Elaine Canning-Lope de Vega's 'Comedias de tema religioso'_ Re-creations and Re-presentations...

LOPE DE VEGA'S `COMEDIAS DE TEMA RELIGIOSO'

Re-creations and Re-presentations

Elaine Canning

Monografías A

Colección Támesis

SERIE A: MONOGRAFÍAS, 204

LOPE DE VEGA’S COMEDIASDE TEMA RELIGIOSO:RE-CREATIONS AND RE-PRESENTATIONS

Unlike his secular drama, Lope de Vega’s religious plays have beenlargely neglected. This two-part study aims to redress the scant atten-tion paid to the comedias de tema religioso by offering an analysis ofthe thematic axes of five plays. Part I, which is concerned with the re-creation of the source material for the seventeenth-century stage,is based on a discussion of La hermosa Ester and the Isidro plays. Thegeneration of a variety of forms of audience reception through themanipulation of biblical and hagiographical material is examined, aswell as Lope’s treatment of socio-literary themes including love andthe role of woman. The relationship between religious drama andmetatheatre forms the focus of part II. Lope’s use of self-referentialdevices in Lo fingido verdadero and La buena guarda serves to highlight the illusory nature of life and the relationship betweenlo verdadero and lo divino which lie at the heart of the theocentricworld view of seventeenth-century Spain. The conflicting imperativesof human and divine love and the issue of identity are features of allof the plays. Furthermore, it is illustrated that the interplay betweenillusion and reality and the relationship between playwright andaudience are crucial to Lope’s dramatic output.

Dr Elaine Canning lectures in Spanish at the University of Wales,Bangor.

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LOPE DE VEGA’S COMEDIAS DE TEMA

RELIGIOSO

RE-CREATIONS AND RE-PRESENTATIONS

Elaine M. Canning

TAMESIS

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© Elaine M. Canning 2004

The right of Elaine Canning to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislationno part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,

published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast,transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means,

without the prior permission of the copyright owner

First published 2004 by Tamesis, Woodbridge

ISBN 1 85566 030 X

Tamesis is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer LtdPO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK

and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.PO Box 41026, Rochester, NY 14604–4126, USA

website: www.boydell.co.uk

A CIP catalogue record for this book is availablefrom the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Canning, Elaine M., 1973-Lope de Vega’s comedias de tema religioso : re-creations and

re-presentations / Elaine M. Canning.p. cm. – (Colección Támesis. Serie A, Monografías ; 204)

Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 1-85566-030-X (Hardback : alk. paper)1. Vega, Lope de, 1562-1635–Criticism and interpretation. 2.

Religious drama, Spanish–History and criticism. 3. Christian saints inliterature. I. Title: Comedias de tema religioso. II. Title.PQ6490.R4C36 2004863'.3–dc22 2003024936

This publication is printed on acid-free paper

Printed in Great Britain bySt Edmundsbury Press Limited, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgements viAbbreviations vii

Introduction 1

PART I: RE-CREATION AND RE-PRESENTATION: THE CASES OF ESTHER AND ISIDRO

1 La hermosa Ester and the Re-creation of the Biblical Esther 9

2 The Re-presentation of Madrid’s patrón in La niñez de San 44Isidro and La juventud de San Isidro

PART II: DRAMATISING THE DRAMATIC: METATHEATRE AND THE COMEDIA DE TEMA RELIGIOSO

3 Metatheatre and the Spanish comedia religiosa: An overview 87

4 Lo fingido verdadero as metaplay 95

5 Doña Clara – saint or sinner? Role-playing within the 128Role in La buena guarda

Conclusion 139

Appendix 141Bibliography 142Index 151

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my thanks to Dr Isabel Torres of Queen’s University,Belfast, for her constant guidance and encouragement, and to my family fortheir continual support. I am also grateful to the staff at the BibliotecaNacional, Madrid and at the British Library, London, for their provision ofessential materials.

The author and publishers would like to record their thanks to theUniversity of Wales, Bangor for assistance in the costs of publication of thisbook.

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ABBREVIATIONS

BCom Bulletin of the ComediantesBH Bulletin HispaniqueBHS Bulletin of Hispanic StudiesBRAH Boletín de la Real Academia de la HistoriaCH Crítica hispánicaFMLS Forum for Modern Language StudiesHisp HispaniaHispan HispanófilaHR Hispanic ReviewJHPh Journal of Hispanic PhilologyKRQ Kentucky Romance QuarterlyMLN Modern Language NotesMLQ Modern Language QuarterlyMLR Modern Language ReviewM.Phil Modern PhilologyNeophil NeophilologusNRFH Nueva revista de filología hispánicaRCan Revista canadiense de estudios hispánicosRH Revue HispaniqueRHM Revista hispánica modernaRN Romance NotesRR Romanic Review

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INTRODUCTION

While the secular drama of Lope Félix de Vega Carpio (1562–1635) hasattracted much critical attention, his comedias de tema religioso constitute acorpus of his works which has been largely neglected. Traditionally, Lope deVega’s religious plays have been analysed and categorised in terms of theirbiblical or hagiographical content alone. Ménendez y Pelayo, for example,divides them into two groups – Comedias de asuntos de la sagrada escritura,and Comedias de vidas de santos – and does not attempt to study them beyondtheir religious framework.1 It is possible that works like that of Menéndez yPelayo, which are preoccupied solely with lo religioso, have discouragedcritics of Golden Age drama from exploring the many other possibilities thatLope’s comedias de tema religioso may offer to comedia scholarship.

Since the publication of Menéndez y Pelayo’s Estudios, some attemptshave been made to redress the scant regard paid to these plays. In 1935, JoséMontesinos stressed that Lope’s religious drama was deserving of further crit-ical attention – ‘El teatro religioso de Lope no ha sido objeto de atento estu-dio, aunque lo merecía’.2 However, very few scholars rose to this challengeand those that did tended to concentrate on Lope’s hagiographical drama.Principal among them are Garasa, Aragone Terni, Dassbach and Morrison.3

In Santos en escena, Garasa provides a summary of twenty-seven plays,together with a general analysis of three aspects of Lope’s principal hagio-graphical works. Specifically, he examines the role of the angel and thedemon, the presentation of supernatural interventions and miracles and thedevelopment of the themes of virtue and sin.4 The fundamental characteristics

1 See his Estudios sobre el teatro de Lope de Vega, ed. Don Adolfo Bonilla y SanMartín, 6 vols (Madrid: V. Suárez, 1919–27), I (1919), pp. 131–316; II (1921), pp. 1–113.

2 See Lope de Vega, Barlaán y Josafat, ed. José F. Montesinos (Madrid: Centro deEstudios Históricos, 1935), pp. 189–90.

3 Delfín Leocadio Garasa, Santos en escena (Buenos Aires: Cuadernos del Sur, 1960);Elisa Aragone Terni, Studio sulle “Comedias de Santos” di Lope de Vega (Firenze: CasaEditrice D’Anna, 1971); Elma Dassbach, La comedia hagiográfica del Siglo de Oroespañol, Ibérica, XXII (New York: Peter Lang, 1997) and Robert Morrison, Lope de Vegaand the Comedia de Santos, Ibérica, XXXIII (New York: Peter Lang, 2000).

4 It should be noted that Garasa, like the other critics examined here, includes severalworks in his study which are categorised as ‘Comedias dudosas’ by Morley and Bruertonin Cronología de las comedias de Lope de Vega (Madrid: Editorial Gredos, 1968), p. 603.

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of the genre are examined by Aragone Terni in Studio sulle “Comedias deSantos” di Lope de Vega, which includes a classification of twenty-eight ofLope’s plays as hagiographical works. In addition, Aragone Terni discussesthe opposition which the comedia de santo generated in seventeenth-centurySpain, primarily because of its use of stage machinery. She also explores theuse of amorous and comical elements in Lope’s religious drama. Dassbachconducts a comparative study of the hagiographical plays of Lope, Tirso andCalderón in her work, La comedia hagiográfica del Siglo de Oro español. Sheis concerned not only with an identification of types of saints, but also withthe ‘espectacularidad escénica’ produced by the incorporation of supernaturalfeatures into the comedia de santo, as well as the function of the sub-plot andthe gracioso.5 Finally, Morrison’s Lope de Vega and the Comedia de Santos,the most recent work on the subject, centres on twenty-five plays, for whichhe provides a summary and commentary. However, Morrison’s work is par-ticularly interesting because it is the first to provide a lucid survey of thesaint’s play in Spain and to investigate the potential dramatic and non-dramatic sources of the comedias de santos.

Interestingly, while critical surveys of Lope’s hagiographical works havebeen limited, his biblical plays have been the subject of even fewer lengthyanalyses. Three Ph.D. theses have gone some way towards acknowledging thesignificance of Lope’s comedias bíblicas. In 1952, Cecilia Ross’ dissertationon La hermosa Ester provided a new edition of the play.6 Subsequently,Robert Shervill conducted a thematic survey of the Old Testament drama ofthe Golden Age by dividing his thesis according to Old Testament characters.7

For instance, it includes chapters on what he terms ‘The Moses theme’, ‘TheTobias theme’ and ‘The Esther theme’. Several years later, Haydee MaceraBurkort studied typological characters and events in eight biblical plays, ofwhich she acknowledged that three were controversial regarding authorship.8

Nevertheless, as Jack Weiner rightly pointed out, Golden Age biblical playsin general are still awaiting full appreciation: ‘El estudio de los temas delAntiguo Testamento en la literatura del Siglo de Oro es un campo que apenasse ha examinado.’9

2 ELAINE CANNING

For the purposes of this study, I will take into account only those comedias de temareligioso of which Lope’s authorship is certain.

5 See La comedia hagiográfica, p. 99.6 ‘Lope de Vega: La hermosa Ester’ (unpublished doctoral thesis, University of

California, 1952).7 ‘The Old Testament Drama of the Siglo de Oro’ (unpublished doctoral thesis,

University of North Carolina, 1958).8 ‘Typology in the Biblical Plays of Lope de Vega’ (unpublished doctoral thesis, Florida

State University, 1983).9 ‘Lope de Vega, un puesto de cronista y La hermosa Ester (1610–1621)’, in Actas del

VIII Congreso de la Asociación Internacional de Hispanistas, ed. A. David Kossoff et al.,2 vols (Madrid: Istmo, 1986), II, pp. 723–30 (p. 724).


If lengthy studies of Lope’s religious drama have been few and far between,articles on some of the individual plays have been a little more apparent.These include Concejo’s examination of the female in La hermosa Ester,Farrell’s analysis of the treatment of Jews in El niño inocente de La Guardia,Gallego Roca’s study of staging techniques in the Isidro trilogy, and Dixon’sexamination of metatheatrical devices in Lo fingido verdadero.10 These analy-ses have undoubtedly contributed to a regeneration of interest in Lope’s reli-gious plays, and have illuminated a need for a more detailed exploration ofthe issues which lie at the heart of them. It will be the aim of this book tocontinue and develop previous research by offering a comprehensive analysisof Lope’s comedias religiosas; an analysis which rejects the traditional,limiting, formulaic classification. My approach will demonstrate that Lope’sbiblical and hagiographical plays lend themselves to a comparative investiga-tion, especially in terms of their thematic axes. While the conclusions of thisbook are based on an examination of twenty-nine of Lope’s comedias de temareligioso, the scope of the study does not lend itself to a meticulous analysisof each play.11 Consequently, the salient features of five of these comediasreligiosas, which best exemplify the concepts being treated, will be examinedin detail. The remaining plays will be cited where appropriate.

I have opted for a division of this book into two sections in order to highlightwhat I consider to be two of the fundamental characteristics of Lope’s religiousdramatic works. Part I presents an examination of Lope’s re-creation of biblicaland hagiographical material for the seventeenth-century stage. My primary con-cern in both chapters 1 and 2 is the concept of audience reception and the play-wright’s ability to challenge the horizon of expectation of the corral audiencethrough the re-creation and/or omission of the source material. In an analysis ofLa hermosa Ester, the comedia bíblica which is considered in chapter 1, Lope’smanipulation of the Book of Esther, in order to treat contemporary issues suchas love and honour, will be examined. Moreover, the possibility of the audience’ssusceptibility to a more subversive reception of the play, involving the degrad-ation of the Christian and the elevation of the Jew, will also be highlighted.

While the re-creation of a biblical text presented an obvious challenge,Lope’s dramatic craftsmanship was tried even more seriously when he

INTRODUCTION 3

10 Pilar Concejo, ‘Función y simbolismo de la mujer en La hermosa Ester y en La judíade Toledo’, in Lope de Vega y los orígenes del teatro español, Actas del I CongresoInternacional sobre Lope de Vega, ed. Manuel Criado de Val (Madrid: EDI-6, 1981), pp. 461–71; Anthony J. Farrell, ‘Imagen, motivo y técnica dramática en El niño inocente deLa Guardia’, in Lope de Vega y los orígenes, pp. 399–404; Miguel Gallego Roca, ‘Efectosescénicos en las comedias de Lope de Vega sobre la vida de San Isidro: Tramoya y poesía’,Criticón, 45 (1989), 113–30; Victor Dixon, ‘Lo fingido verdadero y sus espectadores’,Diablotexto, 4–5 (1997–98), 97–114 and ‘ “Ya tienes la comedia prevenida . . . La imagende la vida”: Lo fingido verdadero’, Cuadernos de teatro clásico, 11 (1999), 53–71.

11 See Appendix 1 for a list of comedias religiosas which form the focus of this study.


attempted to represent the life of Madrid’s patrón. Chapter 2 explores therepresentation of the popularly acclaimed Isidro in both La niñez de San Isidroand La juventud de San Isidro, which were composed for the purposes of thecelebration of Isidro’s canonisation in 1622. My analysis of La niñez de SanIsidro concentrates on the various techniques employed by Lope in order toestablish a relationship between the unknown child Isidro and his adult equiva-lent. It will reveal that, in spite of Lope’s lack of source material relating to thesaint’s childhood, the necessity to comply with the audience’s horizon of expect-ation determined his presentation of a pious, ‘unchildlike’ niño. In contrast, anexamination of La juventud de San Isidro will highlight, paradoxically, that theaudience’s familiarity with the source material granted Lope greater liberties inhis re-creation of Madrid’s patrón, permitting him to present both the saintlyqualities and the more human side of his main protagonist. It is my contentionthat Isidro’s canonisation constitutes a very authentic ‘resolution’ to the plays inquestion. Such a proposition underlines the relationship between reality andtheatrical illusion, which forms the very essence of metatheatre.

It is precisely a concern with metatheatre and the comedia religiosa whichdefines the second part of this book. Despite the ground which has beencovered to date on metadrama and the comedia, Catherine Larson statesexplicitly that this particular area of comedia scholarship continues to providea wealth of investigative opportunities: ‘I would submit that the relationshipbetween metatheater and the comedia still offers the critic much material fortextual analysis. Comedia scholars have accomplished a great deal, but thefield nonetheless remains open for future exploration and study.’12 Stollsimilarly highlights the abundance of suitable material available by insisting‘self-conscious techniques are so prevalent that they can virtually be con-sidered a convention’.13 Nonetheless, not all Renaissance commentators arecomfortable with the application of a metatheatrical approach to the comedia.Consequently, chapter 3 reviews and engages with the debate on the comediaas metaplay and examines the several key studies on this topic. Chapters 4and 5 then focus on the metadramatic quality of Lo fingido verdadero and La buena guarda. Employing Hornby’s categories of metadrama, my exami-nation of Lo fingido verdadero deals with the use of role-playing withinthe role and the play within the play in order to elucidate the fundamentalthemes of Lope’s metaplay.14 In chapter 5, my analysis of La buena guarda is

4 ELAINE CANNING

12 See her ‘Metatheater and the Comedia: Past, Present, and Future’, in The Golden AgeComedia: Text, Theory, and Performance, eds Charles Ganelin and Howard Mancing(West Lafayette: Purdue UP, 1994), pp. 204–21 (p. 216). Since the publication of Larson’sarticle in 1994, a significant number of works on the metatheatrical qualities of bothsecular and religious comedias have appeared. See chapter 3, p. 89 for further details.

13 Anita K. Stoll, ‘Teaching Golden Age Drama: Metatheater as Organizing Principle’,Hisp, 75 (1992), 1343–47, (p. 1343).

14 See Richard Hornby, Drama, Metadrama, and Perception (Lewisburg: Bucknell UP,1986).


concerned with a definition of Clara as saint or sinner, based on her engage-ment in role-playing within the role. My studies of both plays will concludethat it is precisely because of the seventeenth-century theocentric world viewthat the Spanish comedia religiosa can be viewed in a metatheatrical light.I will also go beyond an identification of metatheatrical properties in bothLo fingido verdadero and La buena guarda to examine how these devicesmanipulate audience reaction.

The methodology which informs my reading of the plays in both sectionsof this book is based upon my awareness of the play as only fully realised inthe context of its relationship to the corral audience. Although my interpret-ation of the plays in Part I is determined by an examination of the sourcematerial and Lope’s re-creation of this material, my analysis of how Lope usesthese written texts is ultimately linked to the impact of his re-creation on thataudience. My consideration of a more subversive form of audience receptionis a postmodern concern and is based, to some extent, on the theories ofConnor (Swietlicki), Friedman and Simerka.15 This approach, of course, relatesto my examination of the concept of metatheatre in the comedia. While theterm itself was not coined until 1963 by Lionel Abel, it cannot be denied thatthe fundamental metatheatrical devices described by Hornby are prevalent inthe comedia religiosa. By using a modern theory, I will attempt to illuminatefor the modern reader issues which lie at the heart of the seventeenth century.Clearly, then, in both parts of this book, my examination of the models isconducted very much with a seventeenth-century audience in mind. Above all,however, my study of Lope’s comedias religiosas is concerned with the inter-play between illusion and reality. In Part I, the dichotomy between illusionand reality is a key feature of the Isidro plays, where the canonisation ofMadrid’s patrón constantly inhabits the texts, while in Part II, the doubleimage of individual characters in both Lo fingido verdadero and La buenaguarda is responsible for the generation of audience dissociation. Ultimately,it will be my intention to demonstrate that the critical marginalisation ofLope’s religious drama has been unjustified. The success of the comediareligiosa, like that of the secular comedia, was very much dependent upon therelationship between playwright and audience. Likewise, this book will high-light that the dramatic techniques employed by Lope in both his religious andsecular works are identical, even if some of the issues which he treats in thesecomedias differ.

INTRODUCTION 5

15 See Catherine Connor (Swietlicki), ‘Postmodernism avant la lettre: The Case of EarlyModern Spanish Theater’, Gestos, 9 (1994), 43–59; Edward H. Friedman, ‘Postmodernismand the Spanish Comedia: The Drama of Mediation’, Gestos, 9 (1994), 61–78; and BarbaraSimerka, ‘Early Modern Skepticism and Unbelief and the Demystification of ProvidentialIdeology in El burlador de Sevilla’, Gestos, 23 (1997), 39–66. For further details on thesestudies, see chapter 1, p. 11, n. 8.


PART I

RE-CREATION AND RE-PRESENTATION: THE CASES OF ESTHER AND ISIDRO

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1

LA HERMOSA ESTER AND THE RE-CREATION OF THE BIBLICAL ESTHER

Any dramatist writing during Spain’s Golden Age was acutely aware thathe was writing for a public obsessed by fe, salvación, gracia divina,condenación and of course Dios. Bartolomé Bennassar claims that ‘las cues-tiones de la fe preocupaban en las conversaciones corrientes, en las plazas, alo largo de los caminos’.1 The establishment of the Inquisition in Spain in1478 to maintain religious homogeneity throughout the Peninsula, coupledwith the Council of Trent’s efforts to christianise the masses from the mid-sixteenth century onwards, obviously contributed to the religious fanaticismwhich swamped Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.2 Within thisclimate it is not surprising that the comedia de tema religioso becameextremely popular among audiences of the corrales. For that reason, a signifi-cant number of religious dramas on various themes can be found amongthe corpus of plays attributed to many of the most important, influential

1 See his La España del Siglo de Oro, trans. Pablo Bordonava, 3rd edn (Barcelona:Crítica, 1994), p. 171.

2 The Spanish Inquisition was founded as an institution of the church following PopeSixtus IV’s approval of Ferdinand and Isabella’s official application for its establishmentin 1477. On the role and impact of the Inquisition in Spain, see for example Henry Kamen,The Spanish Inquisition (New York: The New American Library, 1965); Jean Pierre Dedieu,‘The Inquisition and Popular Culture in New Castile’, in Inquisition and Society inEarly Modern Europe, ed. and trans. Stephen H. Haliczer (London: Croom Helm, 1987),pp. 129–46; and virgilio Pinto Crespo, ‘Thought Control in Spain’, also in Inquisition andSociety, pp. 171–88.. The Council of Trent (1545–1563) reviewed and tackled religiouscorruption within the church and took various decisive measures including the institutionali-sation of preaching, the retraining of the lower clergy and the promotion of the position ofsaints. On the Tridentine reforms, see Jean Pierre Dedieu, ‘ “Christianization” in New Castile:Catechism, Communion, Mass, and Confirmation in the Toledo Archbishopric, 1540–1650’,trans. Susan Isabel Stein, in Culture and Control in Counter-Reformation Spain, eds AnneJ. Cruz and Mary Elizabeth Perry (Minneapolis: U Minnesota Press, 1992), pp. 1–24 andSara T. Nalle, God in La Mancha. Religious Reform and the People of Cuenca, 1500–1650(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1992).

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dramatists of the Golden Age, including Mira de Amescua,3 Tirso de Molina4

and Calderón de la Barca.5

What is particularly fascinating about the religious plays of this period ishow they might have been interpreted by the seventeenth-century public.Golden Age dramatists were aiming to entertain an audience which not onlybelieved that events as recounted in the Bible were factual, but which, primar-ily as a result of the oral transmission of detail, was also familiar with theScriptures (preachers instructed through sermons and biblical catechisms).6

10 ELAINE CANNING

3 The plays by Mira de Amescua (1574?–1644) based on biblical narrative include thefollowing: El arpa de David; El clavo de Jael; El más feliz cautiverio, y los sueños deJosef, a dramatisation of the story of Joseph and his brothers; Los prodigios de la vara, yCapitán de Israel, based on Exodus 2–14, and El rico avariento, which treats the parableof the rich man and Lazarus found in Luke 16. 19–31. Among Mira de Amescua’shagiographic plays appear the following: El esclavo del demonio; El santo sin nacer ymártir sin morir; Vida y muerte de la monja de Portugal, and La mesonera del cielo. OnMira de Amescua’s religious plays, see James A. Castañeda, Mira de Amescua (Boston:Twayne, 1977), pp. 109–38.

4 The biblical plays of Tirso de Molina (1580–1648) include: La mujer que manda encasa; La vida y muerte de Herodes; La mejor espigadera; Tanto es lo de más como lo demenos, a dramatisation of the parables of the rich man and the poor man and of theProdigal Son, and La venganza de Tamar, which presents the rape of Tamar by her half-brother, Amnon. Tirso also wrote three plays on Santa Juana which are known simply asLa Santa Juana. On Tirso de Molina’s religious theatre, see J. C. J. Metford, ‘Tirso deMolina’s Old Testament Plays’, BHS, 27 (1950), 149–63; and Francisco Ruiz Ramón,Historia del teatro español (desde sus orígenes hasta 1900) (Madrid: Alianza Editorial,1967), pp. 255–69.

5 Apart from the many autos which he wrote on Old and New Testament themes,Calderón de la Barca (1600–1681) wrote several biblical plays including Los cabellos deAbsalón. Calderón also wrote plays concerned with Roman Catholic dogma, such asLa devoción de la cruz, La Virgen del Sagrario and El purgatorio de San Patricio. OnCalderón’s religious drama, see Lucy Elizabeth Weir, The Ideas Embodied in the ReligiousDrama of Calderón (Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1940). See also‘Interpretación dramática y sociocultural de pasajes bíblicos en Calderón’, in España,teatro y mujeres, eds Martin Gosman and Hub Hermans (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1989),pp. 23–31, in which Hans Flasche compares Calderón’s auto, La cena del Rey Baltasarwith its biblical source. Flasche claims that a comparative study between autos and theirrespective biblical sources, particularly in Calderón’s case, is an area of research stillawaiting investigation (p. 23).

6 The Church and the Inquisition endeavoured to maintain control of instruction inbiblical matters and, for that reason, the Inquisitor-General Fernando de Valdés, appointedin 1547, restricted access to the Bible in the vernacular. Catholic versions of the Bible didnot begin to circulate in Spain until the eighteenth century. Medieval versions in thevernacular did exist, but they were for the most part Jewish compositions. MargheritaMorreale claims that preaching, which was institutionalised by the Council of Trent, wasa channel for the diffusion of biblical texts. See her ‘Vernacular Scriptures in Spain’, inThe Cambridge History of the Bible, ed. G. W. H. Lamp, 3 vols (London: Cambridge UP,1970, 1969, 1963), II (1969), pp. 465–91 (p. 486). Catechisms were a popular means ofinstruction in biblical matters. According to José Ramón Guerrero, the biblical catechismwas a new type of catechism which featured in the first half of the sixteenth century. See

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Similarly, the contemporary audience was well acquainted with hagiography.The cult of the saints, an essential component of popular religion in Spainfrom medieval times, was promoted by the Council of Trent in the sixteenthcentury. Following Trent, the authenticity of the works and miracles of ven-erated saints was stressed by the removal of ‘dubious’ saints from the Romancalendar and the implementation of a series of tests for new saints by theSacred Congregation of Rites.7 The audience’s familiarity with, and know-ledge of, the subject matter of many of the religious plays performed in thecorrales, therefore, raises several key issues. Was it enough for a dramatist torecreate a dramatic version faithful to the biblical narrative or the life of asaint? Could he offer a frank regurgitation of stories and events without run-ning the risk of sacrificing dramatic tension? How did the dramatist challenge,if indeed this was his aim, the horizon of expectation of his spectators whenhe was treating a subject which might be well known to some? Could theseplays have generated a univocal audience reaction or, indeed, could the indi-vidual spectators have been receptive to other oppositional, even subversive,elements of the individual play?8 My analysis of La hermosa Ester, La niñezde San Isidro and La juventud de San Isidro will hopefully approximate ananswer to these questions, or at least provide a better understanding of thecomplexity of creating drama in this context.

RE-CREATION: LA HERMOSA ESTER 11

Catecismos españoles del siglo XVI. La obra catequética del Dr. Constantino Ponce de laFuente (Madrid: Instituto Superior de Pastoral, 1969), p. 169. By means of the catechism,the preacher presented the biblical narrative as factual. Although literacy rates were risingand religious books and pamphlets were circulating in Spain, the Inquisition was primarilyconcerned with the prohibition of biblical material. See Nalle, God in La Mancha, p. 144.

7 See Sara T. Nalle, ‘A Saint for All Seasons: The Cult of San Julián’, in Culture andControl, eds Cruz and Perry, pp. 25–50 (p. 33). Nalle analyses attempts to promote theveneration of saints in response to the threat of the Protestant Reformation by focusing onthe resurrection of the cult of San Julián in Cuenca. According to Nalle, the tests which thenew saints had to pass were set to establish the quality of their writings, heroic virtues,miracles and, if applicable, their martyrdom.

8 The complexity of audience reception is a postmodern concern. Three studies on therelationship between postmodern criticism and the comedia have sought to offer newpossibilities of reinterpreting the comedia. In ‘Postmodernism avant la lettre’, CatherineConnor (Swietlicki) highlights how postmodern theory can problematize traditionalcomedia criticism’s narrow focus and by doing so, can open up new ways of interpretingGolden Age drama. Edward H. Friedman also presents possibilities for analysing thecomedia from a postmodern perspective in ‘Postmodernism and the Spanish Comedia’.He suggests that Golden Age theatre and postmodernism find a connecting point in theuse of metadramatic techniques (p. 61). Barbara Simerka examines unbelief andskepticism in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and focuses on the reception ofunorthodox religious and philosophical discourses in El burlador de Sevilla. She arguesthat the receptive spectator can interpret the play from an atheistic perspective. See her‘Early Modern’. All three critics stress that, unlike traditional criticism, which focuses onorder and closure, postmodernism is concerned with openness, disorder, fragmentation,the analysis of minor characters’ discourse and actions and the importance of subversiveelements.

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La hermosa Ester (1610), the play which forms the focus of this chapter, isone of four biblical dramas of which Lope’s authorship is certain.9 This dramahas been chosen not only because of its controversial subject matter – thetriumph of the Jew – but also because it presents the success story of an indi-vidual who assumed a position of power and authority against the odds. Thedramatic effectiveness of this play will be evaluated in terms of characterdevelopment, the expansion of biblical episodes, the omission of biblicaldetail and the introduction of original material. La niñez de San Isidro (1622)and La juventud de San Isidro (1622), both of which dramatise events in thelife of Madrid’s patron saint, will form the focus of chapter 2.10 The dramatictechniques employed by Lope in his presentation of Isidro will be analysed inan attempt to determine the essence of the image of Isidro which he wishedto convey, whether that of miracle worker, common man, or a fusion of both.I will also examine whether the saintliness of Isidro was exaggerated in bothworks, taking into account that they were written to coincide with the cele-bration of the saint’s canonisation. Ultimately, I hope to explore the possiblereasons why Lope either recreates or omits original source material in hisdramatisations of the respective stories of Esther and Isidro.

