as moral virtue. It is embodied in the Catholic Kings, as well as in many of the villagers. Frondoso shows great respect for Laurencia and her father, his honest love a complete contrast to Fernán Gómez's lust. And Laurencia herself, abducted by the latter's men, reveals herself to be a woman of principle and integrity, not least in her efforts to inspire the villagers to take revenge upon their unscrupulous overlord.

  A fourth theme, closely linked to some of the play's other concerns, is that of love, which in turn leads to harmony. 10 The relationship between Laurencia and Frondoso is one form of it, but love exists too in the respect and loyalty of the villagers towards each other, as well as in their feelings towards their country and its rulers, the Catholic Kings. The love of the people is in turn reciprocated by Fernando and Isabel ( Ferdinand and Isabella), for they feel a strong obligation to the subjects they rule and to the general well-being of the country. The harmony which exists between Laurencia and Frondoso is thus seen to exist on a broader front in consequence of people's love and mutual respect, and this in turn reflects a divinely created universe distinguished by the love of God.

  Fernán Gómez is the very opposite of selflessness, for he is always motivated by self-love and, far from creating harmony, his influence is constantly disruptive of the lives of Laurencia and Frondoso, as well as of the villagers' lives in general. His treachery towards the Catholic Kings, embodied in the Ciudad Real episode

  ____________________ 10 See Hall, Fuente Ovejuna, 91-3.

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  and stemming from his own self-interest, also threatens national and political harmony, for it disrupts the attempts of Fernando and Isabel to bring peace, justice, and order to Castile. In the sense that man and his world is a microcosm of a divinely ordered universe, Fernán Gómez is also an embodiment of the evil which constantly threatens to disrupt that order. Only with the death of the Commander and the final judgement of the Catholic Kings are order and harmony restored on every level.

  A particularly striking feature of the play is the diversity and liveliness of its characters. 11 From the outset Fernán Gómez is portrayed as a man who, in order to satisfy his desires, rides roughshod over everyone. The ruthlessness of his political ambitions is seen to be paralleled by his lust for the young women of Fuente Ovejuna which, when frustrated, turns to violence. He does not hesitate to take revenge on those who thwart his attempts to take advantage of their women or to have them abducted, as in Laurencia's case. In his relationships with noblemen, servants, and villagers alike, Fernán Gómez is seen to be the very embodiment of arrogance, impatience, and cruelty: in short, a monster who has no redeeming virtues but who, in his excesses, is the very stuff of drama.

  Of the villagers, Laurencia is particularly striking. Spirited in her relationship with Frondoso, her true integrity and independence of spirit emerge after her escape from the Commander, when she confronts the men of the village and urges them to take action against him. Her great speech is one in which, however outraged she may feel, her arguments are carefully marshalled for maximum effect, revealing her to be a woman of intelligence as well as courage. She is indeed a true match for the villainous Commander, and in every respect one of the most memorable and heroic female characters in Golden Age theatre.

  Frondoso is in some ways a kindred spirit: like her an opponent of Fernán Gómez and, in his selfless love for Laurencia, his complete opposite. Indeed, it is this selfless love which underpins his defiance of the Commander, for, despite the risks involved, he is less concerned with his own safety than with Laurencia's. Nevertheless, unlike Fernán Gómez he is always in control of his passions, and his behaviour, whether in relation to Laurencia's father, the

  ____________________ 11 See Dixon, Fuente Ovejuna, 13.

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  Commander, or the Catholic Kings, is invariably governed by a sense of what is correct.

  The other villagers are also vividly drawn. Mengo is the gracioso, the typical comic character in Golden Age plays who has his origins in the quick-witted servants of Roman and, later, Italian comedy, but his moments of bravery make him more than just the village funny-man. Pascuala, resisting Fernán Gómez, defending Frondoso, and joining in the rebellion, is Laurencia in a minor key. Barrildo, arguing that ideal love is entirely spiritual, is an unusually intelligent peasant. Esteban, Laurencia's father, is a man to be admired: a loving father and, as a magistrate, a defender of his fellow citizens against Fernán Gómez's abuses. In short, although Lope places great emphasis on Fuente Ovejuna as a community -- 'Fuente Ovejuna did it' -- the peasant characters are sharply differentiated from one another and presented as individuals in their own right.

  Apart from Fernán Gómez, the nobility is represented by Rodrigo Téllez Girón. Because he is young and inexperienced, he is easily manipulated by the much more worldly Commander, notably in relation to the attack on Ciudad Real. His impulsive youthfulness is revealed too when, on learning of Fernán Gómez's murder, he vows to raze Fuente Ovejuna to the ground. But he also has good qualities: brave in battle and ultimately loyal to the Catholic Kings, towards whom he has acted treacherously and misguidedly. The latter are, of course, idealized figures, but they too have their touches of individuali
ty, especially in their love and respect for each other.

  The Knight from Olmedo

  The Knight from Olmedo was written sometime between 1620 and 1625, probably around 1620, but the first edition did not appear until some twenty years later, when it was included in Volume 24 of Lope's plays, published in 1641 in Zaragoza. 12 At the time of composition Lope was almost 60, and the play was therefore the work of a man who had enjoyed considerable experience of life, as well as of writing for the theatre.

  One possible source was a real event which occurred in 1521, involving the murder of a certain Don Juan de Vivero on the road

  ____________________ 12 See Francisco Rico (ed.), Lope de Vega, El caballero de Olmedo ( Madrid, 1981), 84-7.

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  between the towns of Medina and Olmedo by Don Miguel Ruiz, also from Olmedo, and three of his men. This event may have given rise to a popular ballad which described the murder of 'the knight from Olmedo', and this in turn became the inspiration for the various forms of the story which followed. 13 Against this, it has been suggested that the song which in Act Three of Lope's play is sung by a peasant ('For at night they killed | That noble soul, | The jewel of Medina, | The flower of Olmedo'), appeared for the first time in print in an anonymous play called The Knight from Olmedo, published in 1606. 14 An even more likely source for Lope's play was, however, another anonymous play, the Dance of the Knight from Olmedo (Baile del Caballero de Olmedo), which appeared in print in 1617 in Volume 7 of Lope's plays and was attributed to him, though there is no clear evidence that he wrote it. The 'dance' (baile) was in fact a kind of interlude, consisting of a mixture of dance, song, and spoken word which, in the early seventeenth century, was introduced between the acts of full-length plays in order to provide the audience with additional entertainment. The play in question contains many details which find an echo in Lope's third Act. 15 And finally, he was undoubtedly influenced, in particular in Acts One and Two, by Fernando de Rojas La Celestina, first published in 1499 and one of the truly great and influential works in the whole of Spanish literature. The story of the young couple, Calisto and Melibea, whose love-affair is placed in the hands of the cunning go-between Celestina, and which ends tragically, has many clear points of contact with Lope's play.