The Book of Esther

According to Menéndez y Pelayo, La hermosa Ester ‘merece la palma entretodas las comedias bíblicas de Lope’.11 A tragicomedia written in 1610, it was

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9 Lope’s other biblical plays are Historia de Tobías, El robo de Dina and Los trabajosde Jacob, which have attracted little critical attention. Historia de Tobías is based on theBook of Tobit, a deuterocanonical book of the Old Testament which was written originallyabout 200 BC in Hebrew or Aramaic, but now only exists in its totality in Greek and otherversions. El robo de Dina is based on Genesis 31. 17–Genesis 35. 1. The main action of theplay concentrates on Genesis 34, which involves the rape of Dinah (Dina), daughter of Jacob,by Shechem (Siquen), son of Hamor the Hivite, (Emor), and the ritual of circumcisionforced upon Shechem and all his male subjects by Jacob’s sons. The play ends with theslaughter of Siquen, his father and subjects and the appearance of an angel who advisesJacob to settle in Bethel and construct an altar. Alan E. Knight, in ‘The Enacted Narrative:From Bible to Stage in Late Medieval France’, Fifteenth-Century Studies, 15 (1989),233–44 (p. 236) comments on the ‘inherently dramatic nature’ of the rape of Dinah and itsconsequences. Los trabajos de Jacob was written as a sequel to El robo de Dina and wasto have formed a trilogy with a play on the Exodus from Egypt which, judging by the corpusof works and collection of critical essays which exist, Lope does not appear to have written.It is based on Genesis 37–47, which tells the story of Joseph and his brothers.

10 Lope also wrote a third play before 1622 on the saint entitled San Isidro, labradorde Madrid (1598–1608) (probably 1604–06) in order to promote his canonisation. Thelimited scope of this book does not permit a detailed examination of San Isidro, labradorde Madrid, but comparative references to this earlier play will be made where appropriate.

11 See his Estudios, I, 178–86 (p. 179). The edition of La hermosa Ester used for thepurposes of this study is contained in Lope Félix de Vega Carpio, Obras selectas, estudio

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first published in Madrid in 1621 in Decimaquinta Parte de las Comedias deLope de Vega Carpio with a dedication to Doña Andrea María de Castrillo,señora de Benazuza.12 As its title suggests, it is based on the Old TestamentBook of Esther, a popular story among European writers in the sixteenth andseventeenth centuries.13 Spain was no exception to this trend with the appear-ance of two autos on the story of Esther in the latter half of the sixteenthcentury – Auto del Rey Asuero quando desconpuso a Basti and Auto del ReyAsuero quando ahorco a Aman.14 Following Lope’s dramatisation, FelipeGodínez wrote two plays on the same theme – La Reyna Ester (1613) andAmán y Mardoqueo (1653);15 Joan Pinto Delgado composed a poem entitledPoema de la Reina Ester en sexta rima (1627) and Don Juan Clímaco Salazar,


preliminar, biografía, bibliografía, notas y apéndices de Federico Carlos Sáinz de Robles,2nd edn, 3 vols (México: Aguilar, 1991), III (Teatro 2), 105–35. All subsequent referenceswill be taken from this edition.

12 For full publication details of the Decimaquinta parte, see chapter 5, p. 128. Anautographed manuscript of La hermosa Ester can be found in the British Museum librarydated 5th April 1610. Jack Weiner examines the dedication of La hermosa Ester to DoñaAndrea María de Castrillo in ‘Lope de Vega, un puesto de cronista’.

13 In France, for example, a number of writers adopted the Book of Esther to suit theirown purposes. In 1566 Rivaudeau’s Aman appeared, followed by Pierre Matthieu’s trilogy,Esther, Vashti and Aman between 1585 and 1589. In 1601 Montchretien wrote hisAman ou La Vanité and Du Ryer composed his Esther in 1644. France’s most popular workon the subject is Racine’s Esther. It was first performed at Saint-Cyr on 26 January 1689before an audience which included Louis XIV, some courtiers and Mme de Maintenonwho commissioned Racine to write this work. Racine follows the biblical story quiteclosely, but concentrates on Haman’s efforts to annihilate the Jews, Esther’s campaign tooverturn his edict and the killing of Haman at the end of the play. Vashti is not includedamong the characters and only a passing reference is made to her. Each act takes place ina different setting – Esther’s apartments, Assuérus’ throne-room and Esther’s gardens.Music in the play is provided by J. B. Moreau. On Racine’s Esther, see for example MartinTurnell, Jean Racine – Dramatist (London: Hamilton, 1972), pp. 279–95; Philip JohnYarrow, ‘Esther and Athalie’, in Racine (Oxford: Blackwell, 1978), pp. 82–90 andR. J. Howells, ‘Racine’s Esther: Reintegration and Ritual’, FMLS, 20 (1984), 97–105.

14 These autos appear in the famous Códice de Autos Viejos, now kept at the BibliotecaNacional, Madrid. The characters of the first auto include Asuero (king), three pages, a butleror steward (mayordomo), Vasti (queen) and three wise men. Among the characters of thesecond auto are La Fortuna (Fortune), Amán, Ester, Asuero and an executioner (verdugo).

15 La Reyna Ester was instrumental in bringing about the inquisitional trial of Godínez,who was of Jewish ancestry, in 1624. Amán y Mardoqueo was published in Quinta Partede las Comedias Escogidas de los meiores ingenios de España (Madrid, 1653) and isthe second play in this volume of twelve. Alice Goldberg produced annotated editions ofboth plays. See Alice Goldberg, ‘Felipe Godínez, dos comedias: Edición anotada deLa Reyna Ester y Amán y Mardocheo con introducción’, Dissertation AbstractsInternational, 43.2 (1982), 461A. For further information on Felipe Godínez, see GermánVega García-Luengos, ‘El libro de Ester en las versiones dramáticas de Lope de Vega yFelipe Godínez’, Castilla, 2–3 (1981), 209–45; Alice Goldberg, ‘Felipe Godínez’s QueenEsther Play’, BCom, 35 (1983), 47–49 and Carmen Menéndez Onrubia, ‘Aspectosnarrativos en la obra dramática de Felipe Godínez’, Criticón, 30 (1985), 201–33.

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a Jesuit, published a dramatic poem entitled Mardoqueo (Madrid, 1791). Thesource material, the Book of Esther, which provides the subject matter ofthese works and indeed which offered dramatic possibilities to Lope, meritsattention here.16

The Book of Esther tells the story of a Jewess named Esther who, exiled tothe Persian empire following Nebuchadnezzar II’s capture of Jerusalem, wasappointed queen by Ahasuerus and subsequently saved the Jewish peoplefrom annihilation by Haman, the royal favourite.17 It originated in the first half

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16 La hermosa Ester is Lope’s biblical play which has attracted most critical attention,despite the fact that critical analyses of this drama are still scant in comparison to that ofLope’s other, more famous secular comedias. Edward Glaser’s ‘Lope de Vega’s La hermosaEster’, Sefarad, 20 (1960), 110–35 is the most extensive study done on this work. Othercritics have generally conducted comparative studies. For example, some have compared thefemale characters in this play with those in other works by Lope. See Pilar Concejo, ‘Funcióny simbolismo’ in Lope de Vega y los orígenes, ed. Manuel Criadode Val, pp. 461–71 andDiane Sacks, ‘Breaking the Silence: An Archetypal and Feminist Analysis of La hermosaEster, Fuente Ovejuna and La mal casada’, Dissertation Abstracts International, 50 (Dec1989), 1677A. Others have concerned themselves with an analysis of the representation ofthe Jew in this and other plays. See A. A. Sicroff, ‘Notas equívocas en dos dramatizacionesde Lope del problema judaico: El niño inocente de La Guardia y La hermosa Ester’, in Actasdel VI Congreso Internacional de Hispanistas Celebrado en Toronto del 22 al 26 de agostode 1977, eds Alan M. Gordon and Evelyn Rugg (Toronto: University of Toronto, 1980),pp. 701–05 and Roberta Zimmerman Lavine, ‘The Jew and the Converso in the DramaticWorks of Lope de Vega’, Dissertation Abstracts International, 44 (1983), 185A. Anexamination of the treatment of the Book of Esther in La hermosa Ester and works by otherwriters has also been carried out. See for example Fishlock’s ‘Pinto Delgado’, MenéndezOnrubia’s ‘Aspectos narrativos’ and Vega García-Luengos’ ‘El libro de Ester’. Jack Weinerhas examined the presentation of Esther, both from a Jewish point of view (Ester � Esther)and a Christian perspective (Ester � prefiguration of the Virgin) in Golden Age drama in his‘La reina Ester en el teatro del Siglo de Oro español: dos puntos de vista’, in Estudios sobreel siglo de oro en homenaje a Raymond R. MacCurdy, eds Ángel González et al. (Madrid:Cátedra, 1983), pp. 37–49. Most recently, Nancy Mayberry examined the function of theconcepts of obedience and disobedience, pride and humility in ‘Fearful Symmetry in Lopede Vega’s La hermosa Ester’, Hispanófila, 132 (2001), 13–23.

17 On the Book of Esther, see for example The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible: AnIllustrated Encyclopedia, eds George Arthur Buttrick et al., 4 vols (New York: AbingdonPress, 1962), II, 149–52; The New Bible Dictionary, eds J. D. Douglas et al. (London:Inter-Varsity Press, 1962), pp. 392–94; Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther, ed. L. H. Brockington(London: Nelson, 1969), pp. 216–46; Otto Kaiser, Introduction to the Old Testament, trans.John Sturdy (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1975); and David J. A. Clines, The Esther Scroll(Sheffield: JSOT, 1984). The Nebuchadnezzar of Esther is Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylonwho reigned for 43 years (605–562 BC). He captured Jerusalem on 16 March 597 BC andtook Jehoiakim, King of Judah and many of his people back to Babylon. Major revoltsfollowed in Babylon (594 BC) and Judah (588–87 BC) and many more Jews were exiled toBabylon. Nebuchadnezzar is best remembered for his building projects. According tolegend, he was responsible for the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, oneof the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Ahasuerus is usually identified with Xerxes I(approx. 519–465 BC) who reigned as king of Persia from 485–65 BC, ascending the thronefollowing his father’s death. Between 483 and 480 BC he invaded Greece and when he

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of the second century BC. One of the primary functions of the Book of Estheris to explain the origins of the feast of Purim, an important date in the Jewishcalendar.18

The Book of Esther, before additions, is divided into ten chapters.19 Thefirst chapter relates the dethronement of Queen Vashti following her refusalto obey her husband’s order to appear before him and all his male subjects. Itbegins with a banquet lasting 180 days organised by King Ahasuerus, ruler ofthe provinces stretching from India to Cush, and designed to entertain all hisnobles and officials. Ahasuerus next arranges another seven-day feast for allthe male inhabitants, poor and noble alike, of the citadel of Susa. Queen Vashtiholds a banquet at the same time for the women of Susa. On the seventh dayof the banquet, King Ahasuerus orders Queen Vashti to come before him andhis people so that everyone can admire her beauty. When Vashti refuses toobey his order, Ahasuerus becomes extremely angry and, having consulted hiswise men, he issues a royal decree to all the provinces stating that Vashti hasbeen removed from her office.20

In the second chapter of Esther, King Ahasuerus appoints commissionersin every province of his kingdom to seek out the most beautiful females andintroduce them into his harem for the purposes of selecting a new queen. Thewomen are entrusted to the care of a eunuch, and undergo twelve months ofbeauty treatments before being presented to the king. Among the girls selected


finally retired to Asia Minor, he left his brother-in-law Mardonius in charge of his army.Xerxes was murdered by Artabanus, captain of the palace guard at Persepolis and wassucceeded by his son Artaxerxes I, who reigned from 465–25 BC. In the Book of Esther,no references are made to the historical events of Xerxes’ reign.

18 The feast of Purim commemorates the deliverance of the Persian Jews fromdestruction as recorded in the Book of Esther. It is celebrated one month before Passoverand is characterised by the reading of the Scroll of Esther in synagogues. Held on the 14thand 15th of Adar (springtime), it is a joyous celebration with feasting, almsgiving,dramatic performances and the recital of the text of Esther.

19 The additions, known as the Apocryphal (of Greek: apokryphos ‘hidden’) parts ofEsther constitute six passages made up of a total of 107 verses not found in the Hebrewtext but included in the Greek version. For details on the additions to Esther, as well as theirinclusion in the Vulgate, see pp. 18–20 of this chapter. Details on chapters 1–10 of Estherare taken from Holy Bible: New International Version (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1979),pp. 567–76.

20 According to Jack Weiner and Edward Glaser, Josephus’ Jewish Antiquities was alsoan important source of reference for Lope on the story of Esther. See, respectively, ‘La reinaEster’, p. 38 and ‘La hermosa Ester’, p. 112. In Jewish Antiquities, which appearedAD 93–94, Josephus paraphrases the Book of Esther. Unlike the Biblical version of the story,he also provides a reason for Vashti’s refusal to obey Ahasuerus. Josephus states: ‘She,however, in observance of the laws of the Persians, which forbid their women to be seen bystrangers, did not go to the king’. See Flavius Josephus, Josephus, trans. Henry St JohnThackeray et al., The Loeb Classical Library, 9 vols (London: Heinemann, 1926–65), VI,trans. Ralph Marcus (1937), 403–57 (p. 407). Note: Jewish Antiquities is contained in volsIV–IX (1930–65).

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is Esther, daughter of Abihail, a Jewess who has been brought up by hercousin Mordecai. She enters the harem under strict orders from Mordecai notto reveal her background and origins. Esther appears before Ahasuerus in themonth of Tebeth (tenth month) and immediately wins his favour.21 She isappointed queen and a banquet is held in her name.22 Afterwards Mordecai,while seated at the palace gates, overhears two of the royal officials, Bigthanaand Teresh, plotting to kill the king. He reports this incident to Esther whosubsequently informs the king, and both guards are hanged.

Chapter 3 discloses Haman’s plot to destroy the Jews. Haman is honouredby King Ahasuerus and elevated to a status higher than that of any other noble.The king orders everyone to kneel down and pay homage to Haman, butMordecai refuses to do so. The royal officials inform Haman not only ofMordecai’s resistance but also of the fact that he is a Jew. Haman decides totake revenge not only on Mordecai but on all the Jews in Ahasuerus’ kingdomand the pur (the lot) is cast to select a day and month. It falls on the thirteenthday of the month of Adar (twelfth month).23 Haman informs the king thatthere are people within his kingdom who do not obey his laws and insteadpractise their own customs. He proposes that those people (i.e. the Jews)should be destroyed. Ahasuerus grants Haman permission to do just that andHaman proceeds to issue a royal decree, sealed with the king’s ring, pro-claiming the annihilation of all Jews on the thirteenth day of Adar.

Mordecai’s reaction to Haman’s edict and his request for Esther’s assist-ance are described in chapter 4. At the beginning of this chapter, Mordecai haslearned of the edict to destroy his race and immediately reacts by tearing hisclothes and putting on sackcloth. Esther summons Hathach to find out what istroubling her cousin. Mordecai informs Hathach about the edict, gives a copyof it to him for Esther and asks him to urge Esther to intercede with the kingfor the survival of her people. Mordecai is ordered by the queen to gathertogether all the Jews in Susa and to fast for three days and nights. When thefast has been completed, Esther will present herself before the king (it isimportant to note that any individual who appeared before the king withoutbeing summoned would be put to death. If, however, the king extended thegold sceptre, the male or female subject’s life would be spared).

In chapter 5, Esther approaches the king and the gold sceptre is extendedto her. Esther invites both the king and Haman to a banquet that same day.

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21 Josephus does not mention when Esther appeared before the king, but states that thewedding took place in the month of Adar (the twelfth month). See Josephus, p. 411. In thebiblical narrative we are not told when the wedding took place.

22 Josephus claims that the celebrations lasted a month (Josephus, p. 411). However,the Hebrew version of the Book of Esther does not state how long they lasted. On Lope’suse of the Hebrew version, see p. 19, n. 30.

23 In Josephus, p. 421, the date given is the 14th of Adar. In Addition B of theApocrypha, the fourteenth is also the date given.

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During the banquet, the king asks Esther what she wants from him and shereplies that she will voice her request at a second banquet the following day.As Haman sets off home, he passes Mordecai at the palace gates who againdemonstrates his determination to deny the royal favourite respect. At home,Haman expresses his discontent with Mordecai to his wife, Zeresh, and hisfriends. They propose that he build a gallows 75 feet high and seek royalpermission the following morning to hang Mordecai.24

Chapter 6 of Esther focuses on the royal reward attributed to Mordecai foruncovering the planned assassination of the king. The chapter begins withthe reading of the Book of Chronicles to Ahasuerus and the king’s suddendiscovery that Mordecai has not received any payment for saving his life.Ahasuerus summons Haman and invites him to suggest the treatment whichshould be bestowed upon a man whom he wishes to honour. Haman, con-vinced that the king is referring to him, recommends that the individual shouldbe dressed in a royal robe and led through the streets of the city on a horsewhich the king himself has ridden. Ahasuerus then instructs Haman to dressMordecai accordingly and lead him through the streets. At the end of thischapter, Haman is escorted back to the palace for Esther’s second banquet bytwo eunuchs, having informed Zeresh and his companions of the day’s eventsand listened to their comments that he cannot seek revenge on Mordecai or hewill come to ruin.25

In chapter 7 we learn how the king reacted to news of Haman’s planneddestruction of the Persian Jews and the course of action taken against theroyal favourite. At the second banquet, Esther implores Ahasuerus to sparethe lives of both herself and her people. When the king asks who has threat-ened his queen and subjects, Esther denounces Haman. The king leavesthe banquet in a rage and Haman, alone with Esther, takes the opportunityto beg for her forgiveness. On his return to the banqueting hall, Ahasueruswitnesses Haman falling onto the queen’s couch and accuses him of theattempted molestation of his wife. Haman is hanged on the gallows which hehimself built.

Following the death of Haman, chapter 8 opens with the presentationof Haman’s estate to Esther and the offering of the royal signet ring toMordecai by the king. Esther beseeches Ahasuerus to issue an order overrulingHaman’s edict against the Jews. The king responds by granting Mordecai andEsther permission to dispatch a new decree in his name on behalf of the Jews.


24 In Josephus, the recommendation to destroy Mordecai is made by Haman’s wife, notthe group. Josephus also refers to the crucifixion, rather than the hanging of Mordecai:‘Then Zarasa, his wife, told him to order a tree sixty cubits high to be cut down, and in themorning ask the king for leave to crucify Mordecai’. See Josephus, p. 433.

25 In note d., p. 439 of Josephus, Ralph Marcus states that reference to protection byGod is not included in the Hebrew version of the Bible. Hence Haman’s predicted failureis unexplained.

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The new edict is written, sealed and sent to all the provinces in the kingdom,bestowing upon the Jews the right to destroy and kill any hostile armed forceon the thirteenth day of the month of Adar.

Chapter 9 describes the triumph of the Jews and the establishment of thefeast of Purim. It relates how, on the thirteenth day of Adar, the Jews assem-ble in their cities to defend themselves and destroy the enemy. In the citadelof Susa, the Jews kill five hundred men, as well as the ten sons of Haman.26

Esther seeks royal permission to carry out the dictates of the edict a secondtime in Susa on the fourteenth of Adar and obtains her request. In the otherprovinces of the kingdom, the Jews kill a total of 75,000 enemies on the thir-teenth of Adar. This is followed by the writing and sending of letters by Estherand Mordecai to all the Jews within Ahasuerus’ dominion to fix a formalcelebration of the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar known as Purim (frompur, the lot). The days of Purim were to be celebrated with feasting and theexchange of presents. The protocanonical text of the Book of Esther ends withchapter 10, a short, straightforward account of the importance of Mordecai theJew within the Persian empire.27

What is unique about the Book of Esther is that, unlike every other book inthe Old Testament, there are no references to God, even though it is implicitthat Esther is guided by a divine force in her mission to save the PersianJews.28 It is quite possible, as Bruce Metzger suggests, that the author ofEsther wrote at some period when it was extremely dangerous to publiclyadmit to the worship of Jehovah.29 The Apocryphal Esther differs from theprotocanonical text due to the abundance of references to God and his divinequalities. In fact, of the six additions which constitute the Apocryphal ordeuterocanonical parts of Esther, all except one contain the name of God.These additions cannot be overlooked since, at the time of composition ofLa hermosa Ester, they were readily available to Lope. Specifically, theyappeared in the form of an appendix following the canonical text of Esther in

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26 The death of Haman’s sons is confusing in Scripture. In Esther 9. 13, Esther seekspermission for the ten sons of Haman to be hanged, despite the fact that in Esther 9. 11,reference is made to the massacre of Haman’s sons. Josephus avoids this ambiguity. Hementions the massacre of five hundred enemies but does not include the annihilation ofHaman’s sons on the 13th of Adar. Instead, he writes that Esther begged for permission tocrucify the ten sons of Haman on the 14th of Adar. See Josephus, p. 453.

27 The attribution of Esther 9. 20–10. 3 to the original narrator of the Book of Estherhas caused concern among scholars. In Ezra, p. 221, Brockington states: ‘In its Hebrewform the book seems to have been expanded at a very early time by the addition of9. 20–10. 3.’ In The Esther Scroll, Clines refers to the scholarly debate and examines thedifficulties presented by what he terms as appendices. See chapter 4, ‘The Appendices ofthe Esther Scroll in The Esther Scroll (Sheffield: JSOT, 1984) (9. 20–10. 3)’, pp. 50–63.

28 The Book of Esther was considered a nationalist text by many of its critics as a resultof its emphasis on Judaism and Judaic practices. Martin Luther was a great enemy of it.

29 See his An Introduction to the Apocrypha (New York: OUP, 1957), p. 62.

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the Vulgate, the bible which most certainly provided Lope with the biblicalsources of his plays.30 The additions, as we will see, would influence howLope presented the story of Esther in his drama.31 According to EdwardGlaser, ‘While Lope uses, of course, both the protocanonical and the deutero-canonical portions of the Old Testament book, he favors, whenever possible,the Greek Esther’.32

The first addition (Addition A: 11. 2–12. 6) tells the story of the dream ofMordecai. Mordecai has a dream in which he sees two dragons roaring andpreparing to fight. As the dragons roar, every nation gets ready to fight againstthe Jews, who beseech God’s mercy and help. Next, a great river emergesfrom a tiny spring and the needy are exalted. When Mordecai awakens, hehears two eunuchs plotting the assassination of Ahasuerus. He informs theking of their plan and is granted a position at court as reward for savingAhasuerus’ life. Haman, meanwhile, decides to kill Mordecai and his people.The significance of Mordecai’s dream is explained in the sixth addition(Addition F: 10. 4–11. 1) where Mordecai recognises the influence of divineintervention in saving the Jews from annihilation. The two dragons in thedream represented Mordecai and Haman and the river which developed froma tiny spring was Esther.

What constitutes the second addition (Addition B: 13. 1–7) is a copy of thesupposed edict issued by Haman proclaiming the massacre of the Jews. Thefifth addition (Addition E: 16. 1–24) also takes the form of an edict, only thistime it is the one which serves to counteract Haman’s previous decree.33

Addition C (13. 8–14. 19) is quite a long addition in which the prayers ofMordecai and Esther beseeching God’s divine assistance are presented in


30 The Vulgate is a fourth-century standard Latin version of the bible translated fromHebrew and written by St Jerome. Jerome was commissioned by Pope Damascus toprepare this bible. When he translated the Book of Esther, he then gathered together theadditions which he found in old Latin copies and added them to the end of his translationwith accompanying notes. The notes indicated where each addition belonged in thecanonical book. The Latin additions had come from a Greek version of the bible datingfrom the first or second century before Christ. At that time, Lysimachus translated theHebrew text of Esther into Greek, but at six different places in the narrative he or someoneelse added episodes not originally found in the Hebrew. It is these additions known asApocryphal or deuterocanonical which were subsequently translated into Latin and laterincluded in the Vulgate. In 1546, the Council of Trent decreed the inclusion of thedeuterocanonical texts in the Roman Catholic canon.

31 Details on the Apocryphal additions are taken from Metzger, An Introduction,pp. 56–61. Metzger suggests where these additions can be integrated into the canonicalframework of Esther in order to make sense. On the Apocrypha, see also ‘The SeptuagintEsther’, in Clines, The Esther Scroll, pp. 69–70 and W. O. E. Oesterley, An Introduction tothe Books of the Apocrypha (London: Macmillan, 1935), pp. 183–95.

32 ‘La hermosa Ester’, p. 112.33 Josephus integrates Addition B into his work (see pp. 419–21) and paraphrases

Addition E (pp. 445–51).

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detail.34 References to the omniscience of God abound in this text. Mordecai’sprayer is a justification concerning why he will not bow down to Haman. Heexalts God, stressing that only He is worthy of such reverence. He ends hisprayer begging God to save his people (13. 15). Esther exchanges her royalattire for clothes which symbolise mourning before addressing God. She asksfor strength and guidance when she appears before the king and emphasisesher reliance on Divine help in order to complete her mission successfully. Itis clearly highlighted here that God, the Divine, works through Esther in orderto save the people of Israel.

Finally, Addition D (15. 1–16) is a longer, more detailed version of Esther’sappearance before King Ahasuerus.35 It relates how the king initially becameextremely angry at Esther’s entrance to the throne-room, causing her to faint,and how God changed Ahasuerus’ attitude in such a way that he calmly offeredEsther the opportunity to present her petition when she regained consciousness.

Lope’s La hermosa Ester

When Lope decided to write La hermosa Ester in 1610, he clearly recog-nised the dramatic potential of the biblical narrative. However, despite the factthat he followed the basic plot and sequence of events of the Book of Esther,his play is much more than a simple, faithful retelling of the primary text, assome critics have suggested.36 Like the Book of Esther, Act I of La hermosaEster begins with details of the banquet hosted by King Ahasuerus (Asuero inthe play) for all his subjects. Next, Lope presents the disobedience and subse-quent dethronement of Vashti (Vastí in La hermosa Ester) and ends the first actwith the election of Esther (Ester) as queen. Act II opens with Mordecai(Mardoqueo) informing Isaac, a Lopean creation, of Ester’s appointment to theposition of queen and his own prophetic dream. This is followed by a drama-tisation of Mardoqueo’s disclosure of the plotted regicide, the conspiracy ofAmán (Haman of the biblical text) against the Jews and Mardoqueo’s refusalto pay respect to the royal favourite. Act II ends with Amán arranging theconstruction of the gallows from which to hang Mardoqueo. In Act III, Lopepresents on stage the honouring of Mardoqueo by the king for saving his life,

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34 In Josephus, pp. 425–29 are based on this addition.35 This addition is also integrated into Josephus’ text (see pp. 429–31).36 Menéndez y Pelayo, for example, claims that: ‘Su fuente única es el Libro de Esther,

seguido con toda la fidelidad y respeto con que nuestro poeta trataba siempre las palabrasde la Sagrada Escritura’. See his Estudios, I, 179. In his nota preliminar to his edition ofLa hermosa Ester, Federico Carlos Sáinz de Robles states: ‘La única fuente es el Librode Ester, seguido con toda fidelidad y respeto por el genial poeta’. See Obras selectas, III,105. Other critics, however, recognise that Lope has manipulated and recreated his biblicalsource. Vega García-Luengos, for example, claims: ‘En definitiva, Lope ha sabido manipularlos datos de la historia con el fin de potenciar su virtualidad dramática, sometiéndolos a unproceso de concentración o de dilatación’. See ‘El libro de Ester’, p. 221.

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Ester’s revelation of Amán’s threat to the Persian Jews and the murder of theroyal favourite. The play ends on a joyous note with the Jews’ celebration oftheir salvation in the company of Asuero, Mardoqueo and Ester.

Lope’s first task in La hermosa Ester is to set the scene – to explain to theaudience who King Asuero is, to highlight his jurisdiction and to reveal detailsof the banquet which he has hosted for the poor and nobility alike. In the bible,a brief historical account at the beginning of Chapter 1 provides these details.Lope brings the biblical narrative to life by assigning the role of narrator totwo characters – Bassán and Egeo – while at the same time making them par-ticipants in Asuero’s banquet. The inclusion of two narrators rather than onegives Lope the advantage of having one narrator’s comments supported bythe other, thereby reinforcing for the audience the validity of their account ofthe king. The narrators comment upon the elaborate preparations made for thebanquet, which correspond very closely to the details presented in the bible.The biblical text describes the setting for the feast in the following way: ‘Thegarden had hangings of white and blue linen, fastened with cords of whitelinen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars. There were couchesof gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearland other costly stones. Wine was served in goblets of gold, each one differ-ent from the other’ (Esther 1. 6–7). In La hermosa Ester, Egeo paints the pic-ture of a similar location. He claims:

En este bosque del Reyse han puesto diversas tiendas,y sobre columnas blancastoldos de diversas telasque cuelgan por varias partesde cordones de oro y seda.Hay ricas bordadas camas,y sobre la verde hierbatales alfombras, que hacena las flores competencia.Hay vasos de oro y cristal,

(I, 107)

Egeo is also responsible for introducing the king on stage. He declares:

Mas oye: que sale el Reyde la comida postrera,con sus príncipes y grandes.

(I, 107)

It could be argued that Lope did not need to set the scene since his audiencewas familiar with the biblical story. However, without the opportunity to readthe bible for themselves, both men and women of seventeenth-century Spain


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were probably only aware of the main characters and plot of the story – thatEsther, a Jewess, became queen of Persia and managed to disclose Haman’sconspiracy against the Jews, thereby saving her people from destruction. Lopepresents the biblical story to his audience in its entirety.

The magnificence of Asuero is also highlighted by Bassán and Egeo. Infact, the play opens with Bassán’s declaration of the king’s might. He informsthe audience:

Sólo el poderoso Asuero,que admirando el mundo reinaen ciento y veinte provincias,hiciera tanta grandeza:desde la India a Etiopía,de medos, partos y persases absoluto señor.

(I, 107)

Bassán continues to extol the king’s virtues and qualities, describing his ban-quet as ‘muestra / de su magnífico pecho’ and his actual presence as ‘amable’(I, 107) when he first appears with his princes and nobles. In comparison to thebiblical narrative, which describes the king fundamentally as a generous type,Lope’s drama transforms him into a warm, living, breathing, gracious man,who is not only a kindly soul because he threw a lavish party for his people,but because his subjects say that he is. The comments of Bassán and Egeo andthe subsequent remarks made by the ‘músicos’ and ‘todos’ who alternatelyproclaim ‘¡Viva el rey Asuero! / ¡Viva el gran señor!’ (I, 107) are of vitalimportance because they contribute to the build-up of dramatic tension withinthe play. In other words, the horizon of expectation of the corral audience isfrustrated as it anticipates a marvellous sovereign who conscientiously protectsand cares for his subjects, nobles and peasants alike, only to find that Asueropermits Amán to issue a royal decree announcing the massacre of the Jews.Since the narrator acquires a type of authenticity in the eyes of the audience,acting almost as an intermediary between them and the dramatist, Lope’saudience should have no reason to doubt Bassán’s and Egeo’s representationof the king. Given that the play is based on a biblical story, their description ofcharacters and events gains extra support. Hence, in spite of the fact thatBassán and Egeo provide the relevant historical background to the play, it isbecause of their participation in the production of dramatic tension right fromthe beginning of La hermosa Ester that they are especially important.

Once Asuero’s praises have been sung, La hermosa Ester focuses on thedethronement of Vastí, a vital episode in both the biblical story and the play interms of plot development. However, Lope not only includes this scene for thepurposes of the story line, but cleverly manipulates the biblical material inorder to comment upon issues which Lope knew would appeal to the

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sensibilities of the seventeenth-century audience – love, honour and the role ofwoman.37 Asuero engages in a convoluted description of Vastí in accordancewith the courtly love/Petrarchan topoi of amorous lyric poetry.38 Emphasisingthe superiority of Vastí to him, Asuero refers to her as ‘la grandeza mía’(I, 107). Asuero undertakes the deification of his wife, who he describes as‘el divino trasunto / del Hacedor de la Naturaleza’ (I, 108) and who continuesto be for him ‘el reino que adoro’ (I, 111) following her dethronement. Likethe Petrarchan lover, Asuero compares his beloved to nature. Vastí’s mouth is‘el clavel de dos hojas, más hermoso / que el sol por mayo toca’ and her cheeksare ‘rosas’ which blossom in her snow-white face and compliment her statu-esque body (I, 108).39 Asuero states:

y por las dos hermosasmejillas blancas, entre nieve rosas.El cuerpo, no hay columnade marfil ni alabastro;

(I, 108)40


37 In his Arte nuevo, Lope specifically identifies the theme of honra as exemplarysubject matter for the comedia: ‘Los casos de la honra son mejores / Porque mueuen confuerça a toda ge[n]te,’. See El arte nuevo de hacer comedias en este tiempo, ed. Juana deJosé Prades (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1971), 327–28.

38 The characteristic features of courtly love do not appear in the lyric poetry of Castileuntil the fifteenth century. However, the themes of courtly love persisted in Spanishliterature throughout the early modern period. Courtly love poetry is based on theimpossible love for a beautiful yet unattainable woman. The principal themes of the trendinclude the superiority of the beloved to the lover, the blessed suffering of the lover andthe contemplation of death. The Petrarchan tradition became grafted onto courtly lovepoetry in the sixteenth century in Spain. In Petrarchan poetry, the beauty of the female iscompared to nature and is also praised through analogy with mythological characters andthe use of metaphor. On courtly love and Petrarchism, see for example: chapters 3–7 inOtis H. Green, Spain and the Western Tradition, 4 vols (Madison: The University ofWisconsin Press, 1963–66), I (1963), 72–299; A. A. Parker, The Philosophy of Love inSpanish Literature, 1480–1680 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1985) and Ignacio Navarrete,Orphans of Petrarch. Poetry and Theory in the Spanish Renaissance (Berkeley: Universityof California Press, 1994). According to Víctor de Lama, ‘Las tradiciones cortesana ypetrarquista se entrelazan frecuentemente en la lírica de Lope’. See his ‘Lope, poeta decancionero’, Edad de Oro, 14 (1995), 179–96 (p. 188). For an examination of theburlesque treatment of courtly love in Góngora, Lope and Quevedo, see Iris M. Zavala,‘Burlas al amor’, NRFH, 29 (1980), 367–403.

39 Vastí’s beauty is not only highlighted by Asuero’s description of her, but also by hervery name. According to Brockington, Vashti is a Persian name meaning something like‘best’, ‘desired’, ‘beauty’. See Ezra, p. 225. Lope draws attention to the significance ofVashti’s name within the play. Asuero asserts: ‘Vastí, mi mujer bella; / Vastí, que así se llama,porque basta / para saber por ella, / después de su virtud honesta y casta, / que no dio el cieloal suelo / mayores muestras del poder del cielo’ (I, 108). Glaser mentions Lope’s allusionto the meaning of Vashti’s name in ‘Lope de Vega’s La hermosa Ester’, p. 113, n. 10.

40 In Petrarchan imagery, alabaster and snow are used to convey the whiteness of thebeloved’s body. According to Leonard Forster, these can be combined with the conceits

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The dramatic impact of Asuero’s monologue reveals itself when Vastí refusesto appear before him.41 At this point, Asuero becomes the courtly lover thathe imitated in speech, aspiring to the love of a woman who is out of his graspand who ultimately is pushed beyond his reach by his royal advisers.Marsanes adds to the tension at this point in the drama, urging the king toleave Vastí alone in the company of her female subjects. He suggests to theking:

Si con sus damas está,déjala gozar quïetasu generoso convite;

(I, 108)

Ultimately, the audience knows that Asuero must disregard this piece ofadvice if Lope is to conform to the plot of the biblical narrative. Neverthe-less, by playing the role of the courtly lover, Asuero ironically becomes amore human character troubled by doubt, hesitation and anxiety. Unlike hiscounterpart in the bible who, angry at his wife’s disobedience, immediatelyaccepts his adviser’s decision that Vastí should be removed from office,Asuero’s automatic response to the wise men’s proposal is ‘¿podré, querién-dola bien? / ¡Fuerte consejo me dais!’ (I, 109).42 This minor adaptation of thesource material could easily be overlooked or simply disregarded because ithas no impact on plot development. The king, in spite of his hesitancy, ultim-ately accepts the advice of his councillors. In addition, the king’s vacillationat this point is not reflective of his behaviour in other important scenes in theplay. Like the biblical king, Asuero unquestioningly accepts Amán’s recom-mendation concerning the massacre of the Jews (II, 120). However, Asuero’sreaction at this point is of vital importance because it draws attention to theseventeenth-century preoccupation with reputation. Through the character of

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used to express the woman’s hardness of heart. See ‘The Petrarchan Manner: AnIntroduction’, in The Icy Fire. Five Studies in European Petrarchism (Cambridge: CUP,1969), pp. 1–60 (p. 15). In La hermosa Ester, Asuero’s description of Vastí’s body as analabaster column presages the coldness with which Vastí responds to Asuero’s request toappear before him.

41 In Josephus, the king and queen are named, respectively, Asueros and Aste. RegardingAste’s refusal to appear before Asueros, Josephus claims: ‘She, however, in observance ofthe laws of the Persians, which forbid their women to be seen by strangers, did not go to theking’. See Josephus, p. 407. Weiner reiterates this point: ‘La negación que le hizo cabíaperfectamente dentro de las costumbres persas.’ See ‘La reina Ester’, p. 45. In aseventeenth-century Spanish context, however, Vastí would have been expected to obey herhusband’s orders.

42 It should be noted that in Josephus, pp. 407–09, Muchaios (equivalent to Memucanin the Bible) urges Ahasuerus to inflict severe punishment on Vashti as well as to arrangeher dethronement. This is not the case in the biblical narrative, nor in Lope’s play. In notea, p. 408, Marcus claims that, according to Rabbinic tradition, Vashti was executed.

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the king, Lope comments on the themes of love and honour and emphasisesthe dilemma which they can force upon the seventeenth-century Spaniardwhen he/she must choose between the public and the private role. It seemsthat Asuero reluctantly relinquishes his love for Vastí for the sake of ‘elpúblico bien’ (I, 109). Following Marsanes’ speech regarding Vastí’sdeposition and the importance of obedience to the husband on the part of thewife, the king declares:

Afuera amor; que no es justoque sujetéis la razón:fuertes los consejos soncontra las leyes del gusto:pero si es bien que los reyessean espejos del bien,bien es que en ellos se denlos principios a las leyes.¡Salga de Palacio al puntola Reina: no quede en él!

(I, 109)43

In spite of the fact that Adamata, one of the king’s advisers, initially linkspassion to reason, claiming that ‘quien reina de sus pasiones, / ese vive conrazón’ (I, 109), both Adamata and Tares ultimately categorise love as anunreasonable emotion which imprisons the individual and of which the kingmust rid himself if he is to reign successfully.

Tares Amor es una pasiónque nunca llega a razones:vive de su voluntaden la libertad que quiere.

Adamata Por eso quien le vencieretendrá mayor libertad.

(I, 109)


43 In De Clementia, Seneca’s treatise on the behaviour of the emperor Nero, the openinglines of the text underlined that Seneca would show Nero to himself as in a mirror. Cicero’sdefinition of the play as a mirror of life, ‘Est imitatio vitae, speculum consuetudinis, imagoveritatis’, was re-presented by Lope in his Arte nuevo. Lope’s treatise includes the followingaffirmations: ‘Espejo de las / De las costu[m]bres, y vna viua image[n] / De la verdad’(123–25); ‘Humanae cur sit speculum comoedia vitae’ (377). It should be noted that theLatin source of the concluding lines of the Arte nuevo is unknown, and may have in factbeen written by Lope himself. In Act I of El castigo sin venganza, the Duke also refersto the comedia as an espejo in his conversation with Ricardo. See Lope de Vega, El perrodel hortelano, El castigo sin venganza, ed. A. David Kossoff (Madrid: Castalia, 1970),I. 215–225.

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In comparison, Asuero’s love for Ester is associated with reason at the end ofAct III.44 The king describes love as an illuminating force:

Bien parece que mi amoralumbró mi entendimientopara honrar tu noble tíocon el hacha de su fuego;que ensalzarse hasta ponerde Oriente en su mano el cetrosin haberle conocido,solo amor supiera hacerlo;en todo acierta quien ama

(III, 135)

Since Ester acts as a divine instrument through whom God’s chosen peopleare saved in the play, it is essentially divine love which ultimately will be asso-ciated with reason, rather than human love.

Lope highlights how badly Asuero is affected by human love by tamperingwith the biblical narrative again and transforming him into a lovesick victimwho blames himself for the break-up of his relationship and who suffers frominstability without his queen. Setar remarks ‘ya sin ella no se halla’ (I, 111).45

A remedy is discussed in his absence by his ‘doctors’Adamata, Marsanes andSetar who exploit the courtly love / Neoplatonic concept of love enteringthrough the eyes.46 Setar is the first to suggest that a replacement should be

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44 Concerning the relationship between love and reason in the medieval andRenaissance worlds, Otis H. Green states: ‘That love was born of reason but that it was notcontrolled by reason was a medieval and Renaissance commonplace.’ See Spain and theWestern Tradition, I, 141. In courtly love poetry, voluntad prevails over razón.

45 In courtly love poetry, the blessed suffering of the lover may produce the lover’smalady of hereos. The physical effects of love, including insomnia, loss of appetite andpallor are also a Petrarchan commonplace. For a discussion of the lover’s maladyof hereos, including references to the physical effects of love and proposed remediescontained in medieval and Renaissance medical treatises, see John Livingston Lowes, ‘TheLoveres Maladye of Hereos’, M.Phil, 11 (1914), 491–546. Teresa Scott Soufas also refersto the definition of lovesickness in medical treatises of the Renaissance, including Burton’sAnatomy of Melancholy and Ferrand’s Erotomania in ‘Love Melancholy (Lope,Calderón)’, in Melancholy and the Secular Mind in Spanish Golden Age Literature(Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1990), pp. 64–100. The malady of love and therelationship between amor and locura are the principal themes of Lope’s Los locos deValencia. For a study of these particular issues in the play, see Luciano García Lorenzo,‘Amor y locura fingida: Los locos de Valencia, de Lope de Vega’, in El mundo del teatroespañol en su Siglo de Oro: ensayos dedicados a John E. Varey, ed. J. M. Ruano de laHaza, Ottawa Hispanic Studies, III (Ottawa: Dovehouse Editions, 1989), pp. 213–28.

46 The king has already stressed this theory of love in his lament for the absent Vastí:‘¡Vastí de mi casa ausente, / y sus ojos de mis ojos! (I, 111). While Marsanes and Setaraccept this theory, they also comically assert that the ears, not the eyes, are responsible forkeeping love alive. See their conversation, I, 111–12.

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found for Vastí, while Marsanes recommends that an edict should be draftedinstructing all beautiful virgins to be handed over to the palace guards so thatthe king can choose a new wife from among them. Setar comments explicitlyon the nature of their proposed cure:

Buscar tantas mujeres, que entre tantashaya alguna hermosura tan valienteque mate la memoria de la ausente.

(I, 112)

At the end of Act I, the king is in fact ‘cured’ by the contemplation of the‘hermosísima Ester’ whose exceptional beauty cannot be depicted by Egeo,the ‘painter’. Egeo tells the king: ‘No te quiero pintar su rostro hermoso, /porque son muy groseros mis pinceles’ (I, 115). Egeo’s inability to describeEster’s attractiveness provokes the king to respond: ‘Tanta belleza, / monstruoserá de la Naturaleza’ (I, 115).47

In contrast to Asuero, his biblical counterpart experiences neither remorse,regret nor guilt prior to and following Vastí’s dethronement. In Esther 2. 1, weare simply told: ‘Later when the anger of King Xerxes had subsided, heremembered Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed abouther.’ In addition, the biblical king unquestioningly listens to and accepts thecollective proposal of his personal attendants concerning the appointment ofa new queen.48 Some ambiguity arises in the play concerning the king’s directinvolvement in the search for a new queen. While the audience does not wit-ness Asuero’s approval of Marsanes’ edict, the caja and capitán discuss theselection process in terms of the king’s orders. The caja begins his synopsisof the edict by attributing its contents to Asuero: ‘manda el poderoso reyAsuero’ (I, 113). In a similar vein, the capitán affirms that the king prefershermosura to calidad: ‘calidad no me ha pedido; / hermosura pide el Rey,’(I, 113). Nevertheless, it is not evident from the statements of either whetherthe king willingly gave orders for the search to be conducted. In fact, Asuerois still afflicted by the malady of love and associates Vastí with his deathfollowing the presentation of several women to him: ‘Vastí me mata, y solasu hermosura / es el crisol que mi memoria apura;’ (I, 115).49 In contrast to


47 The title ‘Monstruo de la Naturaleza’ was conferred upon Lope himself by Cervantesin 1615 in the prologue to his Ocho comedias y ocho entremeses.

48 In Josephus’ text, we are told that although the king was in love with the queen andcould not bear the separation from her, he could not be reconciled to her because of thelaw. Therefore, he continued to grieve until he was advised to instigate a search for a newwife. Like his biblical counterpart, he sent commissioners in pursuit of young virgins inorder to find a replacement for Vashti (p. 409).

49 In courtly love poetry, the lover contemplates death at the hands of the beloved. Theidentification of the beloved both as a source of life and death of the lover is also found inPetrarch and is a paradox which continued to be exploited in the seventeenth century.

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the assertions of both the caja and capitán, Mardoqueo, in his conversationwith Ester, attributes the search for a new queen to the king’s councillors:

los príncipes de su imperio,por medicina, aunque nueva,mandan en todos sus reinosbuscar hermosas doncellas,para que la que le agradereine en lugar de la Reina.

(I, 113)

Whether the king gave orders for the search to be carried out or not, the factremains that private desire is sacrificed for public duty. Asuero is the seven-teenth-century Spanish man who must, according to Donald Larson, ‘no matterwhat his inner inclination, avenge an insult to his reputation’.50 AlthoughLope deals with the seventeenth-century preoccupation with honour in thisplay and demonstrates the importance of reputation in contemporary society,it is not proof of his tolerance of, and agreement with, the concept.51 In fact,Lope emphasises the importance of love and the fulfilment of private needsin La hermosa Ester. When Vastí declares ‘quien trata así su mujer, / necio

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Asuero adds that he is suffering from a ‘sangría’ which Ester offers to cure with her ‘vida’and ‘sangre’ (I, 115).

50 See Donald Larson, The Honor Plays of Lope de Vega (Cambridge, Mass.: HarvardUP, 1977), p. 13. Larson continues: ‘For one person to lose his honor is for society to behurt in some degree, and for that person to suffer the loss of his honor and make no attemptto regain it is for society to be permanently harmed. This it will not tolerate.’

51 Honour is also given a problematic treatment in many of Lope’s plays, including Elperro del hortelano and El castigo sin venganza. In El perro del hortelano, theimpossibility of the relationship between Diana, a countess, and Teodoro, criado, becauseof the limitations imposed by honra is resolved by the deceptive transformation of Teodorointo a nobleman as he poses as Ludovico’s long lost son. Victor Dixon states regarding thissolution to the play: ‘Although Lope is too pragmatic to suggest that appearances don’tmatter and need not be maintained, sham appearances, he makes Diana aware, may be aseffective as realities.’ See ‘Introduction’ in Lope de Vega, El perro del hortelano, ed. VictorDixon (London: Tamesis, 1981), pp. 9–67 (p. 49). In El castigo sin venganza, themotivation for the chastisement administered by the Duke at the end of the play isambiguous. As both injured party and judge, his decision to eradicate both his adulterouswife, Casandra, and his illegitimate son, Federico, could be interpreted as a barbarous actof vengeance or a necessary course of action within the societal code of honour. Onthe concept of honour in this play, Gwynne Edwards states: ‘Lope could not present theDuke’s actions against the erring couple simply as a punishment – which is the case in theoriginal – for their behaviour offends not merely against public morality but also againsthis personal honour. On the other hand, Lope did not wish the Duke’s actions to be seenmerely as a private revenge for lost honour when larger moral questions were involved.The title points to his concern with both issues.’ See his ‘Introduction’ in Lope de Vega,Three Major Plays (Fuente Ovejuna, The Knight from Olmedo, Punishment withoutRevenge), trans. Gwynne Edwards (Oxford: OUP, 1999), pp. vii–xxxi (p. xxviii).

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consejo ha tomado’ (I, 109), she is expressing how foolish the king was toheed the advice of his wise men. In a clever and subtle manner, Lope attri-butes a voice to Vastí which she is denied in the biblical narrative in order topresent his own ambivalence regarding honor/honra.52

As a comedia de tema religioso, La hermosa Ester naturally treats thetheme of love not only in a human/physical context, but also from the aspectof the divine. While Vastí is defined and ultimately debased by a human love,Ester is inspired and protected by a divine force which guides her in her cam-paign to prevent the massacre of the Persian Jews. In this respect, Lopefollows the deuterocanonical text of Esther by demonstrating how the Jewsare saved by Ester, God’s instrument on earth, and not only by the humanefforts of the female. While God, the Divine, supports Ester, Asuero, thehuman, disowns Vastí.

When Lope decided to shift two biblical scenes around in order to presentEster as soon as Vastí is dethroned, and not after the search for a new queenbegins, obviously he was aiming to produce a specific dramatic impact on hisaudience. The juxtaposition of the exit of Vastí with the entrance of Ester onstage is dramatically very effective for two reasons. First of all, it highlightsthe superiority of divine love to human love without undermining Lope’s atti-tude towards the expression and fulfilment of human love. Secondly, the pre-sentation of Vastí and Ester one after the other sets the women up as twooppositional forces. Vastí, the ex-queen characterised by disobedience andinsolence is replaced by Ester, the new queen who remarks on her own‘humildad’ and the importance of ‘obediencia’ (I, 115) when she first appearsbefore Asuero.53 It is interesting that when Ester and Vastí are analysed inapposition at this point in the drama, Vastí emerges as a strong, self-assertivewoman endowed with what are normally categorised as negative traits, whileEster initially appears as an almost submissive female type. Dramatic tensionis successfully created in Act I as we are forced to question and anticipate how


52 Edward Glaser, in ‘Lope de Vega’s La hermosa Ester’, pp. 113–15, takes a differentview on the conflict between the king and queen. He claims that the moral which Lopereads into the incident is that pride goes before deposition and that the dismissal of thehaughty queen presents a preview of the fate which is to befall the king’s conceitedfavourite, Haman (p. 114). While I accept Glaser’s analysis as a valid interpretation of theopening scenes, the king’s immediate expression of hesitancy with regard to the dismissalof his beloved is still an important modification to the biblical narrative. If this change isborne in mind, then honour can be interpreted as a metaphorical straitjacket.

53 In Fuente Ovejuna, Rodrigo Tellez Girón, master of Calatrava, compares the kingand queen, Ferdinand and Isabella, to Ahasuerus / Xerxes and Esther respectively when heappears before them to seek forgiveness for his involvement in the siege of Ciudad Real.He extols them in the following manner: ‘Vos sois una bella Ester, / y vos, un Xerxesdivino.’ See ‘Lope de Vega, Fuente Ovejuna’, ed. Juan María Marín (Madrid: Cátedra,1997), p. 185. All subsequent references to the play will be taken from this edition. Theuse of divino implies a Christian interpretation of the role of the king as God’s instrumenton earth. On La hermosa Ester from a Christian perspective, see pp. 41–42 of this chapter.

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the playwright will transform Ester into an authoritative individual capable ofdefeating the arrogant Amán.

Lope continues to build tension in this play through Mardoqueo’s predic-tions of the role which Ester must ultimately assume. When we first meetuncle and niece, Mardoqueo describes Ester in the following way:

Con hermosura y discreción naciste,y con divino entendimiento claro,vivir sola pudieras; pero el cieloalgo pretende de tu santo celo

(I, 110)54

Later, when Mardoqueo reveals to Ester that she has been listed by Egeoamong the prospective new lovers for king Asuero, he prophesies:

No temas;que Dios te dará favor,porque por tu medio seasu pueblo restituidoa su primera grandeza;

(I, 113)

In the bible, the first sign of any type of prediction on the part of Mordecaidoes not occur until Chapter 4 when he sends the following message to Estherthrough Hathach in an attempt to persuade her to plead with the king for theprotection of the Jews – ‘For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliv-erance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’sfamily will perish’ (Esther 4. 14). In La hermosa Ester, Lope does not permitEster to become queen without hinting at the role which she will have toperform on behalf of all her people. Mardoqueo’s predictions are significantbecause they anticipate the plot of the play and the course of action whichEster must take without pinpointing details. His speeches serve to increase theexpectation of the audience in the corral – those individuals who do not knowthe plot of the story will be forced to reflect on what the main action willconsist of before it happens; others, who are familiar with the tale, will won-der how Lope will bring it to life on stage.

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54 Ester is the niece of Mardoqueo in La hermosa Ester, not the cousin as in the biblicalstory (i.e. daughter of Mordecai’s uncle, Abihail). In Racine’s Esther, Esther is also the nieceof Mardochée. Josephus, p. 409, likewise describes Mordecai as the uncle of Esther. In note d,p. 409 of Josephus, Marcus confirms that Rabbinic tradition, unlike Scripture, makes Estherthe niece of Mordecai. Lope probably chose the uncle/niece connection in order to intensifythe relationship between his two characters, as well as to endow Mardoqueo with explicitauthority over his niece. Indeed, when Mardoqueo discusses Ester’s future role as the saviourof her people, he states: ‘es bien que al cielo y a mí, / hermosa Ester, obedezcas’ (I, 113).

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Throughout La hermosa Ester, Lope is continually striving to expandbiblical detail in order to intensify the dramatic action. Nonetheless, he doesmake several omissions. The first of these is contained in Esther 2. 12–14 andrelates to the twelve months of beauty treatments which every female mustcomplete before appearing before the king.55 This is a Persian custom whichwould have been meaningless to a seventeenth-century Spanish audience andwhich Lope simply chooses not to include. The omission of this detail doesnot impact on the plot of the play. Lope also denies Asuero the harem whichhis counterpart possesses in the Book of Esther. Marsanes simply orders:‘la que entrare de noche, salga al alba, / y la que le agradare, o por dichosa /o por bella, que reine’ (I, 112). Of course, it was essential for Lope to omitthese for the purposes of decorum, ‘a cardinal doctrine of the Spanish dramaof the seventeenth century’, according to Duncan Moir.56 Finally, and bestcategorised as a suppression rather than an omission of biblical detail, the twobanquets which Esther hosts in the Book of Esther become one in La hermosaEster.57 Since nothing happens at the first biblical banquet, Lope understand-ably includes only one in his play. By doing so, the development of dramaticaction within the play is not impeded by the inclusion of unnecessary sceneswhich would slow down the pace of his drama.

As a religious play, it was necessary for Lope to include the deuterocanon-ical additions in La hermosa Ester. Without these, his play would have beena secular representation of the protocanonical text which contains no referencesto God. Lope emphasises the importance of faith and the omniscience of Godthrough the characters of Ester and Mardoqueo. In Act II, Mardoqueo’sspeech in which he stresses why he will not pay respect to Amán is based onAddition C of the Apocrypha. Mardoqueo tells Isaac:

Yo no, que solo a Dios hincarlas pienso,que no quiero quitar lo que le debo,por darlo a la criatura, que bien sabeel mismo Dios, que no es por ser yo grave

(II, 117)


55 In Josephus, the beauty treatments last for six months (p. 411).56 See ‘The Classical Tradition in Spanish Dramatic Theory and Practice in

the Seventeenth Century’, in Classical Drama and its Influence: Essays Presented toH. D. F. Kitto, ed. M. J. Anderson (London: Methuen, 1965), pp. 191–228 (p. 208).According to Duncan Moir, the Spanish ideas of decorum in the seventeenth century ‘arean expression of the social, religious and moral ideals of the particular civilization whichhas moulded them’ (pp. 210–11). The question of decorum is crucial to Lope’s reworkingof Seneca in El castigo sin venganza. See Victor Dixon and Isabel Torres, ‘La madrastraenamorada: ¿Una tragedia de Séneca refundida por Lope de Vega?’, RCan, 19 (1994),39–60.

57 In Racine’s Esther, the two banquets are also reduced to one. See Yarrow, ‘Esther’,p. 84.

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Ester’s prayer to God before hosting the banquet for Amán and Asuero alsocomes from Addition C of the Apocrypha. She cries out for divine assistanceas the ‘esclava’ of God:

¡Oh gran Señor, si aquesta esclava vuestralas mujeres ilustres imitasede vuestro pueblo y de la sangre nuestra,y algo de sus desdichas restaurase;[. . .]haced que Amán por estas manos muera

(III, 131)

Lope does not remain wholly dependent on the deuterocanonical parts ofEsther in order to present his drama as a biblical, rather than secular, comedia.Throughout this play, both Ester and Mardoqueo constantly refer to the powerof God and highlight that the people of Israel will be saved by His interven-tion. Mardoqueo classifies the Jews as the pueblo de Dios, while Esterexhibits obedience to, and love of, God right from the beginning of the play,even before she has been chosen as queen of Persia. She prays:

¡Inmenso Dios, vuestra soy![. . .]dadme entendimiento y fuerzaspara saber agradaros,pues que yo os doy la obediencia.

(I, 113)

There is no doubt that although Lope manipulated the Book of Esther in orderto exploit and problematise contemporary themes, he also used his sourceto promote an orthodox belief and hope in God to his seventeenth-centuryaudience.

Although Juan O. Valencia believes that the dream of Mardoqueo wasinvented by Lope, in fact the playwright based his re-creation of the dream onone of the Apocryphal additions (addition A).58 At the beginning of Act IIMardoqueo tells his dream to Isaac, who is a new character created by Lope.Regarding the significance of the dream, Mardoqueo remarks: ‘yo pienso que

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58 For Valencia’s view on Mardoqueo’s dream, see Pathos y tabú en el teatro bíblico delsiglo de oro (Madrid: Ediciones y Distribuciones Isla, 1977), pp. 63–73 (pp. 65–66).Valencia’s work is particularly interesting as regards his analysis of the character of Amán.He describes Amán as ‘un personaje desgarrado por «los contrastes»: su vanagloria le llevaa querer escalar las estrellas y su suerte lo arroja hasta los suelos. Apoyado en los favoresdel Rey, se ve luego condenado por éste’ (p. 67). For Valencia, Amán is an unbalancedindividual who is at once confident, insecure and plagued by paranoia, despite his falsesense of self-importance. On Amán, see especially pp. 66–72 of Valencia’s work.

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ha de ser para bien nuestro’ (II, 117). The dream symbolises the deliveranceof the Jews from Amán’s organised persecution as a result of Ester’s efforts.However, Ester has just been appointed queen and the hostility between Amánand Mardoqueo has not even surfaced yet. Lope’s inclusion of the dream istherefore another means of heightening dramatic suspense.

The creation of Isaac is fundamental to an understanding of Lope’s recre-ated play. Isaac is not only included by Lope in order to serve as the listenerand receiver of Mardoqueo’s prophetic dream. He is also significant becausehis ignorance of Amán’s identity and stature allows Mardoqueo to revealAmán’s superior role to the rest of the king’s officials. When Isaac asks:‘¿quién es aqueste?’ (II, 117), Mardoqueo’s response provides the precisedetails found at the beginning of Esther 3. He states:

Este es Amán, un príncipeque preside a los otros, tan soberbiocon el imperio, que me causa enojos

(II, 117)

This conversion of biblical narrative into dialogue is markedly significantbecause it establishes the antagonism which grows between Amán andMardoqueo throughout the play. However, Lope’s most important reasonfor including Isaac in his play is the fact that his submissive obedienceserves to highlight the stoicism of Mardoqueo. When Isaac fearfully bowsdown to pay respect to Amán, he leaves his Jewish friend standing defiantlyalone. There can be no doubt that Lope deliberately selected the name ofIsaac, one of the great patriarchs of the Old Testament, for his character.59

The inability of this character to take a stand against the royal favourite,having been named after the heroic biblical figure who convinced the Lordof his obedience in Genesis, magnifies the courage and steadfastness ofMardoqueo.

Throughout La hermosa Ester, Mardoqueo is portrayed as an exceptional,distinguished character endowed with valour and humildad. His heroism ismade much more explicit in Lope’s drama than in the biblical story. At thebeginning of Act III, before reading from the annals that Mardoqueowas responsible for saving the king’s life, Egeo pronounces a list of recordednames and feats attributed to them. This does not happen in the biblicalnarrative where only Mardoqueo’s discovery of the plot against the Jews is


59 Isaac is the son of Abraham and father of the twins Jacob and Esau. He was born toAbraham and his wife Sarah after a long and childless marriage. The events of his life arerecounted in Genesis 21–28. One of the most important episodes in Isaac’s life was theprojected sacrifice of him by his father Abraham (Genesis 22). In the end, God accepted aram as a substitute for Isaac because he was convinced of the obedience of both Abrahamand Isaac to His word.

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underlined.60 The effect created by Egeo’s comments on characters such asRufino Tebano, a painter, Tirio, an engineer, and Tesenio, a poet and thereasons why they have been honoured by Asuero is the intensification of thesignificance of Mardoqueo’s deed. Mardoqueo is projected as a man muchmore worthy of reward than one who presents the king with a bad self-portrait,constructs the royal baths or offers a book of poetry to him. Lope conse-quently succeeds in setting Mardoqueo, a Jew, above the Persian nobles ofAsuero’s kingdom. Given Spain’s longstanding anti-Semitic tradition, theelevation of the Jew raises several questions. For Lope’s audience, for whomthe Persians may mask the Spanish, it could signify the promotion of the Jewabove the Spanish nobility. If this is the case, the play not only forces theaudience to see itself in a negative light, but problematises concepts such asanti-Semitism and honour.61

Perhaps the most significant expansion of biblical detail in the play is thedramatisation of the conspiracy against the king based on Esther 2. 23: ‘Andwhen the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials werehanged on a gallows.’ Lope presents the investigation into the planned assas-sination of Asuero and introduces an important prop – a carta. Mardoqueooverhears Bagatán and Tares not only discussing the murder of the king butalso commenting on the carta.62 This carta, carried close to the chest of Tares,contains details of the proposed regicide. The carta is both Asuero’s proof thatMardoqueo’s denouncement of the royal officials is true and the cause of themen’s downfall. Lope heightens suspense in his play by having Bagatán andTares fear that Mardoqueo has overheard their conversation. His inclusion ofthe carta also serves to set Amán and Mardoqueo up as two contradictoryforces – while Mardoqueo informs the royal household about the letter, Amánreads the contents to them. In order to assign the role of reader to Amán andnot just to any royal adviser, Lope must promote him to the status of royalfavourite before the conspiracy to kill the king is thwarted by Mardoqueo.

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60 In Josephus’ text, the accomplishments of two other individuals, apart from Mordecai,are mentioned: ‘It was found that a certain man as a reward for his bravery on one occasionhad received some land, the name of which was also written. Then, in mentioning anotherwho had received a gift for his loyalty, he also came to the eunuchs who had plotted againstthe king and against whom Mordecai had informed’. See Josephus, pp. 433–35.

61 The issue of the elevation of the Jew through the characters Mardoqueo and Esteris complex. While the promotion of the Jew appears to be Lope’s aim, this does notcoincide with the more traditional picture of Lope in religious terms depicted in otherparts of this study. It is possible that the dramatisation of the story of Esther provedattractive to Lope because of the opportunity it provided to give anti-Semitism aproblematic treatment and consequently, to generate a range of audience responses. Forseveral critics’ opinions on Lope as anti-Semitic or as a supporter of the Jewish cause, seepp. 40–42 of this chapter.

62 In Josephus’ narrative, a character named Barnabazos, a Jew, discovers the conspiracyagainst the king and informs Mordecai (p. 415).

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Because he aims to increase the rivalry between the hero and antihero of theplay, Lope cannot wait to promote Amán after the conspiracy is uncovered, asis the case in his biblical source.

The animosity between Mardoqueo and Amán is escalated when, follow-ing Amán’s invitation to dine with Ester and Asuero, the royal favourite isignored three times by Mardoqueo. This constitutes a deliberate amplificationon Lope’s part of Esther 5. 9 which reads as follows: ‘Haman went out thatday happy and in high spirits. But when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gateand observed that he neither rose nor showed fear in his presence, he wasfilled with rage against Mordecai.’ Mardoqueo has already informed bothIsaac and the audience why he will not pay homage to Amán. To Isaac’s com-ment that everyone is kneeling before Amán, Mardoqueo replies:

Yo no, que solo a Dios hincarlas pienso,que no quiero quitar lo que le debo,por darlo a la criatura, que bien sabeel mismo Dios, que no es por ser yo grave.

(II, 117)63

As Mardoqueo denies him respect time and time again, Amán becomes moreinfuriated. The first time Mardoqueo passes by without bowing down he iscalled ‘el necio arrogante’. On the second occasion, he becomes for Amán ‘unmiserable hebreo’. Finally, Amán resorts to dehumanising the Jew, referringto him as ‘una hormiga [. . .] una mosca miserable’ (II, 125).

By developing the negative qualities of Amán in the play, Lope underminesthe comments of this antihero. Amán is a cruel, arrogant and authoritativegovernor who rejects the petitions of his subjects at the beginning of Act II.He refers to himself as ‘el rey Amán’ (II, 120) and a godlike figure who is notonly ‘un hombre que respetan las estrellas’ (II, 121) but an individual whosepraises are sung by nature (II, 120).64 In this respect, he equates himself withthe divine being who, according to the child Isidro in La niñez de San Isidro


63 Lope bases Mardoqueo’s justification of his actions on Mordecai’s prayer containedin addition C of the Apocrypha. In the Hebrew text of Esther, Mordecai offers no reasonwhy he refuses to bow down before Haman. Josephus states in this regard: ‘But Mordecaibecause of his wisdom and his native law would not prostrate himself before any man’.See Josephus, p. 417.

64 Like Amán, the figure of Senacherib, king of Assyria in Historia de Tobías, ischaracterised by arrogance. He too establishes himself as a godlike personage bydescribing his conquest of Jerusalem in terms of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalemon Palm Sunday (Matthew 21.1–11). Senacherib claims: ‘con laurel entro mañana /triunfando en Jerusalén’. The edition of this play used for the purposes of this study iscontained in Obras de Lope de Vega, ed. Don Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo, Bibliotecade Autores Españoles, 157–59, VI–VIII (Madrid: Atlas, 1963), VIII, 87–136. Senacherib’sdeclaration is found in I, 93. All subsequent references to the play will be taken fromthis edition.

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and his adult equivalent in La juventud de San Isidro, is eulogised by thenatural world.65 He boasts of supernatural powers in a lengthy monologueclaiming that the very sun and planets pay him homage.66 Lope presents Amánas a despicable man, placing him in apposition to Mardoqueo who is for theroyal favourite nothing more than ‘un vil hebreo’ (II, 120). More than that, heis a ‘mastín’ (II, 126) who disobeys his master. Amán is ultimately punishedin the play, not only because of his planned massacre of the Jews, but alsobecause of his soberbia. Humildad, as exemplified by Mardoqueo, isrewarded in La hermosa Ester. Amán is struck down by God’s ‘cetro de lamuerte’ because he tried to destroy God’s chosen people.67 For him, the scep-tre symbolises damnation, while for Ester and Mardoqueo, it means salvation.While Asuero extends his sceptre to Ester when she enters the throne room,thus pardoning her for presenting herself uninvited, Mardoqueo receives theroyal sceptre and is dressed in royal attire when the king decides to honourhim for saving his life. Indeed, Mardoqueo appears on stage ‘con cetro ycorona en un caballo, y su palio;’ (III, 129). Ironically, it is Amán whosuggests that Asuero should present his sceptre to the man he wishes toreward. In fact, this suggestion is made precisely when Amán wants to ask forpermission to put Mardoqueo to death.

Lope also exploits the character of Amán to deal with the concept of honra.At the end of Act II when he decides to hang Mardoqueo for being adisrespectful citizen, Amán expresses the importance of honour in the mannerof a seventeenth-century Spanish male whose pride has been damaged. Hestates:

que no hay oro, seda y telas,granas tirias, persas joyas,gobiernos, reinos, imperios,mesas, deleites, aromas,que causen tanta gloriacomo vengar agravios de la honra

(II, 126)

Nonetheless, in failing to redress his grievance, Lope presents Amán as anindividual who is not entitled to honour, and thus suggests for a second timein this play his uncertainty regarding the concept. However, as part of thefabric of Spanish patriarchal society, and essentially about ‘belonging’ to that

36 ELAINE CANNING

65 See my analysis of the prayers of the child and adult Isidro in chapter 2, pp. 66–68.66 See his speech, II, 120.67 See Mardoqueo’s speech, II, 117. In Historia de Tobías, Senacherib is also punished

by God through an ángel santo who puts 185,000 of his soldiers to death (I, 93–94). Tobías(viejo) attributes Senacherib’s eventual murder by Sarasar and Adramelech, the king’s sons,to God’s intervention. He tells his wife, Ana, his son, Tobías (mozo) and Rubén, whodelivered the news of the royal death: ‘Hijos, Dios lo permitió’ (I, 98).

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society, honour is the privilege of those who enjoy pureza de sangre. Marginalindividuals, such as the Jews, were not entitled to honour. By denying honourto Amán and punishing him for his attack on the Jews, Lope once againelevates the Jew.68

Apart from Isaac, Lope presents another new character named Marsanesbased on the biblical Marsena, one of the seven nobles of Persia. Marsanesacts as ‘amigo y consejero de Amán’.69 The function of Marsanes is to bridgegaps, connect scenes and increase tension in the play. He is the official whoinitially expresses leniency towards Vastí by advising the king to allow her toremain in the company of the other women. However, he subsequently makesa declaration concerning the superiority of the male to the female. He alsosuggests that the king should make the dethronement of Vastí known in all theprovinces.70 Marsanes similarly informs Amán of Mardoqueo’s lack ofrespect for him. He does this alone, rather than as part of the group of royalofficials who relate Mordecai’s disobedience to Haman in the Book of Esther.Marsanes exaggerates Mardoqueo’s refusal to honour Amán, thereby magni-fying Amán’s agitation and disgust with the Jew. He tells him: ‘De tal man-era le hallo / mil veces en tu presencia’ (II, 120). One of the most significantroles that Marsanes plays in La hermosa Ester is that of the faithful friend ofAmán who suggests to him that he should have Mardoqueo hanged from thegallows. Consequently, the inclusion of this character might have mitigatedsomewhat Amán’s negative role and made the audience see him as lessculpable for his actions.

Lope’s originality in La hermosa Ester is manifested through his introduc-tion of a sub-plot. This serves to make the play more explicitly relevant to theseventeenth-century audience and to produce comic relief. Weiner believesthat it demonstrates that opposites, specifically the Spanish nobility and peas-antry, can never complement one another: ‘Creo que en este episodio Lope haquerido mostrar que las cosas opuestas – sangre baja y sangre alta – no sepueden mezclar.’71 In the form of two short interludes in Acts I and II, the sub-plot takes place in a typical seventeenth-century rustic setting and tells thestory of how Sirena aspires to become queen and how Selvagio, her lover,refuses to take her back when she fails in her quest. The choice of names ofthese characters was no coincidence. Selvagio is the rustic figure which hisname suggests, while Sirena’s name is symbolic of the role that she would like


68 Lope’s El niño inocente de La Guardia serves as an interesting contrast toLa hermosa Ester because of its treatment of the theme of anti-Semitism. However, evenwithin that particular play, the Jews voice their sufferings in Act I. Francisco, for example,states: ‘¡Míseros de nosotros, desterrados / de nuestra patria en tanta desventura! / Losdaños tan de atrás profetizados, / aún no se acaban, y el castigo dura’. See El niño inocentede La Guardia, ed. Anthony J. Farrell (London: Tamesis, 1985), I. 322–25.

69 See Valencia, Pathos, p. 70.70 See Marsanes’ speech, I, 109.71 ‘La reina Ester’, p. 45.

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to play. She aims to become the siren of Greek mythology who will lure andtempt the king. She is an arrogant female, described in terms of her ‘vanidad’(I, 114) and ‘locura’ (II, 121) by Selvagio. She believes that the king shouldchoose her for his wife because of the superiority of the natural countrysideto the ambience of the palace and because ‘lo que falta es lo mejor’ (I, 115).Sirena is a comic figure who ironically wishes to become queen in an envir-onment which she has just criticised. The fact that the audience knows thatEster, not Sirena, will become queen intensifies the comic effect of this sceneand invalidates Sirena’s monologue.

Nevertheless, Sirena mirrors Vastí’s self-assurance and independence. Just asVastí disregarded Asuero’s request that she appear before him, so Sirena ignoresSelvagio’s plea that she remain faithful to him and abandon her ambition.Although Sirena is also portrayed as a foolish female who admits to her own‘locura’ and ‘soberbia’ (II, 122) in aspiring as one of sangre baja to an unattain-able status of sangre alta within the hierarchical structure of seventeenth-century Spain, her assertiveness and her initial refusal to play the part of thesubmissive female cannot be denied. Sirena leaves the stage in Act II with a con-fident speech concerning how she will win back Selvagio’s love. She boasts:

pero yo le ablandaréla condición fiera y brava;no me da mucha fatigapor más que volar presuma;

(II, 122)

The audience, therefore, is left not with an image of Sirena as a defeated, under-mined woman, but as a bold, positive female. Consequently, Lope’s sub-plot notonly makes La hermosa Ester more appealing by setting it within a contempor-ary context, but also allows a subversive female presence to have a forceful voicewithin the play. This sub-plot is particularly effective because it is successfullyworked into the main plot and thematic axis of La hermosa Ester.

When Lope decided to write a play based on the Book of Esther, rather thanany other biblical story, he was obviously not interested in merely presentingthe omniscience of God on stage. Of course there is no denying that the import-ance of faith is highlighted in La hermosa Ester. However, by concentratingon the success of a young woman in an alien environment, the Book of Estheroffered Lope the opportunity to present the strong, assertive female (a preva-lent type in Lope’s secular drama) within a religious framework.72 Principally

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72 A thorough investigation into the numerous representations of the strong-willedfemale in Lope’s secular plays is beyond the limits of this book. However, examples of thetype include the women of the Amazons, explicitly praised by Lope in Las mujeres sinhombres and the character Laurencia in Fuente Ovejuna. In Fuente Ovejuna, theauthoritative and resolute Laurencia is capable of both condemning men and joining forces

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through the character of Ester, and to a much lesser extent, Vastí, Lope exaltsthe female. Ester’s triumph over Amán is coupled with the fulfilment ofVastí’s promise to make Asuero suffer, if only for a short time, for sacrificinglove for public duty. It may only have been possible for Lope to present theultimate victory of the female Jewess (Ester) over the male (Amán) becauseEster is almost non-human; she is God’s instrument on earth through whomHis divine powers operate. In the final scenes of La hermosa Ester, she ispraised both by the king and by his Hebrew subjects.

Indeed, Lope’s final manipulation of biblical material relates to the endingof the play. He succintly dramatises the final chapters of the Book of Estherand concludes his play by focusing on the rejoicing and celebrations of theJews on stage with Ester, Mardoqueo and Asuero. Prior to the final dance andthe redistribution of Amán’s estate to Mardoqueo and Ester, Asuero authorisesthe revocation of Amán’s decree against the Jewish population. He addressesMardoqueo in the following manner:

Esta es mi sortija y sello;despachad cartas al punto,en que revoco el decretoque Amán, soberbio, había dadocontra el santo pueblo hebreo.

(III, 135)

La hermosa Ester ends on a happy, non-violent note, omitting the biblicalaccount of the murder of Haman’s ten sons and other Persians by Jews inAsuero’s provinces. This means that Lope’s audience is left to contemplate thetriumph of the Jews, rather than the destruction of the enemy. It is Amán, notthe ‘santo pueblo hebreo’ who is the embodiment of evil as the play draws to aclose.73 Significantly, Ester’s success is not undermined by acts of vengeance.

The ending of La hermosa Ester could be viewed as problematic for mem-bers of the seventeenth-century audience if they have identified themselves


with them as befits the occasion. Furthermore, Laurencia draws attention to the valour ofthe Amazonian women of Lope’s previously cited play, as she remarks: ‘y torne / aquelsiglo de amazonas, / eterno espanto del orbe’ (III, 160). An analysis of feminism anddistinct female types in the comedia forms the focus of Melveena McKendrick’s Womanand Society in the Spanish Drama of the Golden Age (London, New York: CUP, 1974) andFrederick A. De Armas’ The Invisible Mistress: Aspects of Feminism and Fantasy in theGolden Age (Charlottesville, Virginia: Biblioteca Siglo de Oro, 1976). More recently, thetheme of women as a subversive force in the comedia has been examined in a collectionof essays entitled The Perception of Women in Spanish Theater of the Golden Age, edsAnita K. Stoll and Dawn L. Smith (Lewisburg: Bucknell UP, 1991).

73 In Addition E of the Apocryphal Esther, the Jews are not presented as evil-doers.Josephus’ paraphrase of Addition E (Josephus, pp. 445–51) does not omit this importantdetail. Josephus states regarding the thirteenth of Adar: ‘For God has made it a day ofsalvation for them instead of a day of destruction’ (p. 451).

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with the Persians, especially with Amán, and with his preoccupation withhonour and his detestation of the Jews. If we accept the possibility of such aninterpretation, then the spectators were susceptible to two contradictoryrepresentations of themselves through the characters of Amán and the king.They may have seen themselves portrayed negatively as a result of Amán’sdestiny, but also in an altogether more positive light through the ultimate pre-sentation of the king as a tolerant and just individual. Asuero is revered byboth Mardoqueo, who addresses him as ‘¡Oh soberano señor!’ (III, 135), andby an hebreo who, like Mardoqueo, prostrates himself before him. The hebreotells the king:

Danos tus pies, gran señor,y pon de tu nombre el hierroen las almas, que en las carasya le tenemos impreso.

(III, 135)

At the same time, the audience observes the Jew, the national enemy, as rep-resented by Ester and Mardoqueo, in a privileged position within the state andthe recipient of special royal favours. Such an understanding of the represen-tation of the self and the ‘other’ problematises the concept of limpieza desangre which was of fundamental importance to the seventeenth-centurySpaniard.

The date of composition of La hermosa Ester makes the above interpreta-tion particularly significant. It is no coincidence that Lope wrote his play in1610, the year of the expulsion of the moriscos from Spain and one monthafter a decree was issued limiting the return of the Portuguese conversos toSpain.74 Lope unequivocally wrote this play with a political agenda in mind.The play obviously makes a statement on the anti-Semitism which pervadedseventeenth-century society, but whether we can deduce from it that Lope wasan advocate of the Jewish cause is a polemical issue among critics of thisdrama. Sicroff, for example, is doubtful that Lope was anti-Semitic, claimingthat ‘el hecho mismo de escoger la historia bíblica del Libro de Ester hacedudosa la idea de un Lope conformista respecto al antisemitismo de sus con-temporáneos. Es inconcebible que un Lope antisemita – en cualquier gradoque lo fuera – se propusiera dramatizar el máximo triunfo que conoció elpueblo israelita en el Antiguo Testamento contra sus perseguidores.’75 Weinersimilarly regards Lope as a sympathetic upholder of the Jewish cause. Hestates: ‘Creo que esta comedia favorece la tolerancia hacia el morisco y hacia

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74 The expulsion of the moriscos from Spain was the result of an edict dated 22September 1609. The decree limiting the return of Portuguese conversos was issued on3 March 1610. The expulsion of the moriscos was carried out satisfactorily by 1613–14.

75 ‘Notas equívocas’, p. 703.

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el judío, en particular hacia los conversos’.76 However, there are those criticswho assert that a Christian interpretation which promotes Ester as a prefig-uration of the Virgin Mary is important in the play, in spite of their recognitionof the fact that Lope’s main character is a representation of the biblicalJewess.77 They claim that just as Ester saves the Jews from the wrath of Amán,so the Virgin saves the human race from the devil. In a similar vein, just asEster is excluded from punishment by Asuero for approaching him uninvited,so Mary is excluded from the mark of original sin.78 The most widely quotedparts of La hermosa Ester in support of this opinion are Amán’s speech at theend of Act I – ‘lo que mujer dañó, mujer lo sana’ (p. 116) – and the song withwhich the play ends

Hoy salva a Israella divina Ester.Hoy, Ester dichosa,figura sagradade otra Ester guardadapara ser esposa,más pura y hermosa,de más alto Rey.Hoy salva a Israella divina Ester

(III, 135)

Critics argue that Amán’s speech which explains how Ester repairs the hon-our of Asuero damaged by Vastí symbolises the salvation of the world by the


76 ‘La reina Ester’, p. 43.77 Among the critics who argue for Ester as a prefiguration of the Virgin are Glaser,

‘Lope de Vega’s La hermosa Ester’, p. 131 and Vega García-Luengos, ‘El libro de Ester’,p. 240, n. 40. In Lope’s poem entitled El Isidro (1599), the Virgin is described as ‘La Ester,que tanto / cuanto quiso gracia halló / en los ojos que miró’. See Obras selectas, II (Poesíay Prosa), 413–534 (p. 439). Further references to the poem will be from this edition. In thesame work, Lope also describes Ester in terms of her ‘humilde belleza’ (p. 459). As well asthat, an analogy between the Virgin and Esther is drawn in San Isidro, labrador de Madrid.Isidro defines the Virgin as ‘Ester divina’ in his rendition of the Ave María. See Obrasselectas, III (Teatro 2), 357–88 (I, 366). Subsequent references to the play will be takenfrom this edition. For a more detailed analysis of both El Isidro and San Isidro, labradorde Madrid, see chapter 2, especially pp. 50–51.

78 The play in which Lope explicitly treats the theme of the Immaculate Conception isLa limpieza no manchada. Lope was commissioned to write this play in 1618 by theUniversity of Salamanca in celebration of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin. Lopeintroduces Ester, Amán and Asuero into the second act of this play in the form of a playwithin the play. In this play, Ester’s exemption from the law preventing anyone appearingbefore the king without permission does in fact symbolise the Virgin’s exemption from themark of original sin. On the play within the play in Lo fingido verdadero, see chapter 4,pp. 110–27.

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Virgin following the harm caused by Eve. Weiner, however, disagrees withthis view. He states: ‘En esta pieza de Lope no creo que sea aplicable estainterpretación religiosa.’79 Similarly, while the final song clearly defines Esteras a prefiguration of the Virgin, both Weiner and Sicroff take issue with itsdramatic function within the play. Although Weiner maintains that the onlylines in the play which allude to the Marian theme are those contained in thesong, he believes that the song itself serves to create ‘un fin convencional’,rather than ‘uno de base temático-estructural’.80 In Sicroff’s opinion, Lope’sattempt to make Ester a prefiguration of the mother of God is an ‘esfuerzoendeble’ following his exaltation of the Jewess and the debasement of therústica, Sirena.81

I would suggest that Lope presents La hermosa Ester from both perspec-tives, both Christian and Jewish. By this I mean that Ester is not only Esther,the saviour of the Jewish people, but also simultaneously a prefiguration of theVirgin.82 The presence of subversive voices in the play does not preclude anorthodox Christian interpretation, or vice versa. According to Simerka, ‘a morecomprehensive vision of the complexity of audience reception raises the prob-ability of spectators who sought, and found, experiences other than purgationand reaffirmation of orthodox values when attending the corral’ (See ‘EarlyModern’, p. 46). Perhaps Lope knew that writing within the dogmatic climateof his time, he could not possibly dramatise the success of the Jews, thenational enemy, without suffering at the hands of the Inquisition. It is possible,even, that he cleverly inserted Christian references into his play which wouldallow Ester to function as a prefiguration of the Virgin. The date of completionof La hermosa Ester would suggest that Lope almost certainly did not sharethe established anti-Semitic viewpoint and was even, perhaps, a sympatheticsupporter of the Jews/Conversos and Moriscos living in contemporary Spain.83

In the final analysis, Lope indisputably creates a successful dramatisation ofthe Book of Esther in La hermosa Ester, remaining faithful to the plot of the

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79 ‘La reina Ester’, p. 42.80 ‘La reina Ester’, p. 42.81 ‘Notas equívocas’, p. 704, in Lope de Vega y los orígenes, ed. Manuel Criado de Val.82 In ‘Función y simbolismo’, p. 465, Concejo claims regarding the relationship between

Ester and the Virgin: ‘A través de la representación, el espectador puede recorrer los grandesmomentos de la mariología cristiana: Anunciación, Corredención, Glorificación’. In herconcluding remarks, she describes the play in the following manner: ‘La hermosa Ester[. . .] contrarresta el antisemitismo de la sociedad española del Siglo de Oro al exaltar a unamujer judía que de esclava llega a reina’ (p. 471).

83 In ‘The Jew’, Roberta Zimmerman Lavine argues that aesthetic demands of plays mayhave caused Lope to present the Jew or the Converso in a sympathetic light. She concludesthat Lope is not, however, an advocate of the Jewish/Converso cause. Following an analysisof Lope’s poem Sentimientos a los agravios de Christo nuestro bien (approx. 1632), DanielL. Heiple concludes ‘it seems that Lope was more willing to dramatize the problemsympathetically in his plays than in his lyric poetry’. See ‘Political Posturing on the JewishQuestion by Lope de Vega and Faria e Sousa’, HR, 62 (1994), 217–34 (p. 225).

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story while incorporating his own views on seventeenth-century socio-literarypreoccupations such as love, honour and the role of woman. He has success-fully mediated between past and present and attained the goal of the medievalplaywright as described by Alan E. Knight: ‘His goal [. . .] was not just to rep-resent the events of a distant and sacred past to a fifteenth century audience, healso had to explain those events in ways that would make them applicable tocontemporary life.’84 Lope exhibits his dramatic craftmanship and genius bycarefully expanding and omitting biblical detail in order to create a fast-movingcomedia which produces suspense and tension. Important to the impact whichLope hoped La hermosa Ester would make on his audience is the fact that asa biblical play, the seventeenth-century viewers interpreted it as a depiction ofreal events, a dramatisation of historical reality.85

What the audience witnesses, therefore, is the presentation on stage of a‘real’ woman who saved her people from annihilation during some earlierperiod in history. It learns that the Jews were also persecuted in the past andmanaged to save themselves from the enemy. La hermosa Ester demonstrateshow the underdog, in this case woman and Jew, can not only survive but suc-ceed in a climate of persecution. It emphasises the importance of love, bothhuman and divine, and problematises seventeenth-century concepts such ashonour and anti-Semitism. Ultimately, Lope’s La hermosa Ester is proof thata popular story or event can be recreated in order to produce a drama whichis at once appealing and instructive.

Twelve years later, the playwright’s task would become even more demand-ing, after he was commissioned to dramatise the life and works of Isidro,Madrid’s patron saint. The challenge to please a contemporary audience,generally familiar with every detail of the saint’s life, would seriously putLope’s dramatic craftsmanship to the test.


84 ‘The Enacted Narrative’, p. 234.85 The Book of Esther, however, although set in the early post-exilic period, is not based

on historical fact. As Brockington indicates in Ezra, p. 217, the time period covered in thebiblical narrative stretches from the transportation of Mordecai to Babylon byNebuchadnezzar in 597 BC (see Esther 2. 5–6) to the reign of Xerxes (Xerxes I, 485–65 BC).This means that the action took place at least 112 years after Mordecai’s deportation.Brockington states: ‘We are forced to the conclusion that the author deliberately projectedhis book on to this early post-exilic period, but telescoped the period, as was not unusual withJewish writers, so that it could come within the compass of one man’s life.’W. R. F. Browning has described the Book of Esther in the following way: ‘Althoughfictitious, it is possible that the story may be based on some historical incident’. See‘Mordecai’ in Browning’s Dictionary of the Bible (Oxford: OUP, 1997), pp. 256–57 (p. 257).

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1 In ‘Saint Patrick of Ireland and the Dramatists of Golden-Age Spain’, Hermathena,121 (1976), 142–58, Victor Dixon draws attention to the fact that Christians throughoutEurope not only revered ‘local’ saints from medieval times, but also ‘international’ saints.In the opening lines of his article, Dixon states: ‘It seems appropriate to recall on thisoccasion [. . .] the veneration all Christendom accorded, throughout medieval times and inlater centuries, to the life and works of St Patrick’ (p. 142).

2 Francisco Moreno, San Isidro labrador (Madrid: Editorial El Avapiés, 1992), p. 73.Moreno’s study is an invaluable detailed analysis of Isidro, Madrid’s patron saint. In his aimto be a ‘narrador imparcial’ (p. 11), he provides details on the miracles, beatification andcanonisation of Isidro, together with references to the saint’s main biographers, thewitnesses for the beatification and canonisation proceedings and a modernised translationof the bull declaring the canonisation of Isidro. ‘El diácono Juan’ or Juan the Deacon, readerof Theology and Secretary to Alfonso X the Wise, wrote his Leyenda de San Isidro in 1275.This text will be closely examined in the course of this chapter.

3 The first legal documents for the purposes of the canonisation of Isidro werecompleted in 1589 during Philip II’s reign. For further details, see Moreno, San Isidro,pp. 79–80. Devotion to Isidro from medieval times is reflected in the establishment of theCofradía de San Isidro, which emerged at the end of the thirteenth century at the latest. In1537, this brotherhood merged with the Cofradía del Santísimo Sacramento to form theCofradía del Santísimo Sacramento y San Isidro Labrador. See San Isidro, p. 158; p. 161.

2

THE RE-PRESENTATION OF MADRID’S PATRÓN IN LA NIÑEZ DE SAN ISIDRO AND

LA JUVENTUD DE SAN ISIDRO

San Isidro, patrón de Madrid

In spite of the fact that Isidro was not canonised until 1622, he was popu-larly acclaimed saint and patrón de Madrid from the beginning of the thirteenthcentury when his body was transferred from the cemetery of San Andrés to thealtar of the church.1 According to Francisco Moreno, ‘Sin esperar a que laautoridad eclesiástica correspondiente diese el oportuno visto bueno, muchoshombres y mujeres de Madrid, a la vista de los milagros hechos, según eldiácono Juan, el mismo día del traslado, le concedieron espontáneamente enprivado y públicamente el honroso título de santo, y empezaron a considerarlecomo su patrón’.2 From 1589, when the first steps were taken to verify thesanctity of the local saint in Rome, until 1622, the population of Madrid wasparticularly concerned with the life and miracles of Isidro.3 The popularity ofthis local saint from medieval times, together with an upsurge in interest as a

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RE-PRESENTATION: SAN ISIDRO 45

result of the canonisation proceedings, strongly suggests that numerous detailsrelating to the local saint were not only familiar to, but well known by, Lope’sprospective audience.4 When Lope was commissioned by the Council ofCastile to write two plays in celebration of Isidro’s canonisation, his dramaticcompositions were thus restrained by the necessity to comply not only with aspecified agenda dictated by the authorities, but also by the horizon of expect-ation of the public.5 Consequently, he was unable to manipulate his sourcematerial to the same extent as he had done in La hermosa Ester.

La niñez de San Isidro and La juventud de San Isidro were both written,performed and printed in 1622.6 They were not staged in a typical corral, butin the open air, by the use in each case of two elaborately decorated carts anda platform in the plaza del Palacio by the theatrical companies of Vallejo andAvendaño.7 Lope’s audience included not only the general public, but the king

4 In Spain and the Western Tradition; III (1965), 249, Green reiterates Karl Vossler’sassertions in Introducción a la literatura española del siglo de oro (Madrid: Cruz y Raya,1934), p. 61, regarding Lope’s role in the canonisation process. Green states: ‘And Lopede Vega, himself remarkable as a sinner, was chiefly responsible for the canonization ofSt Isidro, the farmer of Madrid who was made the patron saint of that city. The canonisationwas prepared, solicited, and finally brought to fruition through the influence on public andecclesiastical opinion of an epic poem and three dramatic works by Lope himself, andtwo poetic contests which he organized. Such was the power of poetry and of Christiandevotion in the Spain of 1599, 1617, 1620, and 1622.’ Green’s comments would suggestthat the composition of La niñez and La juventud de San Isidro occurred, together with thepoetry competition, prior to the official declaration of the canonisation of the saint. Thiswas not the case.

5 Thomas Case claims that a comedia de santos was ‘meant to be a part of a series ofcelebrations designed for a seventeenth-century public in honor of a saint. It was purposelywritten to fit in with other parts of a celebration of a saint.’ He describes the faithful whoturned up to see the play and the clerics who commissioned it as ‘co-creators of the drama’.See his ‘Understanding Lope de Vega’s Comedia de Santos’, Hispan, 125 (1999), 11–22(p. 16). Apart from the plays on Isidro, Lope was commissioned to write two others. Priorto the canonisation of Isidro, he was contracted by the University of Salamanca to composeLa limpieza no manchada (1618). Subsequently, he wrote La vida de San Pedro Nolascoin 1629 at the request of the Mercedarian Order.

6 Both plays were published in a book entitled Relación de las fiestas que la insigne villade Madrid hizo en la canonización de su bienaventurado hijo y patrón San Isidro, con lasdos comedias que se representaron y los versos que en la Justa poética se escribieron(Madrid: Viuda de Alonso Martín, 1622). In addition to the plays, the book contains adedication to Madrid, 3 aprobaciones, an account of the celebrations entitled Relación delas fiestas, the prize-winning poems of the poetry contest held in honour of the saint andLope’s ballad Premios de la fiesta y justa poética en la canonización de San Isidro. For anabridged version of the contents of this book, see Sáinz de Robles, Obras selectas, II(Poesía y Prosa), 1125–47.

7 In the Relación de las fiestas, Lope provides significant details on the staging of hisplays. See Obras selectas, II, 1128–41 (p. 1137; p. 1141). Miguel Gallego Roca comparesthe staging of these plays to that of the autos sacramentales: ‘El escenario descrito por Lopeparece ser el mismo que se utilizaba en las representaciones de los autos sacramentales enlas fiestas del Corpus.’ See ‘Efectos’, p. 118.

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and queen themselves, who watched the plays from the lower balconies of thepalace. With the extra provision of richly adorned costumes for the actors anda magnificent tramoya, Lope’s task was to recreate the life and works of Isidroin a manner which was pleasing to his three-tiered audience of royal, lay andreligious spectators.8

In order to appreciate fully the complexities involved in Lope’s dramatisationsof Isidro, we must first explore the details of Isidro’s life and miracles whichwere, in fact, the dramatist’s raw material. The labrador who inspired Lope’splays was born in Madrid around 1100, during the early years of theReconquest.9 His parents, who were of humble origins, encouraged him to loveGod from an early age. He was employed by Iván de Vargas, a wealthylandowner and worked for him on the estate of Torrelaguna, situated just outsideMadrid. As a young man, he married María de la Cabeza, who bore him oneson.10 The various miracles associated with Isidro during his lifetime include

8 In the Relación de las fiestas, Lope describes the costumes in the following manner:‘La riqueza de los vestidos fue la mayor que hasta aquel día se vio en el teatro’. He alsoprovides details on the tramoya: ‘Lo que hubo móvil fue una tramoya sobre un teatro. Erade cuarenta pies de alto, su fundamento un fuerte, su extremo una nube, encima de ella laFama con una bandera en la mano, y cuatro ángeles que volaban alrededor, sin verse sumovimiento, como si fuera máquina semoviente o automática.’ See Obras selectas, II,1141; 1137.

9 For general details on the life of Isidro, see Alban Butler, Lives of the Saints, ed., rev.and supp. Herbert Thurston, S. J., and Donald Attwater, 2nd edn, 4 vols (London: Burns andOates, 1956), II, 323–24; Book of Saints. A Dictionary of Servants of God Canonized by theCatholic Church, compiled by the Benedictine Monks of St Augustine’s Abbey, Ramsgate,5th edn (London: A. and C. Black, 1966), p. 364 and New Catholic Encyclopedia, preparedby editorial staff at the Catholic University of America, Washington, District of Columbia,17 vols (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966–79), VII (1967), 672. Like the Isidro plays, FuenteOvejuna and San Diego de Alcalá are set during the reconquest of Spain, although the actionof both takes place in the fifteenth century in the latter years of the struggle (Fuente Ovejunais set in 1476 while San Diego de Alcalá traces the life and miracles of San Diego de Alcalá[approx. 1400–63]). Nevertheless, the war against the infidel features in all three. For detailson the reign of Alfonso I of Castile and the early years of the Reconquest, see among others‘The Rise of Christian Spain’, in The Making of Medieval Spain, by Gabriel Jackson(London: Thames and Hudson, 1972), pp. 53–78 and Angus MacKay, Spain in the MiddleAges (London: Macmillan, 1977), pp. 15–57.

10 The cult of María de la Cabeza was approved in 1697 by Innocent XII. She was bornat Torrejón and died in approximately 1175 in Caraquiz. Following her death, variousmiracles were attributed to her. The most popular miracle associated with her is thecrossing of the Jarama river on her mantle following a false accusation of adultery. In SanIsidro, pp. 27–30, Moreno highlights several popular details relating to the saint. Onpp. 35–37, he presents some of what he claims are authentic miracles which God workedthrough the intercession of María de la Cabeza. On María de la Cabeza, see also Book ofSaints, p. 483. In a study of Lope’s female saints and their relationship with the mujervaronil, the maternal figure and the Virgin Mary, Catharine Gilson presents María de laCabeza as a mirror image of the Virgin. She also draws a parallel between the mujervaronil and Dona, one of the principal characters of Lope’s Los locos por el cielo. See

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angels ploughing the fields while he prayed, the creation of a spring from whichhis master, Iván, could drink and the restoration to life of his master’s horse. Heis also remembered for feeding beggars at a confraternity dinner by miraculouslyincreasing his own portion of food and distributing corn seed to birds on a win-ter’s day from a sack whose seed subsequently produced abundant quantities offlour. Following his death (dated approximately either at 1130, or between 1171and 1190), Isidro was buried in the cemetery of the church of San Andrés inMadrid.11 Forty years later, the saint allegedly appeared in two visions, first to afriend and afterwards to a matron, requesting the removal of his body to a moreappropriate place in accordance with Divine orders. Isidro’s body, perfumed bythe sweet smell of incense, was discovered to be intact and incorrupt and wastransferred to a beautiful shrine above the main altar in San Andrés.12

Other miracles are attributed to Isidro after his death, including the victoryover the Moors at Navas de Tolosa in 1212 when Isidro, in the guise of ashepherd, appeared to Alfonso VIII’s soldiers and led them to a secret pathfrom which they could successfully attack and defeat the enemy. Isidro is alsocredited with restoring Philip III to health around 1619 when his shrine wascarried to the bedroom of the royal patient. However, he is not only upheld asthe saviour of royal blood. It is also said that, through the intercession ofIsidro, many other individual members of society made miraculous recover-ies from various afflictions, including physical disabilities and infertilityproblems. Even today, it is claimed that individuals who visit the fuente deSan Isidro continue to be cured.13

‘Lope de Vega’s Female Saints’, in Golden Age Spanish Literature. Studies in Honour ofJohn Varey, eds Charles Davis and Alan Deyermond (London: Department of HispanicStudies, Westfield College, 1991), pp. 93–103.

11 In Lives, p. 324, Alban Butler claims that Isidro died on 15 May 1130. Similarly, inthe contents of the papal bull concerning Isidro’s canonisation in Moreno, San Isidro,pp. 106–16 (p. 110), the saint’s death is recorded to have taken place around 1130. However,in San Isidro, p. 54, Moreno claims: ‘La fecha de la muerte suele ponerse entre 1171 y 1190,en 30 de noviembre.’ In a critical edition of the Leyenda de San Isidro by Juan the Deacon,Fidel Fita states: ‘La cuenta sale cabal con señalar el año 1190 para el dicho tránsito delglorioso labrador, patrón de Madrid’. See ‘Leyenda de San Isidro por el diácono Juan.Códice del Siglo XIII, procedente del archivo parroquial de San Andrés’, ed. Fidel Fita,BRAH, 9 (1886), 97–157 (p. 155).

12 Stephen Wilson claims that the incorruptibility of the corpse was usually, and still is,taken to be a sign of sanctity, and it is a commonplace of hagiology that saints’ bodies emitsweet odours. See his ‘Introduction’, in Saints and Their Cults. Studies in ReligiousSociology, Folklore and History, ed. Stephen Wilson (Cambridge: CUP, 1983), pp. 1–53(p. 10). Franciso Moreno, in San Isidro, p. 59, claims that the Dominican Fray Domingode Mendoza was present at the official opening of Isidro’s tomb on 20 July 1593. Heprovides details on Mendoza’s testimony relating to the tomb and body of the saint (pp. 60and 62) and states that Mendoza described the smell emanating from the saint’s body as‘un olor suavísimo diferente de todos los olores y especies aromáticas’ (p. 60).

13 According to Wilson, visits to springs or wells associated with saints was a popularway of effecting cures by them. Individuals drank the water from the spring or well,

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During their respective reigns, Philip II and Philip III both strove to ensurethe canonisation of Isidro. Finally, the document passing the beatification ofIsidro was signed by Paul V on 14 June 1619, and eight days of festivitiesmarked the occasion in Madrid from 15 May the following year. Isidro waslater canonised on 12 March 1622 by Pope Gregory XV during the reign ofPhilip IV at a ceremony which also included the canonisations of Ignacio deLoyola,14 Francisco Javier,15 Teresa de Ávila16 and Philip Neri.17 Isidro isremembered each year on 15 May. His feast day is not only celebrated inSpain but even in northwestern Mexico where framed images of the saint arecarried through the fields by farmers who, through the intercession of Isidro,hope that their land will be blessed by rain.18 His body is currently enshrinedin the Cathedral of Madrid.

San Isidro: A Pervading Presence in Lope’s Life and Work

In his Estudios sobre el teatro de Lope de Vega, Menéndez y Pelayo stresseshow Madrid’s patron saint impresses upon Lope’s life and compositions: ‘Nohay quien ignore [. . .] cuánta importancia tiene en la vida y en las obras deLope la devoción al Santo labrador, patrono de Madrid, y de qué modocontribuyó con el prestigio de su rica poesía a difundir y hacer popular, dentroy fuera de los muros de la villa, el culto del humilde y venturoso labriego,

bathed or washed in it and even dipped the clothing of the sick into it. See ‘Introduction’,in Saints and Their Cults, p. 19.

14 Ignacio de Loyola (1491–1556) is worshipped as the patron of retreats and his feast iscelebrated on 31 July. For further details on this saint, see Henry Dwight Sedgwick, IgnatiusLoyola: An Attempt at an Impartial Bibliography (London: Macmillan, 1924); Paul VanDyke, Ignatius Loyola, the Founder of the Jesuits (New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1926) andC. de Dalmases, ‘Ignatius of Loyola, St’, in New Catholic Encyclopedia, VII (1967), 354–56.

15 Francisco Javier (1506–52) is thought to have been one of the greatest missionariesof all time. A companion of Ignacio de Loyola, his feast day is 3 December. He wasdeclared patron of the Orient in 1748, patron of the Faith in 1904 and along with St Thérèseof Lisieux, patron of all missions in 1927. See ‘St Francis Xavier’, in Butler’s Lives, IV,474–81.

16 Teresa de Ávila (1515–82), also known as Teresa de Jesús, was one of the greatSpanish mystics and founder of the order of Discalced Carmelites. She was proclaimed aDoctor of the Church in 1970, the first woman to be granted the title. She is particularlyremembered for her spiritual works. Her feast is celebrated on 15 October. For generaldetails on Teresa, see O. Steggink, ‘Teresa of Avila, St’, in New Catholic Encyclopedia,XIII (1967), 1013–16 and Carole Slade, St Teresa of Avila: Author of a Heroic Life(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995).

17 Philip Neri (1515–95), whose feast day is celebrated on the 26 May, is also knownas the ‘apostle of Rome.’ For further details on this saint, see Book of Saints, p. 575 andDonald Attwater, The Penguin Dictionary of Saints, 2nd edn, rev. Catherine Rachel John(London: Penguin, 1983), pp. 275–76.

18 See Jorge Acero, ‘The Fiesta of San Isidro’, Journal of the Southwest, 33 (1991),18–19.

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a quien amaba doblemente por razón de paisanaje y por aquel espíritu llano ydemocrático que en el alma de Lope reinaba’.19 Lope’s connection with Isidrowas already well established before he wrote La niñez and La juventud in1622. According to Moreno, Lope appeared as a witness at the officialproceedings for the beatification/canonisation of María de la Cabeza as earlyas 1612.20 Eight years later, he was not only the judge and organiser of thepoetry competition to celebrate Isidro’s beatification, but also composed twoquatrains which were inscribed on the new silver coffin especially preparedfor Isidro’s dead body.21 The verses read as follows:

Esta Urna sacra encierramás Cielo que tierra, y fuede un labrador cuya Felabraba Cielo a su Tierra.Imitando a Eloy el celo,sus plateros la labraron,para decir, que engastaronde todo Madrid el Cielo.22

In 1622, Lope was not only responsible for the composition of two plays inhonour of the saint, but also acted as one of the judges at the poetrycompetition which took place in the plaza mayor on 28 June 1622. On thisoccasion, Lope read the opening speech, the prize-winning poems and madea humorous commentary in verse on each of the winning poems. Finally,Lope closed this ceremony with a ballad just as he had done at the competi-tion two years previously. In his Premios de la fiesta, y justa poética en

19 See Estudios, II, 43–49 (p. 44).20 Moreno states: ‘Me agrada recordar que uno de los testigos fue Lope de Vega,

cuando tenía cincuenta años.’ See San Isidro, p. 30.21 The poetry competition took place on 19 May 1620 and was held in the church of

San Andrés. Lope opened the celebrations with an introductory speech and the recital ofsome of his own poems in the décimas style. He also recited a poem to conclude theceremony entitled Romance para la conclusión de la justa poética celebrada con motivode la beatificación de San Isidro, in which he praised the poets who had participated inthe contest. Finally, Lope distributed prizes to the winning poets. He was paid 300 ducatsfor his efforts by the Council of Castile. The poems entered in the competition werepublished in 1620 under the title Justa poética y alabanzas justas que hizo la insigne villade Madrid al bienaventurado San Isidro en la fiesta de su beatificación (Madrid: Viudade Alonso Martín). Lope added some of his own verses in the décimas style to thispublication, as well as several verses under the pseudonym Tomé de Burguillos and anintroduction in which he attacked culteranismo. Sáinz de Robles cites parts of the Justapoética in Obras selectas, II, 1109–24, including the Breve suma de la vida delBienaventurado San Isidro (pp. 1111–12) and the ballad with which the function ended(pp. 1120–24).

22 See Moreno, San Isidro, pp. 65–66.

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la canonización de San Isidro, he applauded the winning poets and theircompositions.23

More importantly, however, Lope’s recognition of the wealth of materialassociated with Isidro prompted him to devote two significant works to thesaint prior to 1622. He explicitly defined events in Isidro’s life as promisingsubject matter for poets in his Romance para la conclusión de la justa poéticacelebrada con motivo de la beatificación de San Isidro:

¿Quién pensara que en Madridtantos poetas hubiera?Pero vos lo habéis causado,labrador de nuestra tierra.Porque con campos y ríos,ángeles, arados, rejas,fuentes, cristales, milagros,les dais tan fértil materia,que vendrán a ser por vospoetas hasta las piedras;que para vuestra alabanzaya no es mucho que hablen ellas.24

The first of these works, and the longest on the subject of the saint by Lope,is El Isidro (Madrid: Luis Sánchez, 1599), which Sáinz de Robles considersto be ‘el más bello poema de Lope’.25 A poem made up of ten cantos, itfocuses on the life of the saint from his birth to his death and presents themiracles which are commonly associated with him. Lope, however, stillmanages to convey his own voice, referring to Isidro in canto V, for example,as a ‘celestial labrador’ (p. 471). The poem also provides Lope with the oppor-tunity to address several theological issues in cantos III and IV, such as thefall of Lucifer, the Immaculate Conception and Christ’s salvation of mankind.Moreover, the saintliness of Isidro is highlighted when Lope lists his namealongside prophets, apostles and biblical heroes/heroines including Josephand Esther (canto IV, pp. 458–59).

Lope’s second important creation on this subject is a three-act play entitledSan Isidro, labrador de Madrid (1598–1608) (probably 1604–06).26 Publishedin 1617 in the Séptima parte de las comedias de Lope de Vega Carpio, it isessentially a dramatisation of the adult life of the saint from his request forpermission to marry María de la Cabeza to the prophecies of the rivers

23 Lope’s ballad is contained in Obras selectas, II, 1143–47. For details on the prizesawarded at the contest, see the ‘Nota preliminar’, pp. 1125–26.

24 Obras selectas, II, 1121.25 See his ‘nota preliminar’ to the poem in Obras selectas, II, 413–14 (p. 414).26 Unlike La niñez and La juventud, San Isidro, labrador de Madrid was not a

commissioned work. Lope, therefore, did not have to comply with a particular agenda.

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Jarama and Manzanares regarding his death, canonisation and miracles.27

Isidro’s canonisation is effectively promoted in the course of the play throughthe discourse of several characters. Isidro himself makes a prediction con-cerning his future role, nominating himself as ‘el prelado de estos prados’ inhis conversation with the personification of jealousy, Envidia (II, 375).Envidia too, in spite of his aspiration to destroy Isidro’s reputation, ultim-ately focuses on the possible official recognition of Isidro’s holiness. Heinforms Demonio:

¡[. . .] vendrá el siglo en que Felipereine, y por ventura en Romale veas canonizar!

(III, 387)28

In terms of content, both of Lope’s early works justify his claim regardingthe suitability of the story of Isidro as a literary subject. However, in order tocomprehend how Lope would later reconstruct the fundamental details relat-ing to Isidro in La niñez de San Isidro and La juventud de San Isidro, famil-iarity with the written source material which would have been extant at thetime of writing is vital.

The Source Material

For writers of all genres in sixteenth and seventeenth-century Spain, thefundamental source of reference for the legend of San Isidro was JuanDiácono’s Leyenda de San Isidro.29 A thirteenth-century text, now preserved

27 In San Isidro, Moreno claims that Lope wrote this play in 1617 (see p. 128). Similarly,Garasa states regarding its composition: ‘La tercera, San Isidro, labrador de Madrid, fueescrita cinco años antes que las otras dos.’ See his Santos, p. 59. Garasa devotes pp. 58–62of the book to a discussion of the three plays on the San Isidro theme. On pp. 58–59, hetakes issue with Menéndez y Pelayo’s definition of the three plays as ‘una especie detrilogía (Estudios, II, 43). As far as he is concerned, ‘Pese a su tema común, no puedehablarse de trilogía. Una trilogía es, por ejemplo, la que Tirso de Molina dedicará a ensalzarla santidad de la monja de la Sagra, sor Juana de la Cruz’. San Isidro, labrador de Madridwas subsequently published in Parte veinte y ocho de comedias de los mejores ingeniosdesta corte (Madrid, 1667).

28 Philip III (1598–1621) was the ruling monarch at the time of composition of thisplay. As already stated, Isidro’s canonisation did not take place during his reign but in thatof his successor, Philip IV (1621–65).

29 The edition used for the purposes of this study is that produced by Fidel Fita. Therelevant bibliographical details are cited in p. 47, n. 11 of this chapter. Lope makes theimportance of this text explicit in his Breve suma del bienaventurado San Isidro, containedin the Justa poética. Here, he claims that the life of María de la Cabeza is known thanks toJuan Diácono’s work: ‘Esto se sabe de sus antiquísimos retratos, y su vida, de Juan Diácono,presbítero de aquel tiempo.’ See Obras selectas, II, 1111–12 (p. 1112).

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in the archive of Madrid’s cathedral, it inspired not only Lope’s dramatic andpoetic compositions but also the work of several biographers includingAlonso de Villegas, fray Juan Ortiz Lucio and Jaime Bleda.30 The text hasbeen attacked by critics as a result of its exclusion of basic details, such as thenames of Isidro’s wife, son and master, and several miracles popularly asso-ciated with the saint. These include the restoration to life of Iván de Vargas’horse, María’s miraculous crossing of the Jarama river and Isidro’s supernat-ural creation of springs. In Juan Diácono’s defence, Fidel Fita argues that thedeacon did not set out to present the vida but the leyenda milagrosa of thesaint (‘Leyenda’, p. 101). Similarly, Moreno acknowledges that an intricatebiography of the saint was unnecessary given the author’s objectives: ‘Lo quepretendió fue simplemente despertar entre los fieles simpatía y devoción haciael santo. [. . .] En pocas palabras, el diácono pudo y no quiso decir más de loque dijo’ (San Isidro, p. 27). In spite of his exclusion of material, JuanDiácono catalogues salient episodes in Isidro’s life which are subsequentlydramatised by Lope. The contents of the first sections of his biography areparticularly significant in this regard.31

Isidro Feeds the Birds (pp. 102–03)32

Isidro departs for the mill with a sack of wheat on a snowy winter’s day inthe company of the filiolo. He sees some hungry birds settled on the branchesof the trees and pours out some wheat from the sack for them to eat. The filiolois angry at his master’s actions. When Isidro and the filiolo finally reach themill, the wheat produces an abundance of flour.

Angels Help Isidro while he Prays (pp. 103–07)Several of Isidro’s co-workers approach their master and inform him that

Isidro is neglecting his work by arriving late everyday following his daily visitto church. Upset, the master visits Isidro and scolds him. Isidro informs him thathe will compensate him if his harvest is affected by his attendance at church.Isidro’s maxim is ‘Primum querite regnum dei, et vobis necessaria non deerunt’–‘he who seeks God shall not want’ (p. 105). Unconvinced, the master decides to

30 Alonso de Villegas’ Vida de San Isidro labrador, an abridged version of JuanDiácono’s text, was published in Madrid by Luis Sánchez in 1592. Fray Juan Ortiz Lucio’saccount of the life of Isidro, which follows Juan Diácono’s text closely, was contained inhis Flos Sanctorum/Compendio de vidas de los santos, which was also published inMadrid in 1597. Jaime Bleda’s Vida y milagros del glorioso San Isidro el labradorcomprises a translation of Juan Diácono’s text with additions. It was published in Madridin 1622.

31 Fita numbers the paragraphs of Juan Diácono’s text, ‘para mayor firmeza y claridad’(‘Leyenda’, p. 102). The sections cited above are paragraphs 1–7 of Fita’s edition. I haveprovided titles for each section in order to draw attention to their content.

32 Page references correspond to the relevant sections of the Latin text in Fita’s edition.What I have presented here is a summary of the most important details of each section.

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visit Isidro’s workplace and witnesses his late arrival. Filled with anger, hedecides to go and confront Isidro. However, following his lapse of concentrationfor a moment, Isidro’s master looks back at the field and sees two teams of oxenploughing to the right and left of Isidro. When he approaches Isidro and asks himwho was providing him with assistance, Isidro replies that he only calls on Godfor protection and did not see anyone. His master realises that Isidro was assistedby divine grace and puts him in charge of his land.

The Miracle of the Wolf (pp. 107–08)Isidro goes to pray in the church of Santa María la Magdalena. Several

young boys approach him and inform him that his beast is being attacked bya wolf. Isidro tells the boys to go in peace and let the will of God be done:‘Ite in pace, fili[i]; fiat voluntas domini’ (p. 107). When Isidro leaves thechurch, he finds the dead body of the wolf alongside that of his own uninjuredbeast. He returns to the church to thank God.

The Miraculous Feeding of the Beggar (pp. 108–09)One Saturday, a wretched man unexpectedly approaches Isidro seeking

alms. Isidro asks his wife to give the left-over food to the beggar. Althoughhis wife is sure that there is nothing remaining, she goes to fetch the emptypot and finds it miraculously filled with food. She offers the beggar an abun-dance of food and narrates the occurrence to her neighbours.

The Miracle at the Confraternity Dinner (pp. 109–10)Having gone to pray first, Isidro arrives late to the confraternity dinner in

the company of a group of poor men. The brothers inform Isidro that the onlyfood remaining is his individual portion. Isidro miraculously increases theamount of food with the result that there is even some left over once Isidroand the poor have been fed.

The Burial of Isidro (pp. 110–11)Isidro’s body is buried in the cemetery of San Andrés. His body lies there

for forty years and is rarely visited. A small stream forms inside the tomb as aresult of the rains. However, God ensures that no part of Isidro’s body becomeswithered.

The Miraculous Appearance of Isidro (pp. 111–12)Isidro appears to a friend telling him to instruct the parish leaders to

exhume his body and place it in the church of San Andrés in accordancewith Divine orders. The friend is hesitant and decides to say nothing. Isidrosubsequently appears to a faithful matron with the same message. Isidro’sbody is exhumed and discovered to be incorruptible and surrounded by thesweet smell of incense. It is placed in a new, magnificent tomb in the churchof San Andrés.

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With the exception of the hymns in honour of San Isidro, the remainderof the biography presents a variety of miracles attributed to the intercessionof Isidro.33 These include the curing of physical disabilities and infertilityproblems as well as the provision of rain in times of drought. However, sinceLope is concerned only with the re-creation of the childhood and adult yearsof Isidro in La niñez and La juventud, a detailed study of these supernaturaloccurrences is unnecessary.34

Apart from Juan Diácono’s biography of the saint, Sáinz de Roblesindicates a second source of reference for Lope’s plays on Isidro: ‘Para susobras escénicas se inspiró Lope en su propio poema. Pero ¿y para éste? Eramuy popular la Vida de San Isidro, compuesta en el siglo XIII por el diáconoJuan’.35 Understandably, Lope would turn to his first and longest work on thesaint when faced with the task of re-creating the ‘image’ of the holy man forthe stage. Moreover, Lope’s first play on the subject of the saint, San Isidro,labrador de Madrid (1604–06?), was also an invaluable source when Lopewas preparing La niñez and La juventud in 1622. This fact is generally over-looked by critics who tend to examine Lope’s three Isidro plays collectivelyrather than as individual compositions.36 This collective approach has

33 The hymns constitute sections 25–30, pp. 129–42 of Fita’s edition.34 A study of these miracles would be fitting in a detailed analysis of El Isidro and San

Isidro, labrador where the prophetical rivers (both the Jarama and the Manzanares in SanIsidro, labrador and the Manzanares only in El Isidro) allude to them. This, however, liesbeyond the focus of this chapter.

35 See his ‘nota preliminar’ to La niñez de San Isidro in Obras selectas, III, 311–12(p. 311). Menéndez y Pelayo claims that Lope had access to materials collected by frayDomingo de Mendoza when he wrote El Isidro. In Estudios, II, p. 45, he explains Lope’suse of sources: ‘Lope nunca las declara de un modo explícito, si bien para el poema dicehaberse valido de los procesos y probanzas que le comunicó fray Domingo de Mendoza.’In San Isidro, pp. 83–84, Moreno describes Mendoza’s role in the canonisation process.According to him, Domingo de Mendoza was one of the first witnesses to be called byRome in order to make his declaration in favour of Isidro. He did so on 11 August 1593.Moreno adds that in February 1596, Mendoza was commissioned by the nuncio CamilioCaetano to obtain more information on Isidro’s life and miracles by visiting all areaswithin the jurisdiction of Madrid and that he completed his research the following year.In El Isidro, canto X, p. 532, Lope draws attention to Mendoza’s connection with thecanonisation proceedings: ‘que la canonización / ya el Papa y con gran razón / a sí soloha reservado. / Mas la madre que se goza / de tal hijo, la pretende, / cuya ejecuciónemprende / fray Domingo de Mendoza, / y en las probanzas entiende.’

36 Lope’s plays on Madrid’s patron saint have attracted little critical attention. Inaddition, as stated above, their critics for the most part have analysed the three together. InEstudios, II, 43–49, for example, Menéndez y Pelayo makes general observations on SanIsidro, labrador, La niñez and La juventud de San Isidro. Similarly, Garasa discusses allthree Isidro plays in Santos, pp. 58–62, although he focuses primarily on San Isidro,labrador. In ‘Efectos’, Gallego Roca goes beyond a general discussion of the plays inorder to present a detailed analysis of staging techniques employed by Lope in hisdramatisation of Isidro. He examines the use of apariencias, escotillones and the pescanteand the relationship between the tramoya and poesía in the plays. In ‘La comedia de santos

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obscured the true nature of the relationship between the earlier work and thetwo later plays. The earlier one is, in fact, a dynamic intertextual presence inthe later plays, although we might say that Isidro is, to some extent, ‘reborn’in La niñez and particularly in La juventud. This is partially a result of therewriting of characters and scenes from San Isidro, labrador, fused with themiracles provided by Juan Diácono’s text.37

As already stated, the content of La niñez and La juventud and thedevelopment of Isidro’s character were preconditioned by the expectation ofLope’s audience which was well acquainted with the saint. With the approvalof various miracles and details by the Court in Rome in 1622, events in Isidro’slife were accepted as factual by the religious authorities and the general publicalike. The most significant approbations made by Rome involved the authen-ticity of miracles presented in Juan Diácono’s text, as well as others popularlyassociated with the saint, including the miracle of the spring, where Isidro pro-vided water to quench his master’s thirst.38 As a result, Lope was confrontedwith several fundamental concerns in 1622 when he wrote his plays. In the firstinstance, he faced the challenge of transforming what was for his audience apopular and real individual into a recognisable and credible dramatic characterin a play, who in turn would reach them on a real, albeit emotional level. At thesame time, it was necessary for Lope to reconstruct what was quite stale, writ-ten source material into dynamic entertainment for his spectators. Finally, andmost significantly, Lope’s La niñez and La juventud had to reflect the saintli-ness of Madrid’s patron saint, the essential reason behind the revelries of whichthe plays were a part. In his dramatisation of the child Isidro in La niñez, thislatter demand was to prove particularly challenging.

La niñez de San Isidro

In La niñez de San Isidro, Lope presents the birth, baptism and childhoodof Madrid’s patrón.39 The play is accompanied by a loa in which Lope praises

en Antonio de Zamora’, DHA, 8 (1989), 333–41, Irene Vallejo González conducts acomparative study between Lope’s plays on Isidro and Antonio de Zamora’s El lucero deMadrid, y divino labrador, San Isidro, written at the beginning of the eighteenth century.Her analysis includes a brief summary of each of Lope’s plays (pp. 335–37). Finally, in hisarticle entitled ‘Ideología/espectacularidad en la comedia de santos’, Gestos, 2 (1987),65–81, Mario Cesáreo provides a succinct commentary on the dramatic structure of SanIsidro, labrador de Madrid (pp. 75–79).

37 San Isidro, labrador de Madrid was especially important as a source for Lope’s Lajuventud since it dramatised a similar period in the life of the adult Isidro.

38 In San Isidro, pp. 106–16, Moreno claims to have provided a literal but modernisedtranslation of the canonisation bull in its entirety. Gregory XV granted the canonisation ofIsidro but died on 8 July 1623. The bull was produced in 1724 and printed in Rome in 1726.

39 The edition of the play used for the purposes of this study is contained in Relaciónde las fiestas, fols 4r–18v. All subsequent references will be taken from this edition.

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the youthful Philip IV and his lineage, particularly by drawing attention to theaccomplishments of Philip II, such as the historic union of Spain and France.Lope also encourages Philip IV to enjoy the privilege of fulfilling the role ofruling monarch during the canonisation of four of Spain’s saints. In Act I ofLa niñez de San Isidro, Lope presents Inés and Pedro, the devout, future par-ents of Isidro and labradores who are employed by Álvaro de Vargas. The playopens with Inés’ prayer to the Virgin of Almudena for a son ‘que sea santo’(I, fol. 4r), which is followed by Pedro’s prayer and his vision in a dream ofthe unborn Isidro. Inés subsequently gives birth and Pedro thanks God for thegift of his son in San Andrés. Act I ends with the arrival at San Andrés of DonÁlvaro, several labradores and Isidro’s godparents (Elvira and Juan Ramírez)amid singing and dancing for the child’s baptismal ceremony. The saintlinessof the child Isidro is highlighted throughout the second act of the play by theintroduction of complicated expressions of faith, an encounter with Christ andthe manipulation of a seemingly innocent game of hide and seek. The playends with celebrations in honour of the Virgin of Atocha and the offering ofa cross by Isidro to the Christ child.

As will be seen in due course, La juventud, like La niñez, is a two-act play.Indeed, they are not only fundamentally similar in dramatic structure but havea variety of similar themes, images and characters. Essentially, the explicitcontinuity established between La niñez and La juventud serves to definethese comedias as two acts of one play. The following duplications and/or re-creations will be highlighted:

• the shared qualities of father and son (Pedro and Isidro)• the relationship between the child Isidro and his adult counterpart• the similarities between Bato, the gracioso of La niñez, and Tirso, his son,

who assumes his father’s role in La juventud• the duplication of scenes (Christ’s appearance to the child and adult

Isidro)• the re-creation of the miracle of the angels.

In El Isidro, Lope describes Isidro’s upbringing by his parents in thefollowing manner:

En su infancia, le enseñabana amar a Dios, y apartabandel pecado con ejemplo,donde la humildad contemploque en esto los tres mostraban.40

Spelling and punctuation will be modernised where appropriate. Saints also appear asyouths in El niño inocente de La Guardia and La niñez del Padre Rojas. Similarly, Lamadre de la mejor is concerned with the conception, birth and childhood of the Virgin.

40 Obras selectas, II, 422.

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A similar, broad overview of Isidro’s piety as a child is contained in thecanonisation bull: ‘Desde su infancia practicó Isidro las virtudes cristianascon tal grado de perfección que en su edad adulta prefirió vivir de laagricultura, por parecerle el oficio más humilde, más penoso y más apto yseguro para la salvación de su alma.’41 The lack of concrete details relatingto Isidro’s childhood would imply that Lope was less constrained in termsof content in the composition of this play than when he came to write Lajuventud de San Isidro and was faced with a wealth of models to work from.However, the very absence of the child from the dramatic action until the endof Act I and from the dialogue until Act II suggests that Lope was uncon-vinced that his audience would immediately accept an unknown child as theirpatrón. As a result, the child Isidro is made recognisable to the spectatorsthrough a variety of dramatic devices. Lope establishes a link between theadult and child Isidro, particularly in Act I, through the use of the offstagevoz, the transformation of Bato, the gracioso, into a prophet-like character,the incorporation of the miracle of the angels as a vision in a dream of theunborn child’s father and the future parents’ description of their ideal son.Having consolidated a relationship between adult and child, the child Isidro’ssaintliness can then be emphasised in Act II primarily through his own wordsand actions.

According to Elma Dassbach, ‘las profecías y voces celestiales, aunque sonexpresiones sobrenaturales de menos espectacularidad escénica que lasdemás, suelen presentarse como un primer paso para trazar el primer contactodel santo con el mundo del más allá’.42 In Act I of La niñez de San Isidro, thefunction of the offstage voz is to reveal the child Isidro’s future role as a saintand his veneration by the inhabitants of Madrid. The prophecies of the voz whichare heard by Pedro both prior to, and following, Isidro’s birth intensify theconnection between the child Isidro and his adult counterpart of La juventudde San Isidro. The first prediction of the voz, which follows Pedro’s prayer fora saintly son and which precedes his dream, establishes the first specific asso-ciation between the unborn child and the adult Isidro for the audience. In acelebratory tone, the ‘voz cantando’ (I, fol. 6r) stresses the prestige of Isidroand the good fortune shared by Pedro and Madrid as a result of their connec-tions with the unborn child. The voz proclaims:

Venturoso el labradorque coge tan rica prendadel fruto del matrimoniopara enriquecer la Iglesia.Y venturosa Madridcuando por hijo le tenga,

41 Moreno, San Isidro, p. 107.42 See La comedia hagiográfica, p. 99.

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pues le ha de dar más honoraunque los Reyes lo sean.

(I, fols 6r–6v)

The song portends the saintly nature of Isidro who will appear on stage laterin this play and subsequently in La juventud de San Isidro. In addition, itunderlines the significance of Isidro as patron of Madrid and a saint of theCatholic Church even before his birth.

When the voz instructs Pedro for the second time at the end of Act I, hedraws attention to the transfer of Isidro’s body to the altar of San Andrésfollowing his death. In the first instance, Pedro misinterprets the voz’s claim‘aquí ha de tener lugar / tu hijo (I, fol. 11r) as a prediction of his newly bornson’s imminent death. However, he interprets the message as a ‘prodigioextraño’ when the voz elaborates:

Aquí ha de vivir, y vermuchos siglos esta Villa,con notable maravilladel mundo.

(I, fol. 11r)

Pedro’s inability to accept the voz’s prediction, concluding that it must be aform of ‘engaño’ (I, fol. 11r) reflects his questioning of the validity of hisvision of his unborn child in a dream. He asks himself:

cielos, ¿qué es esto que vien vuestro divino oriente?¿Esto se puede soñar?¿esto mirar los sentidosexteriormente dormidos?

(I, fol. 6v)

More significantly, however, Pedro’s hesitation to acknowledge himself as awitness of some supernatural revelation mirrors his son’s inability as a childand adult to accept that he is worthy of a visit from Christ. In Act II of Laniñez de San Isidro, Isidro attributes the encounter with Christ to his infantileimagination following his own self-questioning:

¿Qué es esto que ofrecieron a mis ojosmis imaginaciones?¿Son sueños, o ilusiones?Sin duda sueños son, o son antojos,que como a tan pequeño,con tales sombras se me atreve el sueño.

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¿Qué es aquesto que vi? Pero seríade mi niñez efecto,

(II, fol. 18r)43

In La juventud de San Isidro, the adult Isidro is also unable to grasp the impli-cations of such a ‘spiritual’ reality, explicitly stating that he is undeserving ofa meeting with Christ: ‘sueño fue, que mi humildad, / no tiene merecimientos’(I, fol. 27v). This humble reaction to the supernatural is not the only commonfeature shared by father and son. In fact, Pedro in La niñez de San Isidro exhibitsseveral qualities demonstrated also by his adult son in both La juventud de SanIsidro and San Isidro, labrador de Madrid. Both he and his wife Inés arecomplimented by Álvaro de Vargas, who describes them as ‘buenos cristianos’(I, fol. 9r), while Isidro and María are categorised as ‘buenos novios’ by theiremployer, Iván de Vargas, in La juventud.44 Like Isidro, whose daily attendanceat mass is confirmed by Pascual de Valdemoro and the sacristán in San Isidro,labrador,45 Pedro is also an ardent churchgoer. The sacristán of La niñez de SanIsidro claims in this regard:

No hay mejor hombre en Castilla,ni ha tenido San Andrésparroquiano más galán.

(I, fol. 11r)

Pedro also engages in prayer through which he defines God in terms of his rela-tionship with nature, just as his son does later in this play and in La juventud

43 The preoccupation of both Pedro and Isidro with the relationship between illusion and‘reality’ mirrors Segismundo’s inability to distinguish between lo real and lo soñado inCalderón’s La vida es sueño. In addition, the reaction of these characters serves to reinforcethe seventeenth-century theocentric view of the illusory nature of life, which is analysed inmore detail in part 2 of this study. Indeed, as will be seen in due course, the incorporationof supernatural characters and dreams/visions into La niñez and La juventud, and the use ofthe different levels of the stage in both are fundamental to the interplay between illusion andreality. Consequently, both plays could also be examined in detail from this perspective.

44 The edition of La juventud de San Isidro used is contained in Relación de las fiestas,fols 20v–35r. All subsequent quotations will be taken from this edition. As with La niñezde San Isidro, spellings and punctuation will be amended where appropriate. The referencecited above can be found in I, fol. 21v. Iván de Vargas, Isidro’s employer in both Lajuventud de San Isidro and San Isidro, labrador de Madrid, is the son of Álvaro de Vargas,Isidro’s parents’ employer in La niñez de San Isidro. This is a further example of thecontinuity which exists between these plays.

45 Pascual de Valdemoro informs Benito Preciado and Juan de la Cabeza, ‘que noamanece el alba sin que aguarde / a la puerta de nuestra iglesia, atento / a cuando el sacristána abrirla venga, / y que jamás al campo va sin misa;’ (San Isidro, labrador, I, 360). Thesacristán subsequently remarks regarding Isidro’s presence in the church of Santa María:‘¡Que siempre esté este villano! [. . .] no deja en Santa María / pilares, losas y cantos / detrásde donde no esté’ (I, 367).

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de San Isidro.46 Furthermore, both Pedro and Isidro in San Isidro, labrador deMadrid offer their respective newly born sons to God.47 In San Andrés, Pedroimplores Saint Andrew to teach his son to be a pious and exemplary individ-ual, thanks God for the gift of his son and informs Him ‘desde aquí quedasagrado / a vuestro servicio’ (I, fol. 11r). In San Isidro, labrador, Isidro like-wise hands his son over to God’s service:

¡Gracias a Dios, suyo es!Ya se las he dado allá;a ver la parida voy.

(II, 377)

In spite of the fact that Pedro’s character is defined before the birth of his sonin the play, his personality is based on traits which are traditionally associatedwith Isidro and would have been identified as such by the audience. It is pos-sible, therefore, that Lope recreated Pedro in his son’s image in order toremind his audience of some of the saint’s fundamental characteristics, whichhe would then highlight in both La niñez and La juventud. Moreover, bydepicting Pedro as hardly less saintly than his son, Lope is able to ensurePedro’s acceptance as a suitable parent for Madrid’s patrón.

The relationship between the adult and child Isidro established by the voz isreinforced by the prophecies of the gracioso in Acts I and II. Bato, however,also displays the characteristic traits of the typical gracioso whom ThomasCase defines in terms of ‘su comicidad, su cobardía, su amor a la comida [. . .]al vino, al sueño y su papel como sirviente o lacayo’.48 Like Bartolo of SanIsidro, labrador and Tirso of La juventud, Bato is an entertainer. As the childIsidro is presented at San Andrés to be baptised and the dancing begins, Antóninstructs Bato ‘relincha, voltea, / hazte rajas’ (I, fol. 11r). In La juventud

46 See pp. 66–68 of this chapter for an analysis of these prayers.47 The birth of Isidro’s son is not included in La juventud de San Isidro. On the absence

of this detail, Gilson claims: ‘Lope omits this detail in La juventud de San Isidro, perhapsso as to maintain the image of María’s purity and to avoid the added conflict of the dutyto her child’ (‘Lope de Vega’s Female’, p. 100).

48 See his ‘El morisco gracioso en el teatro de Lope’, in Lope de Vega y los orígenes,ed. Manuel Criado de Val, pp. 785–90 (p. 790). On the role of the gracioso in Lope’shagiographic plays, see especially Robert Morrison, ‘Graciosos con breviarios: TheComic Element in the Comedia de Santos of Lope de Vega’, CH, 12 (1990), 33–45 andElma Dassbach, ‘Personajes cómicos’, in La comedia hagiográfica, pp. 145–60. In hisdiscussion of La niñez and La juventud de San Isidro in ‘Graciosos’, Morrison states: ‘Asin the earlier San Isidro, labrador de Madrid, Bato provides the comic element’ (p. 42).The gracioso in San Isidro, labrador is in fact named Bartolo. Morrison’s statement isambiguous because it suggests that Bato is the name of the gracioso in both La niñez andLa juventud, despite the fact that he subsequently highlights that Tirso, Bato’s son, is thegracioso of La juventud.

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(I, fol. 20v) and San Isidro, labrador (I, 363; 364–65), Bartolo and Tirso getinvolved in the dances at the wedding celebrations of Isidro and María. As themain provider of comedy, many of Bato’s humorous comments, like those ofhis son Tirso in La juventud, relate to the temptation of food and his preoccu-pation with his empty belly. Whereas Bato considers putting a ‘for rent’ signon his stomach if Inés does not quickly feed him (II, fol. 12r), Tirso providesIsidro with a detailed and entertaining commentary concerning how he wastempted by a ‘pastel’ (II, fols 29v–30r).49 Both father and son also provideamusing descriptions of their singing donkeys. Bato claims that when he goesriding ‘me ayuda a cantar; / que en diciéndole arre, luego / piensa que es re, yme responde / sol, sol, ut, ut’ (I, fol. 7v), while Tirso narrates to Isidro how hewas greeted by the donkey: ‘él me dio los buenos días / en la solfa que otrasveces’ (II, fol. 30r).

One of the most comical scenes in the play, in which the glutton is duped,is a re-creation of an episode which appears in San Isidro, labrador followingthe birth of Isidro’s son (II, 376–77). In the original scene, Bartolo tricks Peroteand Tomás by declaring a competition in which the person who tells the bestdream wins the last torrija. Bartolo’s explanation of his dream, in which hedescribes a hook which is trying to swipe a torrija from him, involves the eat-ing of the last torrija as a demonstration of his action in the dream. Afterwards,Perote and Tomás dupe Bartolo by pretending to reluctantly allow him to playa flute. When Bartolo begins to play, his face is covered in soot.

Lope borrows this scene, but with variations. Bato appears on stage with aplate of torrijas following the birth of Isidro in La niñez (I, fol. 10r). Hisrefusal to accept a favour from Dominga in exchange for one torrija suggeststhat the satisfaction of his greedy appetite is even more of an urgency for himthan for Bartolo. He stresses the importance of self-satisfaction by informingAntón ‘que en habiendo tiempos dulces, / las amistades se acaban’ (II, fol.10v). Lope possibly permits the gracioso to be deceived twice in this playbecause of his outright rejection of love and friendship. Like Bartolo, he toois attracted to the Aragonese flute, the dulzaina, but is covered with both sootand flour following two attempts to play it. The double trick played on Batoobviously adds an extra element of humour to La niñez.

Nevertheless, apart from fulfilling the conventional role of the gracioso,Bato is significantly transformed into a prophet-like character who forecastsseveral events in the life of the adult Isidro, including his canonisation and thetransfer of his body to San Andrés.50 His reiteration of facts already presented

49 In San Isidro, labrador, Perote playfully uses religious imagery by describing Bartolo’sstomach as an ‘arca de Noé’ (II, 376).

50 In a discussion on standard cast-lists in the comedia, Victor Dixon states: ‘Suchstandardization by no means precluded variation within each of the standard types, mostobviously perhaps in the different combinations of characteristics assigned, from play toplay, to the gracioso.’ See his Characterization in the Comedia of Seventeenth-Century

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by the voz prevents the audience from losing sight of the child Isidro’s trueidentity. The presentation of the newly born child for the first time on stagein Bato’s arms is deliberate on Lope’s part. It serves to establish a visual andphysical link between the two characters which is exploited throughout theplay as Bato foretells Isidro’s future. Bato performs his prophetical role forthe first time when he appears with the child. He comments on the child’slaughter:

Quizá está viendoalgo que le está esperando,que todos nacen llorando,y este muchacho riendo

(I, fol. 9v)

Although Bato’s observation is vague, it accentuates the uniqueness of thechild. Bato strengthens his remark on what lies in store for the child Isidro byexplicitly focusing on his sainthood. He reveals God’s plan for him to Álvaro,Juan and Elvira who disclose their hope that the child will be granted divineprotection:

Álvaro: Dios te bendiga.

Juan: Y te guarde.

Elvira: Y te haga un santo.

Bato: Si hará,que Dios puede, y Dios querrá,y para Dios nunca es tarde.

(I, fol. 9v)

Bato’s hypothetical statement concerning the status of the adult Isidro –‘aunque con el Rey se iguale’ (I, fol. 10r) – suggests that, in spite of the factthat Isidro is the son of a labrador, spiritual piety may grant social mobility.Bato continues to play the role of the prophet in Act II by confronting the childwith his forthcoming canonisation (II, fol. 12r) and the eventual veneration ofhis body in San Andrés (II, fol. 12v). The absence of any attempt on the child’spart to investigate his future role as a saint suggests that the details are pro-vided for the benefit of the audience, rather than the character.

In order to consolidate the relationship between the child and adult versionsof Isidro which Bato has successfully established through his predictions,Lope manipulates dramatic action, rather than dialogue, and recreates for hisaudience the celebrated miracle of the angels ploughing the fields.51 As Pedro

Spain (Manchester: Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of Manchester,1994), p. 26.

51 For a summary of the miracle of the angels, see pp. 52–53 of this chapter.

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rests by the Manzanares while he waits for Inés to arrive with some food, theaudience witnesses the staging of his dream in which he sees two angelsploughing with oxen and his future son dressed in a star-covered garment anda shining crown with a silver goad in his hand.52 The stage directions read:‘Tóquense chirimías, y abriéndose una nube por lo alto del carro, pasen dosángeles arando con dos bueyes, y se ve a San Isidro con vestido sembrado deestrellas, una corona de resplandor en la cabeza, y su aguijada plateada’ (I, fol.6v).53 The incorporation of the ‘sueño-representación’ as opposed to the‘sueño-narración’ into the dramatic framework enables Lope to introduce theadult Isidro as Pedro’s future son.54 As a result, a direct correlation betweenthe child and the saint is established.

Before Pedro explains his dream to Antón, Helipe and Bato, the labradoresreturn to find him staring intently at the sky and wrongly suspect that theirsupervisor is attempting to read the stars.55 This assumption prompts Bato notonly to launch a lengthy attack on astrology but to comment on the mundo alrevés topos.56 Bato concludes: ‘no alcanza la astrología / más que a engañarignorantes’ (I, fol. 7r). His rejection of superstition and recognition of thepower of God who, in his opinion ‘hace después lo que quiere’ (I, fol. 7r) isa perfect starting point for Pedro to describe the divine revelation which hehas just experienced.

As Pedro recounts his dream to the labradores, he elaborates on the infor-mation provided by the stage directions. He informs them that the young manhe saw was dressed in the typical garment of the contemporary labrador butthat his attire was woven from gold and bore the letters I, D, M. He adds thatthe mozo wore golden sandals on his feet (I, fol. 7r). In his analysis of this

52 Gallego Roca acknowledges that sleep is characteristic of those who witnessprophetic scenes – ‘Condición general a las escenas que tienen un carácter profético, esque el personaje que las presencia se sienta momentos antes vencido por el sueño.’ See‘Efectos’, p. 125.

53 Isidro’s attire is similar to that of the angels in El Isidro. In canto III, p. 442, Lopediscusses their ‘ricas aguijadas, / de piedras y oro bordadas,’ and ‘capotes de estrellas’.

54 Teresa Kirschner discusses the ‘sueño-representación’ and ‘sueño-narración’ in severalof Lope’s historical/legendary plays in ‘El “velo” del sueño y de la imaginación en el teatrohistórico-legendario de Lope de Vega’, in El mundo del teatro español, ed. J. M. Ruano dela Haza, pp. 197–212. Kirschner compares the staging of a dream to ‘una minipieza’ (p. 202)and categorises it as a ‘modelo magnífico de metateatro’ (p. 203). The play within the playis a common metatheatrical device. Pedro’s dream is also what Kirschner categorises as‘symbolic staging’, that is, the representation on stage of the mental processes of dreamingor thinking. See her ‘Typology of Staging in Lope de Vega’s Theater’, in The Golden AgeComedia, eds Charles Ganelin and Howard Mancing, pp. 358–71 (pp. 359–61).

55 It should be noted that in La vida es sueño, Basilio, king and father of Segismundo,misreads the stars concerning the fate of both himself and his son.

56 On this topos, see Helen F. Grant’s ‘The World Upside Down’, in Studies in SpanishLiterature of the Golden Age Presented to Edward M. Wilson, ed. R. O. Jones (London:Tamesis, 1973), pp. 103–35.

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‘apariencia’, Gallego Roca asserts that the various elements symbolise sev-eral of Isidro’s attributes: ‘Los ángeles arando con los bueyes, significandosu entrega a la oración; un vestido sembrado de estrellas, que simboliza lasabiduría conseguida desde la ignorancia; una corona de resplandor, símbolode su santidad; y la aguijada plateada, que recuerda los milagros que realizóen vida’ (‘Efectos’, p. 124). Pedro’s vision of his son constitutes a complexrepresentation of two images of Isidro. On the one hand, it presents Isidro,the common labrador, whose desire to dedicate himself to God throughprayer is rewarded with divine assistance in his daily work. In addition, ithighlights Isidro’s coronation as a saint, which the play was written tocelebrate.

The interpretations of Pedro’s dream by the labradores not only functionas light-hearted assessments of the event but accentuate the presentation ofPedro as a sabio. Helipe, for example, attributes the dream to excessive drink-ing (I, fol. 7r). For Bato, the gracioso obsessed with food, wheat is synonym-ous with gold of the highest order and Isidro’s golden sandals thus signify ‘eltrigo / que trilla con pies contentos’ (I, fol. 7r). Pedro correctly interprets thedream as a revelation that a labrador, divinely blessed, will be born in Madridfor the good of the villa, the letters I, D and M meaning ‘Jesús de mi alma’(I, fol. 7v). As a shrewd interpreter of dreams, Pedro becomes the biblicalJoseph who lucidly explains the dreams of the cupbearer, the baker andPharoah himself (Genesis 40 and Genesis 41. 1–40).57 Antón’s speech inwhich he dissociates himself from the biblical ‘sabio intérprete de sueños’(I, fol. 7r) presages the representation of Joseph in the character of the devoutPedro. Pedro mirrors his biblical counterpart in two significant ways. Firstly,he is endowed with an astuteness similar to that of Joseph which sets himapart, like the biblical hero, from other aspiring exponents of dreams.Secondly, and more importantly, Pedro’s future status as father of Madrid’spatron saint echoes Joseph’s privileged position of power in Egypt. Both char-acters assume a prestige which belies their status as labrador and Hebrewrespectively. As a result, the dream reaffirms Isidro’s saintly nature and pres-ents his father as a shrewd and privileged individual.

The prayers of Isidro’s holy and aspiring parents in which they expresshope for a virtuous, god-fearing son underline Isidro’s saintly qualities evenfurther.58 However, Inés, Isidro’s mother performs a particularly significant

57 As mentioned previously, the story of Joseph is presented in Los trabajos de Jacob,based on Genesis 37–47. However, Genesis 40, in which Joseph, while in prison, explainsthe dreams of the cupbearer and the baker, is omitted. Instead, the cupbearer himself,Asiris, recounts how Josef interpreted the dreams of the baker and himself while they werein prison following Elio’s and Isacio’s unsuccessful attempts to interpret Pharoah’sdreams.

58 See especially Inés’ prayer to the Virgin of Almudena at the beginning of Act I(fol. 4r) and Pedro’s prayer prior to the voz’s prediction and his dream (I, fols 5v–6r).

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role in establishing a connection between Isidro and Isidore of Seville.59

Following her description of the procession in honour of Isidore, whom sherefers to as Isidro, rather than Isidoro, Inés promises to call her son after theholy saint of Seville (I, fol. 8r).60 While the procession itself does not add ametatheatrical quality to the play, since it is described, rather than witnessedby Lope’s audience, the illusion of the drama and reality do in fact mergeas references to the procession in honour of Isidro of Seville recall thefestivities taking place in Madrid to celebrate the canonisation of Isidro ofMadrid.61 Consequently, the dramatic dialogue forces the audience to ponderthe reality of the historical moment and to fuse illusion and reality in theirmind’s eye.

Lope manipulates the link between Isidore of Seville and Isidro in order topresent Isidro as a literal as well as a metaphorical ‘pastor’. Following thebirth of Isidro, Juan Ramírez compares the role of Isidore of Seville withIsidro’s impending role as a shepherd, stating:

Bien le viene a un labradornombre de quien fue pastor,aunque diferentes tanto,que Isidro de almas lo fue,y este lo será de ovejas.

(I, fol. 10r)

Unwittingly, Juan not only refers to Isidro’s role as a typical shepherd but alsocasts him in a Christlike role for the contemporary audience as the shepherd

59 Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636) was canonised in 1598 and declared a Doctor of theChurch in 1722. He succeeded his brother, St Leander, as bishop of Seville in approximatelythe year 600. Among his most famous writings is the Etymologiae. On St Isidore of Seville,see Book of Saints, p. 364, and Donald Attwater, The Penguin Dictionary, p. 177. Accordingto Moreno, San Isidro, p. 18, St Isidore’s body was transferred to León by Ferdinand I in1063. The fact that it is generally accepted that Isidro was not born until approximately1100 suggests that Lope deliberately manipulated the presentation of historical events inorder to emphasise the link between the two saints. The attribution of the title santo toIsidore in the play during a period when he had not been officially declared a saint drawsattention to the Spanish custom of popularly acclaiming holy individuals as saints.

60 The connection between Isidro and Isidore of Seville was established in El Isidro,canto I. In this canto, Lope had already referred to the latter as Isidro, had compared andcontrasted these saints and commented on the removal of Isidore’s remains from Seville toLeón.

61 Processions are included in Hornby’s classification of the metatheatrical device of theceremony within the play. Hornby describes the ceremony within the play as ‘a formalperformance of some kind that is set off from the surrounding action’ (p. 49). The festivitiesof 1622 involved an appeal to local patriotism. Consequently, there are references to theVirgins of Almudena and Atocha in La niñez and La juventud, as well as the incorporationof the local legend of Gracián Ramírez into Act II of La niñez. Lope included this legend inEl Isidro, cantos VIII and IX and dramatised it in El alcaide de Madrid in 1599.

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who protects the lost sheep.62 In other words, the audience cannot fail to recog-nise Lope’s depiction of Isidro as patron saint caring for the ovejas of Madridin Juan’s innocent statement. Lope exploits his audience’s affiliation with, andinformed opinion of, Isidro in order to highlight his status as a Christlike figure.

With the integration of the child Isidro into the dramatic action and dia-logue in Act II, Lope’s audience is brought face to face with a character whois at once mysterious yet familiar. The child Isidro’s first words draw atten-tion to his faith in God and the Virgin. Lope’s audience is instantly confrontedwith a pious child who announces his return from school to his parents withthe greeting ‘Loado sea Cristo, y su Madre / bendita’ (II, fol. 12r). ThroughoutAct II, Isidro voices his devotion to God in lengthy monologues which mir-ror and at times exceed the rhetoric of the adult Isidro in La juventud and SanIsidro, labrador. As a result of the recitation of the Christus to his parents andBato, the first prayer delivered by him in the play, Isidro demonstrates anawareness of the omniscience of God and the purity of the Virgin. Isidroconcludes the holy alphabet, which focuses on issues such as Man’s fall fromgrace and the doctrine of transubstantiation, with a definition of the letters A,B and C in terms of their association with the Holy Trinity

que el A es el Padre, la Bel Hijo, la C se llamael Espíritu, [. . .]

(II, fols 12v–13r)

The prayer serves two significant purposes in the play. In the first instance, itfunctions as a reaffirmation of Catholic dogma for Lope’s audience. Secondly,as a complex summary of the Catholic church’s tenets, it defines the child whois responsible for its delivery as a devout, holy individual. The faith andknowledge which the child exhibits are uncharacteristic of his age and renderhim almost unchildlike. In fact, the child Isidro’s definition of the Christusis more intricate than the adult Isidro’s explanation in San Isidro, labrador.63

In Act II of San Isidro, labrador, Isidro converses with three angels andsummarises the Christus in eighteen lines, focusing like the child Isidroon the representation of the Trinity in the letters A, B and C (II, 371–72).64

62 When Isidro (i.e. Isidore of Seville) appears to Ordoño in El Isidro, canto I, p. 417,Ordoño describes him as a ‘pastor de ovejas’. The image of Christ as a shepherd is commonin the Bible. In Matthew 10. 6, for example, Christ sends the twelve disciples out to the lostsheep of Israel.

63 In El Isidro, canto I, pp. 418–19, Lope also refers to Isidro’s knowledge of the Christus.He states: ‘No supo letras, ni a quien / preguntárselas también, / que un abecé que oyó: / soloel Cristus aprendió, / pero este súpole bien. / De este libro inescrutable / que abarca de poloa polo, / fue una sibila, un Apolo.’ Isidro does not recite the Christus in the poem.

64 In San Diego de Alcalá, the illiterate Diego confesses to the portero at the end ofAct I that he only knows the A, B and C of the Christus. The portero proceeds to relate the

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In comparison, Isidro’s explanation is almost four times as long in La niñez.Lope makes the child Isidro almost priest-like in order to stress his piety. Heexploits his priestly role by having him question the boys Iván and Luisconcerning their recital of prayers, including the Rosary, before he decides toplay a game with them (II, fol. 14v). With the absence of miracles attributedto the child Isidro and general details relating to his childhood, Lope resortsto the exploitation of dialogue in order to create the infantile version of theadult figure. By doing so, he also presents a child analogous to the boy Jesusas described in Luke 2. 40: ‘And the child grew and became strong; he wasfilled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.’ Bato emphasises therelationship between Isidro and the Christ child by drawing a comparisonbetween the Holy Family – Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and that of Pedro. He tellsPedro and Inés:

Sin comparación, que es neciatoda la que fuese humana,me parecisteis los tres,Jesús, Josef, y María,no con humana osadía,que Dios ha de ser quien es,su Madre, reina del cielo,y Josef su dulce esposo,mas un retrato dichosode aquel cielo en este suelo.

(II, fol. 13r)65

In spite of the subtle association of Isidro with the Christ child, Isidro is moreexplicitly rendered unchildlike in the play as a result of the links establishedwith his adult counterpart of La juventud and San Isidro, labrador. As demon-strated by his delivery of the Christus, Isidro is successfully transformed intohis adult equivalent through prayer. Lope continues to cast Isidro in the imageof Madrid’s well-known patrón by attributing other prayers to him in Act II.In one particular prayer, his acclamation of God and desire to learn throughHim echoes one of Isidro’s speeches in La juventud. The child Isidro, whodefines God as ‘perfección’ (II, fol. 13r) makes an ardent request for divineinstruction in the following manner:

holy alphabet to him. See Lope de Vega, San Diego de Alcalá, ed. Thomas E. Case (Kassel:Reichenberger, 1988), pp. 87–88.

65 In San Isidro, labrador (II, 376), Envidia compares the piety of the family of the adultIsidro to the Holy Trinity. Thus, in this case, it is Isidro’s son who is likened to the Christchild, not Isidro himself. In El Isidro, canto IV, p. 455, Lope establishes a similarconnection. He claims: ‘Así, que Isidro y su esposa, / en casa pobre y gozosa, / y un niñotierno y hermoso, / de Jesús, María y su esposo / eran una estampa hermosa. [. . .] no digoque los comparo, / más digo que los parecen.’

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Señor, enseñad mi fe:sed vos el maestro mío,enseñadme solo vos,porque solamente en voslo que he de saber confío.[. . .]Yo solo quiero leeren vuestro Christus, mi Dios,porque solamente en vosel alma puede aprender.

(II, fol. 13r)

In La juventud, Isidro informs the ‘Emperador del cielo soberano’ in a moreconcise manner that he wants to learn through him: ‘no sé leer, leer en vosdeseo’ (II, fol. 32v).66 Furthermore, Isidro’s monologue through which hecompares the countryside to a book in which he can contemplate God paral-lels another speech made by Isidro in La juventud.67 In this case, the adultIsidro’s eulogy in which he praises God and the wondrous creation of natureis longer than that of the child Isidro. Nevertheless, the emphasis in both is onthe role of nature as instructor in matters of the divine. The child Isidro com-ments ‘pues que la flor más pequeña / me está diciendo y me enseña / que soisDios’ (II, fol. 17r), while the adult Isidro of La juventud requests instructionfrom the trees, plants, flowers and birds (I, fol. 25v).

Lope highlights the fact that the child Isidro’s words of wisdom and thoughtprocesses are too complex for his age through the comments of other charac-ters, young and old. Juan Ramírez expresses his wish for Isidro to teach hisson Luis and his son’s cousin because he is ‘cuanto niño en años, / viejo en elentendimiento’ (II, fol. 14r). Even the child Iván realises that Isidro is a ‘viejoniño, / viejo en seso, mozo en años’ (II, fol. 14v).68 Nevertheless, it appearsthat the presentation of the ‘niño viejo’ serves two main purposes in the play.In the first instance, his association with the adult Isidro prevents the audiencefrom losing sight of the fact that the play is a celebration of its patron saint.Secondly, Isidro’s saintliness is exaggerated as Lope stresses that his piety isnot simply a product of his adult life, but was also a feature of his childhoodyears.

66 In San Isidro, labrador, Isidro expresses a similar desire. In his conversation with theangels, he states: ‘no sé letras, leer quiero / ese libro celestial’ (II, 371).

67 In El Isidro, canto I, p. 424, Lope comments on Isidro’s conversion of nature into‘libros divinos’. He states: ‘libros divinos hacía / los campos, aguas y flores’.

68 At this point in the play, Juan Ramírez’s son is mistakenly called Iván (II, fo1. 14r).Isidro himself clarifies the relationship between Juan and Luis Ramírez and Álvaro andIván de Vargas, stating ‘vos, señor Iván, sois hijo / de D. Álvaro, [. . .] Vos, señor Don LuisRamírez, / sois hijo, hechura, y retrato / de Don Juan Ramírez,’ (II, fols 14r–14v). Luis andIván are also wrongly presented as ‘primos’. Iván was the brother of Elvira, Juan Ramírez’swife. Consequently, he must be the brother-in-law of Juan and uncle of Luis.

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The well-documented, charitable nature of the adult Isidro is characteristicof the child Isidro in La niñez. Pascual de Valdemoro’s statement in San Isidro,labrador on Isidro’s acts of charity, ‘lo que es rezar y dar de su pobreza /limosna a cualquier pobre, es cosa extraña’ (I, 360), is as applicable to thechild as it is to the adult. In Act II, on encountering a beggar who is seekingalms, Isidro offers him his coat, having neither money nor food to give him.69

When the coat is finally rescued by Juan Ramírez, who provides the beggarwith a donation instead, Isidro insists that his reasons for parting with thegarment were honourable. He tells Juan: ‘yo pretendo / aprender la caridad, /porque la fe ya la tengo’ (II, fol. 14r). The fact that there is nothing miracu-lous about this act of charity suggests that Lope was more concerned with theportrayal of the child as an unselfish individual, rather than as a worker ofmiracles. With Rome’s approval of the canonisation of Madrid’s patron saintand recognition of the miracles attributed to him, Isidro was already a provenmiracle worker. Consequently, in order to recreate for his audience an accept-able and entertaining representation of the holy patrón, Lope was not com-pelled to emphasise Isidro’s saintly character through the dramatisation of hismiracles. Instead, Isidro’s virtuous character could be recreated through ori-ginal scenes, such as the confrontation with the beggar and an encounterbetween Isidro and Christ in both this play and La juventud. The avoidance ofthe re-creation of the child Isidro as a miracle worker prevents a superfluousexaggeration of his already overstated piety. Rather, the kindness shown bythe child towards the beggar foreshadows the presentation of the more humanside of Isidro’s character in La juventud.

Isidro’s concern with his ‘rudeza’ in La juventud is also presented by thechild Isidro in La niñez. In a short prayer, the adult Isidro of La juventudapologises to God for his rusticity:

pero si soy un rústico villano,¿cómo os sabré decir tiernos amores?Perdonad la rudeza en que me veo,

(II, fol. 32v)

Similarly, Isidro’s father Pedro in La niñez asks God to excuse his‘rustiqueza’ in a monologue in which he prays for the birth of a devout son.He qualifies himself in terms of his ‘rústico discurso’ and adds ‘no sé yodeciros más, / perdonad mi rustiqueza’ (I, fol. 6r). The child Isidro in thisplay expresses concern with the rusticity of his physical dress, his ‘sayal’,and wonders how he can join the company of Iván and Luis, who are dressedin ‘brocado’ (II, fol. 14v). His comments cause Iván and Luis to engage in

69 Isidro’s charitable deed mirrors that of Tobías (viejo) in Historia de Tobías. Tobíasgives the very clothing that he is wearing to a pobre (I, 94). The criado states regardingTobías’ charitable nature: ‘no se ha visto caridad / que iguale a la de Tobías’ (I, 95).

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an appraisal of his spiritual richness which contrasts with their materialwealth. Iván claims:

[. . .] estimotu virtud, tu amor, tu trato,tu compañía, de suerte,que lo que sin ella paso,lo paso en mortal tristeza.

(II, fol. 14v)

while Luis refers to the impact of Isidro on his very soul (II, fol. 14v). Isidro’sallusion to the boy’s ‘brocado’ recalls Inés’ description of the brocade coveringwhich rested on the body of St Isidore of Seville as he was carried in processionon the outskirts of Madrid (I, fol. 8r). In addition, it reminds the audience ofBato’s suggestion that Madrid should prepare a brocade garment for the‘labrador divino’of Pedro’s dream (I, fol. 7v). Consequently, the ‘brocado’sym-bolises both material and spiritual wealth. In his comparison of the ‘sayal’ andthe ‘brocado’, Isidro highlights his own future exchange of costume when hewill become Madrid’s patrón.

Towards the end of Act II, Lope specifically emphasises the saintly natureof the child in two original episodes. The first involves a seemingly innocentgame of hide and seek which is transformed into a religious experience forthose taking part.70 When Iván and Luis begin to look for Isidro, their searchnot only reveals his whereabouts but underlines for them and the audience theextent of the child’s religious fervour. Led by the song ‘Venite’, which theboys mistakenly assume is Isidro’s voice and which Isidro subsequently inter-prets as a divine instruction, Iván and Luis discover Isidro praying ‘en lo alto’surrounded by candles. The stage directions read: ‘Descúbrese en lo alto unaposentico con un altarico, su imagen y sus velas, e Isidro rezando’ (II, fol.14v).71 Thus, a literal game of hide and seek for Iván and Luis becomes ametaphorical one for Isidro. It provides him with an opportunity to take refugein God from the world and its deceits. Iván makes this point explicit, stating,

70 Lope comments on Isidro’s attitude towards games in El Isidro, canto I, p. 420. Hestates: ‘No anduvo en juegos ningunos / con muchachos importunos.’

71 In ‘Metatheater and World View in Lope’s El divino africano’, BCom, 42 (1990),129–42, Thomas Case describes the three levels of staging (proscenium, ‘discovery’ andthe balcony) used by Lope in El divino africano and comments that the balcony isnormally called ‘en lo alto’ in the stage directions (pp. 135–36). On the three levels ofstaging, Case claims: ‘The main action of the life of the saint is what we would normallycall the historical level, whereas the other two are metaphysical or mystical’ (p. 136). Inthis scene, Isidro forms an almost mystical union with Christ. On Lope’s use of thediminutive form to describe the room and the altar, Gallego Roca states: ‘Las palabras[. . .] responden a la utilización de pequeñas dimensiones para el entorno del pequeñosanto.’ See ‘Efectos’, p. 124.

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‘¡Oh niño bendito y santo, / que así te escondes en Dios, / del mundo y de susengaños!’ (II, fol. 15r). For both Iván and Luis, and indeed for the audience,the incident points up the exemplariness of the holy child.

The holiness of the child is emphasised in a second scene in which hereceives a visit from Jesus and is invited to dine at his table.72 In the garb ofa shepherd, Jesus promises friendship between himself and Isidro, claiming‘mira que habemos de ser / amigos (II, fol. 17r).73 The child Isidro innocentlyasks Jesus questions regarding the identity of his father and mother, hisknowledge of prayers including the Creed and the Articles of Faith and hisattendance at mass. Through Jesus’ answers, Lope once again cleverly andsubtly integrates important tenets of the Catholic faith into the play. The useof the ‘tramoya’ to lower the table, chairs and the angels to the prosceniumand to take them back into the air in the company of Christ essentially con-verts the scene into a supernatural experience for the audience.74 Caseacknowledges this specific impact of complex staging: ‘In the comedias desantos the different levels on the stage acquire particular importance. Thesespecial effects confer on the action a kind of divine authority and confirm thespectator’s belief in the supernatural, which both playwright and publicshared.’75 Consequently, the use of different stage techniques, and the incorp-oration of supernatural characters and visions into the play serve to establishthe immediacy of the divine experience for the audience.

72 The theme of dining is extremely important in a religious context. In the Last Supper,for example, an invitation to Christ’s table signifies ultimate union with him. In Tirso’s Elburlador de Sevilla, the final meal which don Juan shares with the stone guest is crucial tothe play’s dénouement. Recent studies on this play include Joan Ramón Resina, ‘WhatSort of Wedding? The Orders of Discourse in El burlador de Sevilla’, MLQ, 57 (1996),545–78 and Francisco J. Martín, ‘The Presence of the Four Elements in El burlador deSevilla’, in A Star-Crossed Golden Age: Myth and the Spanish Comedia, ed. Frederick A.de Armas (Lewisburg: Bucknell UP, 1998), pp. 30–45. On the appearance of supernaturalcharacters in hagiographic plays of the Golden Age, Dassbach claims: ‘Estos personajessobrenaturales resultan tan frecuentes y reales en las comedias como los mismospersonajes humanos.’ See La comedia hagiográfica, p. 110.

73 In Santos, pp. 124–26, Garasa briefly examines the appearance of Christ as a pilgrim,shepherd and child in Lope’s hagiographic plays. On p. 125 in a discussion of Christ as a‘pastor’, he excludes references to La niñez and La juventud and mistakenly claims thatChrist appears as a shepherd in San Isidro, labrador. He subsequently cites part of theconversation between Isidro and Jesus taken from La niñez (II, fol. 17r), without specifyingthe text’s source. Garasa’s citation of San Isidro, labrador would erroneously suggest thatthe text is taken from that play.

74 This is the only use of the ‘tramoya’ in this play. Dassbach provides the followingdescription on the use of the ‘tramoya’: ‘Las tramoyas añaden el espectáculo de losdesplazamientos escénicos, aéreos en su mayor parte, e incorporan diferentes planosespaciales a la escena’, La comedia hagiográfica, p. 104. In ‘Efectos’, pp. 114–15, GallegoRoca draws attention to Lope’s criticism of the ‘tramoya’ in Lo fingido verdadero, as wellas his assertion in the Arte nuevo that the playwright must please the audience. For ananalysis of Lo fingido verdadero in terms of its metatheatrical properties, see chapter 4.

75 ‘Metatheater’, p. 131.

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Isidro’s encounter with Christ is crucial to his character development sinceit portrays him as more childlike than in any other episode of the play. Isidrobecomes more childlike as a result of his naïve questioning. He asks thestranger to answer basic questions, including ‘¿de quién sois hijo?’ and‘¿dónde tenéis vuestra madre?’ (II, fol. 17r), but admits that he does not under-stand the responses which he receives. In contrast to this episode, Christ’sappearance to the adult Isidro in La juventud does not give rise to a similarquestion and answer session (I, fols 26v–27v).76 Essentially, Isidro’s interro-gation of the stranger with basic questions detracts somewhat from his char-acterisation as a serious, god-fearing child. Ultimately, his childlike innocenceis underlined when he invites Jesus to accompany him to the ‘villa’ in orderto sample, among other things, some of the morello cherry jam which Iván deVargas’ mother makes (II, fol. 17v). In spite of the fact that Isidro’s acknow-ledgment of certain treats is somewhat deflated by his subsequent remarkregarding his tendency to fast – ‘me inclino / más a ayunar que a comer’(II, fol. 17v), it represents the child’s only reference to culinary pleasures.77

The ending of the play, which focuses on the peasants’ arrival at the churchof the Virgin of Atocha in order to honour the Virgin, is an adaptation of ascene from San Isidro, labrador in which the peasants, who are on their wayto the convent of la madre de Dios with a cross, are halted by the Manzanaresand Jarama rivers which foretell several glorious events relating to Isidro (III,384–85). The main purpose of the scene in La niñez is to strengthen theconnection between Isidro and the Christ child. Pedro instructs his son to offera cross, not to the Virgin of Atocha, but to her son. This intensification of therelationship between the child Isidro and the Christ child, which has alreadybeen suggested earlier in the play, presages the parallels between the adultIsidro and Christ which will be drawn in La juventud.

In spite of its title, La niñez presents the saintly nature of both adultand child. The saintliness of the adult Isidro is highlighted particularly inAct I through Pedro’s dream, Bato’s prophecies and the proclamations of thevoz. The incorporation of this image of the adult Isidro into a play which

76 It is essentially Isidro’s questioning and curiosity which exhibits his childlikeinnocence, not the fact that he does not understand the explanations which Christ giveshim. In his encounter with Christ in La juventud (I, fol. 27r), the adult Isidro also admitsthat he does not understand the ‘pastor’: ‘No entiendo / las cifras con que me habláis.’ Itshould also be noted that a younger Christ figure appears in La niñez. Isidro describes himas a ‘niño tan discreto’ (II, fol. 18r), although Christ himself states that he is already a manwhen Isidro says that they will be great friends as adults (II, fol. 17r). In contrast, in Lajuventud Isidro simply addresses Christ as ‘pastor’, ‘labrador’ and ‘señor’ (I, fols 27r–27v).Lope may have presented a younger version of Christ in La niñez in order to intensifyIsidro’s connection with him and to provide a suitably aged character for Isidro’s questionsconcerning the identity of his parents, for example.

77 In El Isidro, canto I, p. 425, Lope claims that if the adult Isidro felt hungry whileworking, he thought of Christ’s fasting in the desert: ‘y si hambre le apretaba, / el grandeayuno de Cristo / en el desierto pensaba’.

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dramatises his childhood is crucial because it allows the audience to identifyin the young protagonist the qualities of Madrid’s patrón. Lope is perhapsprevented from presenting Isidro truly as a child because such a presentationwould work contrary to the audience’s horizon of expectation. Isidro’s elab-orate expressions of faith, encounter with Christ and conversion of a game intoa prayer session accentuate his holiness and thereby make him recognisable tothe audience as its patron saint. His prayers and monologues, through whichhe expresses adoration for the divine, at once transform him from a child intohis adult equivalent. Ironically, in a play in which Lope is less restrained bythe source material, he is in fact compelled to recreate the child in the imageof the acclaimed patrón.

With the succcessive dramatisation of Isidro’s adult life in La juventud,Lope would no longer be concerned with the presentation of an ‘unfamiliar’Isidro, but with the re-creation of a much celebrated individual.

La juventud de San Isidro

Like La niñez de San Isidro, La juventud de San Isidro is preceded by a loain which Lope praises Philip IV and offers a succinct acclamation of Spain’sfour recently canonised saints (Isidro, Teresa de Ávila, Francisco Javier andIgnacio de Loyola).78 Act I of the play begins with the celebrations to markthe wedding of Isidro and María, and subsequently focuses on the confronta-tion of the gracioso, Tirso, with the allegorical character Envidia, andEnvidia’s false description of Isidro’s sloth to his master, Iván.79 Followingthe miracles of the wolf and the angels ploughing the fields, together withIsidro’s conversation with Christ, Act I ends with Iván’s account of the mir-acle of the angels and condemnation of Envidia. Act II opens with a lengthydiscussion between Isidro and María concering the appropriateness yet painof departure, and includes the miracle of the feeding of the birds as well asIván’s vision in a dream of Profecía, who predicts the canonisation of fourSpanish saints during the reign of Philip IV. The play ends with the reunionof Isidro and María following María’s miraculous crossing of the Jarama river.

As indicated already, the subject matter of La juventud had been treatedpreviously in the poem, El Isidro, and in the play, San Isidro, labrador.80

Although he was not commissioned, so far as we know, to write either of theseworks, it would appear that Lope composed both in order to promote the

78 As Morrison has indicated, both loas are more concerned with paying homage toPhilip IV than to Isidro. See ‘Graciosos’, p. 42.

79 In La niñez, Bato prepares the audience for the arrival of Envidia in this play bydeclaring to Isidro’s father: ‘¡Pardiez, Pedro, que es rapaz, / para envidiar y querer!’ (II, fol.16v, my italics).

80 Of the ten cantos of El Isidro, Isidro’s birth and youth are only described in canto I.The rest of the poem focuses on his adult life.

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canonisation of Madrid’s popularly acclaimed saint. Gallego Roca charac-terises San Isidro, labrador as a propagandistic work, while classifying Laniñez and La juventud as both propagandistic yet celebratory dramas – ‘SanIsidro fue escrita cuando estaba en marcha el proceso de canonización, portanto se la puede considerar como una obra de propaganda; La juventud y Laniñez son obras que celebran la canonización, son pues obras también depropaganda pero con un mayor sentido festivo’ (‘Efectos’, p. 129). In the poemand the earlier play, an attempt is made on Lope’s part to describe all the mainevents in Isidro’s life, including the miracles attributed to him prior to, andfollowing, his death.81 The more extensive use of the adjective ‘santo’ todefine his character and miracles in San Isidro, labrador than in La juventudis evidence of Lope’s desire to have Isidro officially recognised as such. Withthe declaration of Isidro as a saint and proven miracle worker, it was not nec-essary for Lope in La juventud to recreate every miracle and detail associatedwith him in order to verify his holiness and to make him recognisable.Accordingly, Lope presents the image of Isidro the miracle worker throughcarefully selected miracles. At the same time, he accentuates his saintlinessthrough the reworking of the miracle of the angels, as well as a secondencounter with Christ. More significantly, through the creation of originalscenes involving conversations between husband and wife, Isidro is presentedon a more human level as a man who is forced to make sacrifices for the pur-poses of his faith.

The four miracles presented in La juventud are successfully woven into theplay’s dramatic framework. The inclusion of the miracles of the wolf and thefeeding of the birds serves to highlight qualities traditionally associated withthe saint, while the crossing of the Jarama and the miracle of the angels stressMaría’s and Isidro’s respective associations with the divine.

In his dramatisation of the miracle of the wolf, Lope stresses Isidro’s con-stancy and complete trust in God’s protection of the blessed. In contrast to SanIsidro, labrador, where the saint remains absent from the stage while Envidiaand Demonio narrate his reactions to the boys’ warnings and the resurrection ofhis donkey (II, 375–76), in La juventud Isidro remains devoted to prayer whileEnvidia taunts him with the cries of the offstage voices. The use of the campoas the setting for Isidro’s prayer session, rather than the church which featuresin his source material, is highly suitable given Isidro’s repeated acknowledg-ment in both this play and La niñez of his ability to learn about God throughnature. Isidro manifests his faith in God’s protection following Envidia’s advicethat he should abandon his prayers and return to his donkey. He affirms:

81 On the use of miracles in the comedias de santos, George Ticknor claims: ‘Pero entiempo de Lope, el público no sólo acudía con fe a tales espectáculos, sino que recibía conagrado la representación de milagros, que hacían familiar la vida del Santo y sus benéficasvirtudes’. See his History of Spanish Literature, 3 vols (London: John Murray, 1849), II,247–49.

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que yo sé que mi jumentoestará en viéndole vivo,que a nadie que habló con Dioshacienda se le ha perdido.

(I, fol. 26v)

In an attempt to undermine his statement, Envidia cites several biblicalepisodes, including the story of Joseph, as examples of God’s abandonmentof his beloved. Isidro, the embodiment of piety and goodness, proves hisknowledge of the Bible by providing the successful resolutions of each story.

Envidia Si miras a Job, verásmuertos sus queridos hijos,derribados sus palacios,quemados sus verdes trigos,preso a José, y a Israel,del Rey Faraón cautivo.

Isidro A Job dobló Dios la hacienda,y a José Virrey le hizo,y a Israel dio libertad.

(II, fol. 26v)

The efforts of Envidia, the embodiment of evil, to downplay Isidro’s speechare thwarted. The confrontation between good and evil not only serves as aform of instruction in biblical narrative for the audience, but also underlinesIsidro’s awareness that even the blessed are subject to some form of suffering.

Isidro himself experiences the hardship of winter in the well-known mir-acle of the feeding of the birds. With the exclusion of the miraculous feedingof the pilgrim and the miracle at the confraternity dinner, the miracle of thebirds, a ‘milagro útil’ according to Dassbach, is representative of Isidro’s char-itable nature in this play.82 Following Isidro’s self-justification for the feedingof the palomas, which contains resonances of Isidro’s defence of his actionsto Envidia in San Isidro, labrador (II, 375), Envidia arrogantly comments thathis behaviour will cost him his job. He claims ‘que esta ocasión es famosa /para que Iván le despida’ (II, fol. 31r). However, the authority of the labrador


82 The miraculous satisfaction of hunger is one of the several ‘milagros útiles’ presentedby Dassbach: ‘Los milagros en las comedias son, por lo general, milagros útiles, esto es,dirigidos a satisfacer necesidades físicas o espirituales concretas (hambre, enfermedad,conversión); librar de peligros, sufrimientos o tentaciones; o destinados a mostrar el podery favor divinos’ (La comedia hagiográfica, p. 109). An abridged version of the miraclerelating to the feeding of the pilgrim is narrated by Envidia in San Isidro, labrador (III, 379).In the same work, the miracle at the confraternity dinner is dramatised (III, 379–81). In ElIsidro, Lope presents both miracles in detail. See canto IV, p. 459 – canto V, p. 467, andcanto V, p. 471 – canto VI, p. 479.

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is revealed as Envidia hears, over the sound effects of the milling machinery,the offstage comments of Tirso and Bartola regarding the abundance of flourproduced.83 To Bartola’s exclamation ‘¡y cómo crece la harina!’, Tirso adds‘esto parece milagro; / la abundancia lo confirma’ (II, fol. 31v). The sole pres-ence of Envidia on stage as the miracle is confirmed concentrates the audi-ence’s attention on his destruction at the hands of Isidro.

Lope not only exaggerates the saintly nature of Isidro through the represen-tation of a miracle, as will become apparent in an analysis of his reconstructionof the miracle of the angels, but also that of his wife. María de la Cabeza isblessed with a visit from the Virgin in a new version of her miraculous crossingof the Jarama, based on the presentation of the miracle in San Isidro, labradorand El Isidro.84 In Lope’s previous two works, an angel appears to inform Maríathat she has been wrongly accused of adultery. In La juventud, however, thestage directions indicate that María’s informer is in fact the mother of God. Theyread as follows: ‘La Virgen en una nube, y una voz’ (II, fol. 35r).85 AlthoughEnvidia of San Isidro, labrador informs Demonio that the Virgin was María’sguide, following María’s own deconstruction of her name to designate herselfthe ‘mar’ of the title and the Virgin, the ‘guía’ (III, 382), María does not enjoythe privilege of direct instruction from her namesake. María manifests her beliefin divine protection by taking the initiative in La juventud to cross the river onher mantle as proof of her innocence. In San Isidro, labrador, on the other hand,it is the angel who instructs María to cross the river (III, 382).

At first sight, the miracle of the angels does not appear to have been subject to very significant reconstruction in La juventud. However, a closer

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83 In San Isidro, labrador, the multiplication of the flour is simply narrated to Envidia byDemonio. To Envidia’s complaint regarding Isidro’s act of charity, Demonio replies: ‘¿Quémucho, si ve crecer / tanto el harina de un grano? / Vesle allí, que muele trigo, / y que elharina se vierte’ (II, 375). It should be noted that Lope does not make excessive use of stagemachinery in any of his plays on Isidro. Gallego Roca attributes this not simply to Lope’spersonal choice, but to the life of Isidro himself. He states in this regard: ‘Pero no sólo es elánimo de Lope el que pone freno a una escenografía desbordante; es, especialmente, elcarácter del protagonista San Isidro, un santo contemplativo, que lleva una vida de oración yno de acción. Los grandes milagros y las grandes victorias quedan fuera de la religiosidadque propone la figura del patrón de Madrid.’ See ‘Efectos’, p. 116.

84 Garasa briefly comments on the appearance of Virgins to saints in Lope’s hagiographicplays in Santos, p. 126.

85 Orozco Díaz highlights the dramatic effectiveness of the presentation of the king orthe Virgin by means of ‘la pintura’ or ‘la imagen’: ‘Ante la imagen de una Virgen o elretrato del Rey, la reacción de los espectadores no es la misma que si contemplara a unacomediante vestida con la indumentaria y atributos correspondientes. La relación que enese momento se crea entre el cuadro y el espectador, era muchas veces de la misma índoleque la que había de producirse en la vida real; como si en un lugar y momento solemne seencontrara ante la efigie de la Virgen o de su monarca. Es indiscutible que con esaduplicidad de punto de vista se reforzaba el general poder emocional desbordante ycomunicativo de la escena.’ See Emilio Orozco Díaz, El teatro y la teatralidad del barroco(Barcelona: Planeta, 1969), p. 223.

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examination reveals some important innovations, such as the appearance ofChrist on stage, the acclamation of Isidro by Christ himself and Isidro’sdefamation at the hands of Envidia. For the first time in Lope’s plays onIsidro, we hear Christ summon the angels to plough and his reasons for doingso.86 He tells them to work ‘mientras Isidro atiende, / a la oración que de miamor le enciende’ (I, fol. 27r), and again orders them:

Arad, ángeles, luegolos surcos desta tierra venturosa,porque con más sosiegolevante en oración tan fervorosael espíritu suyoadonde yo mi gloria constituyo.Arad, dejadle ocioso

(I, fol. 27r )87

Christ not only acknowledges Isidro’s devotion to him through prayer, butsings the praises of the labrador whom he characterises in terms of his ‘purocorazón’ (I, fol. 26v). He is not seeking out the lost sheep, but ‘el regalo de lamás querida’ (I, fol. 27r).88 Christ’s recognition of Isidro as an exceptionalindividual constitutes the ultimate consolidation of his image as a saintly man.His subsequent, brief encounter with him, a newly created scene which servesas a sequel to that of La niñez, underlines that Isidro is not only deserving ofChrist’s compliments, but also the privilege of his company.

Lope continues to modify elements of the miracle by assigning the role ofdetractor to the allegorical figure, Envidia.89 In both San Isidro, labrador and


86 In El Isidro, we also hear God summon the angels to help Isidro in his work. Heorders them: ‘Id, celícolas, volando / a la tierra, en que ya veo / su humildad, por quiendeseo / que ayudéis a Isidro orando; / Isidro nuevo Eliseo’ (canto III, p. 438). In San Isidro,labrador, the angels simply inform Isidro that they have been sent by God (II, 371).

87 There are no stage directions to indicate the appearance of the angels. Christ’sremark ‘¡Oh, qué bien parecéis labrando el campo [. . .]!’ (I, fol. 27r) may represent anattempt on Lope’s part to create an imaginary picture of the scene for his audience.

88 In contrast, the pastor is looking for Clara, the lost sheep, in La buena guarda. SeeLope de Vega, La buena guarda, ed. Pilar Díez y Giménez Castellanos (Zaragoza:Editorial Ebro, 1964). All references will be taken from this edition. The pastor, who isnot named ‘Jesús’ or ‘Cristo’ as he is in La niñez and La juventud respectively, appearstwice in La buena guarda in his search for the lost sheep (see II, 75–78 and III, 108–110).Unlike Isidro, Clara has sinned by abandoning her role as abadesa at a convent in order toescape with her lover, Félix. The pastor reveals that the sheep he is looking for is white,except that ‘en la frente sola / una mancha tenía’ (II. 480–81). In III. 495, the pastorstresses that the lost sheep can still be found because although she was bitten by the wolf,she was not eaten. In other words, Clara was not completely devoured by human passion.For an analysis of roleplaying within the role in this play, see chapter 5.

89 It should be noted that although Envidia and Mentira appear in La juventud, they hadplayed a much more prominent role in El Isidro and San Isidro, labrador.

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El Isidro, as in the source material, it is Isidro’s co-workers who approachIván de Vargas in order to denounce him.90 In San Isidro, labrador, Envidiaapproaches Lorenzo, Esteban and Tadeo and defames Isidro’s name (I, 364).The labradores do not question Envidia’s portrayal of Isidro, but rather theyfalsely accuse Isidro before Iván and even implicate other labradores (II, 368).91

The characters of Lorenzo and Esteban are degraded further as they exposetheir awareness of the fact that their accusations are false, yet still proceed intheir campaign to undermine Isidro (II, 373). In an episode in which Esteban andLorenzo misinterpret Benito’s description of Bartolo for an account of Isidro’sshortcomings, the labradores are provided with an opportunity to reiterateIsidro’s negative qualities. Despite the fact that Pascual and Benito rise to Isidro’sdefence, their comments cannot eliminate the ridicule to which Isidro is exposed.In addition to the criticism of the labradores, Isidro is branded a ‘bausán’ and‘haragán’ (II, 369) by his angry master. The validity of his miracles is also ques-tioned by Fernando, criado del rey, following his death (III, 387).

In La juventud, with the exception of Envidia’s accusations, Isidro is notsubject to any form of condemnation. As a result, any connection with Isidro’sdetractors in the form of the nobility, labradores or criados, which may havebeen experienced by the audience of San Isidro, labrador is absent from Lajuventud. The criticism of Isidro by Envidia, an allegorical and therefore unrealcharacter, prevents the audience forming any kind of association with him.Consequently, Lope’s spectators do not witness a negative portrayal of them-selves as they may have done in La hermosa Ester, but rather see themselvesin a positive light as faithful, honest, god-fearing individuals. Lope’s manipu-lation of the source material and characters introduced in San Isidro, labradorenables him to create a suitable, non-challenging tone for this celebratory play.

The audience is indeed reminded that the play is a celebration of Isidro’scanonisation through Iván’s vision in a dream of España and Profecía.92 Withthe appearance of both allegorical characters ‘por alto’, ‘en dos nubes’ (II, fol.33v), Iván listens to Profecía’s predictions regarding the canonisation of fourSpanish saints during the reign of Philip IV. He encourages the veneration ofIsidro by describing his canonisation as a glorious event and addresses Madridin the following manner:

Famosa Villa, apercibea tu hijo, a tu Patrón,la gloria desta visión;y con triunfo le recibe,

(II, fol. 34v)

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90 For the criticism of Isidro by the labradores in El Isidro, see canto II, p. 437.91 It should be noted that only Lorenzo and Esteban approach Iván; Tadeo is absent.92 See p. 63, n. 52 for Gallego Roca’s statement on the relationship between sleep and

prophetic scenes.

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Iván promotes the appreciation of the celebration and depicts the audience asprivileged spectators of the canonisation. The members of the audience arethus presented with another positive image of themselves.

Lope elevates Isidro to the highest point of perfection by taking him beyondthe status of a saint and establishing a direct link between him and Christ. InEl Isidro, San Isidro, labrador and La niñez, Isidro has already been referredto as a ‘labrador divino’.93 However, for the first time on the stage, Isidroshares the title with Christ.94 It is Envidia, the embodiment of evil, who attri-butes the description to Isidro, while Isidro himself addresses God in prayeras the ‘divino labrador’.95 In a monologue in which Isidro praises God throughpastoral imagery, the literal labrador describes the role of the metaphoricalone and asks him to provide him with what is necessary so that he may fol-low his example. Isidro expresses his desire to emulate the heavenly labrador,now his namesake, who exemplifies selflessness and goodness. He is there-fore prompted to ask for the ‘arado’, the metaphorical cross which Christ isforced to bear.96 His desire to become the disciple of the ‘divino labrador’ andto suffer for his sake illustrates his wholehearted dedication to his saintly role.

Apart from a direct association with Christ, Isidro’s piety and humility areexemplified through the introduction of two scenes in which both he and hiswife speak frankly about their devotion to God. Their lengthy discussion onthe decoration of their marital home immediately following their weddingreplaces Juan de la Cabeza’s description of María’s dowry in San Isidro,labrador (I, 362–63). While Juan mentions money and basic necessities suchas mattresses, sheets and pillows first, Isidro concentrates on the domestic fur-nishings of a religious nature. The first thing that he and María will do is con-struct an altar, hang their prints of St Roque and St Sebastian and put up thewall-hanging depicting David’s victory over Goliath (I, fols 22r–22v). Isidroeven forgets to mention the bed, the first item mentioned in Lope’s descrip-tion of the marital home in El Isidro, in an effort to be ‘honesto’ (I, fol. 22v).97

However, it is the second conversation between Isidro and María whichprovides an insight into the conditions which must be met and the sacrifices


93 In El Isidro, see for example canto I, p. 419, canto IV, p. 450 and canto IX, p. 518.In La niñez, Bato refers to the ‘mozo’ of Pedro’s dream as a ‘labrador divino’ (I, fol. 7v),while the Reina of San Isidro, labrador attributes the title to Isidro when she visits his bodyin San Andrés (III, 387–88). Iván also describes the angels as ‘divinos labradores’ in thisplay (II, 372).

94 In El Isidro, Lope establishes a connection between the births of Christ and Isidro,stating ‘sus padres, pobres e iguales, / diéronle pobres pañales, / entre animales naciendo. /Mirad: ¿qué va pareciendo / con nacer entre animales?’ (canto I, pp. 419–20).

95 See II, fols 26r and 26v.96 Even as a child, Isidro associates Christ with the pastoral, refers to the doctrine of

transubstantiation and remarks that Christ has ordered him to follow his cross (La niñez,II, fol. 14r). The child claims: ‘Mis letras son vuestro divino arado, / pues yo soy labrador,con él os sigo, / que seguir vuestra cruz me habéis mandado.’

97 See El Isidro, canto II, p. 429.

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which have to be made in order to live a holy, pious life. This dialogue pre-cedes the separation of husband and wife for the purposes of ‘la castidadcelestial’ (II, fol. 28v) and underlines the pain of departure.98 Isidro and Maríamust relinquish human love in order to commit themselves to the venerationof the divine. Moreover, Isidro’s list of instructions to his wife concerning theconditions to be met in order to remain chaste, highlights the daily sacrificesmade by both.99 Their separation is characterised by ‘dolor’, but in Isidro’sopinion, their decision to part is ‘santa’ (II, fol. 28v). Both characters expli-citly highlight their love for one another. As far as María is concerned, ‘no hede ver / cosa que tenga alegría / sin tu dulce compañía’, while Isidro admits,‘Mucho siente el corazón / el apartarse de ti’ (II, fol. 28v). Their fires of pas-sion will be kept in check by the river which separates them as María movesto the convent of the Mother of God on the other side of the Jarama. Isidro’srecognition of the temptation of human love underlines his more human side,despite his acknowledgement, like Asuero in La hermosa Ester, that onlydivine love is associated with reason. To serve God, according to Isidro, is [to]‘obedecer / las leyes de la razón’ (II, fol. 29v).100

Isidro continues to receive the support of Tirso, the gracioso, following hiswife’s departure. Apart from providing comedy and voicing his obsessionwith food like his father in La niñez, Tirso is also concerned with winning thelove of a woman (Bartola) and defending the reputation of a friend (Isidro).The light-hearted episode of San Isidro, labrador, in which Constanza throwsflour over her zealous lover, Bartolo, is reconstructed for the purposes of thedevelopment of the main plot in La juventud.101 Essentially, this playful sceneis presented in Act II of the play, but is preceded by a new, serious scene inwhich love is scorned.

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98 In San Isidro, labrador, Demonio informs Envidia of the separation of Isidro andMaría (III, 379). We learn only that Isidro and María have missed one another when theyreunite following María’s miraculous crossing of the Jarama (III, 383–84). The tone of thediscussion, however, is very lighthearted and is in complete contrast to the conversationbetween Isidro and María analysed here.

99 These include daily prayer, conservative dress, daily attendance at Mass and theobservation of silence and modesty. See II, fols 29r–29v.

100 In the Middle Ages, churchmen associated human love with locura and claimed thathuman love prevented the individual from focusing on divine love, or real love. In theCorbacho, for example, the Arcipreste de Talavera makes the following comments: ‘Amore luxuria traen muchas enfermedades e abrevian la vida a los onbres; fáselos antes de tienpoenvejescer o encanescer, los mienbros tenblar, e, como ya de alto dixe, los cinco sentydosalterar e algunos dellos en todo o en parte perder, e con muchos pensamientos a las vesesenloquecer; e a las veses priva de juyzio e razón natural al onbre e muger, en tanto que nonse conosce él mesmo a las oras quién es, dónde está, qué le contesció, nin cómo bive. [. . .]Pues, por Dios nuestro señor, en tal guisa de amor usemos verdadero que para syenprebivamos, solo Dios amando.’ See Alfonso Martínez de Toledo, Arcipreste de Talavera oCorbacho, ed. J. González Muela, 4th edn (Madrid: Castalia, 1985), p. 76.

101 See San Isidro, labrador, II, 370.

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In their first encounter, Bartola rejects Tirso outright, categorising him as a‘traidor’ and ‘grosero’ and classifying his love as ‘fingido’ (I, fol. 24v). UnlikeConstanza, who grants Bartolo permission to speak to her father in La niñez,Bartola does not give Tirso permission to ask their master for her hand in mar-riage. Instead, she threatens to tell their master about the inappropriateness ofthe relationship. The references made by both characters to the influence of‘el dimuño’ on their respective attitudes reminds the audience of the presenceof Envidia on stage. Bartola tells Tirso ‘el dimuño / te hace andar tan altanero’,while Tirso subsequently makes almost the same accusation by informingBartola ‘el dimuño / os hace andar altaneras’ (I, fol. 24v). Envidia exerts a crit-ical influence on the relationship in his attempt to introduce ‘celazos’. Tirso’sproposal of marriage to Bartola is undermined by Bartola’s declaration thatGil, another villano, is in love with her. As Tirso is left feeling dejected anddesperate, Envidia approaches him and attempts to cast him in the role of thejealous labrador whose mission will be to defame Isidro to Iván.

The re-creation of the love scene of San Isidro, labrador is crucial to plotdevelopment and the role of the gracioso in La juventud. In the belief thatTirso may already be suffering from the affects of jealousy because of Gil’spotential feelings for his beloved, Envidia is confident that the gracioso willaccept his allegation against Isidro. Indeed, Envidia describes his timing as‘buena ocasión’ (I, fol. 25r).102 For Lope’s audience, Tirso, a labrador, wassuitable for the role of the accusing co-worker of Juan Diácono’s text.Consequently, the spectators may have deduced at this point in the drama thatthe sub-plot was introduced in order to present Tirso as a vulnerable victimof the influential Envidia and, therefore, less blameworthy. However, ashas already been stated, it is Envidia who criticises Isidro in the presenceof his master because he cannot destroy Tirso’s loyalty to the labrador. Thegracioso is portrayed as a resilient, faithful friend, steadfast in his beliefs evenduring a crisis point in his personal life. When put to the test, he proves him-self the servant of Isidro, a role which he promised to fulfil following the wed-ding celebrations (I, fol. 21v).

Clearly, then, one of Tirso’s most important duties in the play is that ofdefender of Isidro’s virtuous qualities against the slander of Envidia. In SanIsidro, labrador, the gracioso Bartolo does not have any contact with Envidia,but does safeguard Isidro’s reputation when Iván de Vargas complains aboutIsidro’s laziness (II, 371). Here, Lope intensifies this specific function of thegracioso by converting Bartolo’s seven lines of defence into various heateddiscussions between Tirso and Envidia. In the first instance, Tirso respondsaggressively to Envidia’s initial accusations by threatening to stone him,thereby proving, albeit in a violent manner, his determination to defend


102 There is no reaction on the part of Tirso to jealousy. By this I mean that Tirso doesnot confront Gil, nor does he lose himself in lengthy monologues in which he complainsthat he is the shunned lover.

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Isidro’s honour.103 Subsequently, when Iván de Vargas arrives, Tirso takes onthe defence of the innocent against the prosecuting Envidia. In two lengthyspeeches, he remarks on the productivity of Isidro’s land and describes Isidroas an exemplary worker:

a la fe, no tien, señor,en todo Madrid, ni fuera,tal labrador como Isidro.

(I, fol. 25r)

In addition, Tirso subtly transforms Envidia’s negative comparison of Isidroand himself as bad workers into a positive one. To Envidia’s comment thatIván’s land is deteriorating at the hands of Isidro, who, he claims, Tirso mustbe like, Tirso responds ‘si yo fuera / como él, ¿qué me faltara?’ (I, fol. 25r).

In spite of Tirso’s efforts to save Isidro’s reputation, the prosecution wins,a necessary outcome for the presentation of the miracle of the angels.Nevertheless, Tirso is not discouraged and continues to defend Isidrothroughout the play, in spite of the fact that he is aware of who/what Envidiareally is. Envidia reveals his identity to Tirso following their conversationwith Iván. After stating that he is ‘quien dio la muerte primera / al primerolabrador’ (I, fol. 25v), he commands the inferno to open up and disappearsfrom the stage amid the beating of drums and smoke. The fearful Tirso, whomakes a general appeal to labradores to flee from the path of this evildoer,demonstrates bravery and courage when he comes face to face with Envidiathroughout the play.

During the second encounter between Tirso and Envidia, Envidia catchesthe gracioso dipping into food on the way to the mill and threatens to revealhis greed to the other villanos (II, fols 31r–31v). Tirso, resolute in his effortsnot to be overcome by the evildoer, shows no sign of worry or fear in the faceof Envidia’s threats. In fact, he is characterised by constancy and couragewhen he acts as Isidro’s advocate and resolutely defines Envidia as ‘señorserpiente engañosa’, the antithesis of Isidro who is characterised by ‘santascostumbres’ (II, fol. 31v). Tirso demonstrates selflessness by showing no con-cern for Envidia’s threats to tarnish his reputation.

Towards the end of Act II, Lope makes Tirso the privileged spectator who,in the company of Isidro, watches María’s miraculous crossing of the Jarama.His re-creation of the popular story and indeed the same scene in San Isidro,labrador, where Isidro is the only witness, serves two purposes in the play.104

First of all, Lope makes María’s crossing more real to his audience by

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103 There are resonances here of the conflict between Bato and the pobre in La niñez,where Bato insults the pobre who refuses to return the child Isidro’s coat (II, fol. 13v). Inthis case, it is the pobre, not the gracioso, who threatens violence.

104 See San Isidro, labrador, III, 383.

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providing another witness. Secondly, by granting the exceptional and exem-plary individual (Isidro) and the flawed yet loyal and honest character (Tirso)a similar privilege, Lope suggests that it is not only saintly perfection whichis recognised and rewarded by the divine. He highlights to his audience theimportance of belief in orthodox, religious values, yet at the same time pro-poses that there is room for human shortcomings.

The play ends with a playful treatment of envidia. Tirso expresses that heis jealous of the embrace of Isidro and María, the reunited couple.105 However,he envies the embrace for positive reasons, admitting ‘¡Pardiez, que por sertan castos, / tales envidio!’ (II, fol. 35r). In contrast to the malicious and poten-tially destructive envidia of the labradores in San Isidro, labrador and thecharacter of Envidia in both plays, Tirso’s assertion of jealousy is a simple,inoffensive comment. It reflects his desire to partake in the celebrations. Atthe same time it injects humour into the scene by drawing attention to theimportance of physical bonding for Tirso. The play ends on a celebratory notewith the reunion of Isidro and María and the nymphs’ dance. Tirso is notrequired to seek forgiveness for his innocent envidia, unlike Lorenzo andEsteban who rightly express regret and desire for forgiveness by Isidro at theend of San Isidro, labrador (III, 386). La juventud concludes with a celebra-tion of Madrid’s patron saint together with the virtues of the common man aspresented by the character Tirso.

In La juventud, Lope is no longer dependent on the dramatisation of mir-acles in order to portray Isidro’s saintly nature, since the audience is alreadyaware of his holy status. As a result, the dramatist ironically enjoys more dra-matic freedom in the composition of this play than in La niñez. In La juventud,well-known miracles are replaced with newly created scenes and devised sothat Isidro might transcend the status of saint and become essentiallyChristlike. The direct relationship established between the saint and Christrepresents the ultimate acclamation of Isidro. By depicting the sacrifices madeby Isidro for the first time on stage, Lope paradoxically makes Isidro evenmore Christlike, and therefore even more worthy of the title of saint.

In his Arte nuevo, Lope defines the comedia as a three-act play: ‘El sujetoelegido, escriua en prosa, / Y en tres actos de tiempo le reparta.’106 In spite ofthat, both La niñez and La juventud are two-act plays.107 Morrison outlinespossible reasons for this: ‘The comedias de santos remind us of the medievalreligious drama in that their authors paid little heed to the dramatic rules.


105 The reunion of the lovers is treated very briefly at the end of the play and, unliketheir separation, does not permit a detailed analysis of the conflicting imperatives ofhuman and divine love.

106 See El arte nuevo, 211–12.107 The only other two-act play found among Lope’s corpus of comedias de tema

religioso is El robo de Dina. It could be argued that the sequel to this play, Los trabajosde Jacob, constitutes the third act.

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Often unity is absent, plot is scanty, and character development is illogical.[. . .] The absence of the unities was criticized only rarely.’108 However, itwould seem that Lope disregards his own dramatic theory in the cases ofLa niñez and La juventud because of reasons relating to performance / stagingand the demands of the Consejo. Each of the Isidro plays was performed ontwo medios carros, just like autos, and as indicated previously, the contentof these was more than likely prescribed by the Council of Castile. In addi-tion, time restrictions may have prevented the presentation of two three-actplays. Nevertheless, the interrelationship which exists between La niñez andLa juventud and which has been exposed in the course of this chapter makes itpossible to consider these works as two acts of one play. Moreover, I wouldargue that the canonisation of Isidro and the celebrations surrounding the eventin Madrid, of which Lope’s audience was very much aware, constitute the per-fect, triumphant resolution of both Isidro plays. This is, perhaps, Lope’s mostelaborate working out of the interplay between illusion and reality.

The availability or absence of source material, coupled with the expectationsof his audience, shaped Lope’s representation of saint and biblical heroine forthe stage. While his plays on Isidro were restrained by the necessity to complywith a specified agenda, Lope was able to rewrite biblical scenes, introducenew characters and subtly comment on contemporary issues in La hermosaEster. His successful and complex dramatisation of the biblical story is proofof the dramatist’s ability to manipulate both the source material and the hori-zon of expectation of his audience when he alone is the sole creator of his workand does not have to abide by the dictates of an external authority.

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108 Lope de Vega and the Comedia, p. 25. The absence of unities in the comediashagiográficas is understandable, given the breadth of material available on the lives ofsaints which Golden Age dramatists may have wanted to incorporate into their works.However, the analysis presented in this chapter alone on La niñez and La juventud contestsMorrison’s claims on plot development and characterisation. His reference to scanty plotsmay in fact be an easy solution to the two-act play problem.

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PART II

DRAMATISING THE DRAMATIC: METATHEATRE AND THE COMEDIA DE TEMA RELIGIOSO

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3

METATHEATRE AND THE SPANISH COMEDIA RELIGIOSA: AN OVERVIEW1

With the publication of Lionel Abel’s seminal work on metatheatre,2 criticswere provided not only with a basic definition of the concept of metadrama,but also with specific terminology with which to analyse self-referentialplays.3 According to Abel, metaplays are

Theatre pieces about life seen as already theatricalized. By this I mean thatthe persons appearing on the stage in these plays are there not simplybecause they were caught by the playwright in dramatic postures as a cameramight catch them, but because they themselves knew they were dramaticbefore the playwright took note of them. What dramatized them originally?Myth, legend, past literature, they themselves. They represent to the play-wright the effect of dramatic imagination before he has begun to exercisehis own; [. . .]. (Metatheatre: A New View, p. 60)

Abel was intent on giving metatheatre a working definition, treating it as agenre in itself as opposed to tragedy. He polarises tragedy and metatheatre byproviding a summary of what he describes as the values and disvalues oftragedy and metatheatre.4 Catherine Larson regards Abel’s concern with the‘generic purity’ of the metaplay as ‘an unnecessary complication of the issue’and suggests that we move away from Abel’s attempts to pin down whatmetatheatre is and focus instead on what metatheatre does.5

1 The title of this chapter is adapted from and is my response to Thomas AustinO’Connor’s article ‘Is the Spanish Comedia a Metatheater?’, HR, 43 (1975), 275–89. Seep. 88 for details on the significance of this article in the mid-1970s debate concerning theappropriateness of a definition of the comedia in terms of its metatheatrical qualities.

2 See his Metatheatre: A New View of Dramatic Form (New York: Hill and Wang, 1963).3 This does not mean, of course, that some critics were not already studying to some

extent the incorporation of metatheatrical devices into plays, but they were doing sowithout the explicit label. See, for example, Robert J. Nelson, Play Within a Play. TheDramatist’s Conception of His Art: Shakespeare to Anouilh (New Haven: Yale UP, 1958).

4 See p. 113 of his work for further details.5 See ‘Metatheater: Past, Present’, p. 206. Larson’s essay addresses the difficulty in

defining what metatheatre actually is and examines how critics have reacted to the notionof the comedia as metatheatre. Larson also presents a variety of possibilities that are open

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However, before the publication of Larson’s article, Abel’s ideas onmetatheatre were already having an impact on comedia scholarship. The mid-1970s witnessed a major debate between those critics who believed thatAbel’s theories could be usefully and significantly applied to the comedia, andthose who regarded them as invalid. Thomas Austin O’Connor’s article whichposed the vital question, ‘Is the Spanish Comedia a Metatheater?’, was specif-ically responsible for initiating this debate.6 O’Connor believed that the con-cept of metatheatre was at odds with seventeenth-century Spain’s theocentricand moral view of the world in which role-playing was viewed negatively.O’Connor states: ‘To be an actor is to be false, a mime or mimic of what reallyis. The Christian cannot be thus and be sure of salvation’ (p. 287). O’Connorrecognises that metatheatre gives many insights into the structure and form ofthe serious Spanish comedia, but claims that it fails to explain the Christianresponse to pretence and theatricality (p. 287). He defines role-playing as‘The road to sure deceit and possible damnation’ (p. 288). However, as willbe highlighted in the following chapters, it is in fact because of the contem-porary theocentric world view that the comedia can be deemed a metaplay.

O’Connor is supported by Arnold G. Reichenberger who insists on theuniqueness of the comedia and who also stresses the theocentric concept oflife which was commonplace in the seventeenth century.7 Nevertheless, thereare various scholars such as Frank P. Casa and Stephen Lipmann who opposethe theories of O’Connor and Reichenberger.8 Casa dispels some of thenegativity attributed to role-playing by O’Connor and insists that O’Connor’sthesis regarding the disharmony between Abel’s theory on metatheatre andseventeenth-century Spain’s ‘Catholic’ drama is inconclusive, since othersocial factors had an impact on the make-up of the comedia. Stephen Lipmannstates from the outset that he finds Abel’s definition of metatheatre entirely

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to comedia scholarship in this field (e.g. an analysis of the relationship between comedyand metatheatre, as well as the exploitation of self-conscious language, the staging of self-conscious comedias and the inclusion of literary references within Golden Age plays). Anextensive bibliography on the subject is also provided.

6 Prior to the debate of the mid-1970s, several studies focused on the concept of role-playing in the comedia. These included Alan S. Trueblood, ‘Role-Playing and the Sense ofIllusion in Lope de Vega’, HR, 32 (1964), 305–18; Robert Sloane, ‘Action and Role inEl príncipe constante’, MLN, 85 (1970), 167–83; Peter N. Dunn, ‘El príncipe constante:A Theatre of the World’ and Bruce W. Wardropper, ‘The Implicit Craft of the SpanishComedia’, in Studies in Spanish Literature of the Golden Age Presented to Edward M.Wilson, ed. R. O. Jones (London: Tamesis, 1973), pp. 83–101; pp. 339–56. For details ofother related works which predated the debate, see Catherine Larson, ‘Metatheater: Past,Present’, p. 209.

7 See his ‘A Postscript to Professor Thomas Austin O’Connor’s Article on the Comedia’,HR, 43 (1975), 289–91.

8 See Casa’s ‘Some Remarks on Professor O’Connor’s Article “Is the Spanish Comediaa Metatheater?” ’, BCom, 28 (1976), 27–31 and Lipmann, ‘ “Metatheater” and the Criticismof the Comedia’, MLN, 91 (1976), 231–46.

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applicable to the comedia, despite the fact that ‘he is somewhat less than thor-ough in developing the implications of his generic formulation’ (p. 231).

In the wake of this controversy, several critics began to examine GoldenAge drama using metatheatre as a valid analytical tool. For some of them, ananalysis of metatheatre or metatheatrical devices in a particular play was themain focal point of their essays or articles, while for others it featured only asa secondary concern. In the 1970s, Fischer and Madrigal were among thosewho began to study the comedia in this ‘new’ theoretical light.9 They werefollowed by scholars such as Kirby and Moore in the 1980s10 and Case, Larson,Stoll and Dixon in the 1990s.11 Most recently, works by Thacker have servedto reinforce the metatheatrical qualities of the comedia.12

METATHEATRE: LA COMEDIA RELIGIOSA 89

9 Susan L. Fischer, ‘The Art of Role-Change in Calderonian Drama’, BCom, 27 (1975),73–79 and José A. Madrigal, ‘Fuenteovejuna y los conceptos de metateatro y psicodrama:Un ensayo sobre la formación de la conciencia en el protagonista’, BCom, 31 (1979),15–23. See also Fischer, ‘Calderón’s Los cabellos de Absalón: A Metatheater of UnbridledPassion’, BCom, 28 (1976), 103–13; William McCrary, ‘The Duke and the Comedia:Drama and Imitation in Lope de Vega’s El castigo sin venganza’, JHPh, 2 (1978), 203–22and ‘Theater and History: El rey don Pedro en Madrid’, CH, 1 (1979), 145–67.

10 Carol Bingham Kirby, ‘Theatre and the Quest for Anointment in El rey don Pedro enMadrid’, BCom, 33 (1981), 149–59 and Roger Moore, ‘Metatheater and Magic in Elmágico prodigioso’, BCom, 33 (1981), 129–37. See also Fischer, ‘Lope’s El castigo sinvenganza and the Imagination’, KRQ, 28 (1981), 23–36 and Alejandro Paredes L.,‘Nuevamente la cuestión del metateatro: La cisma de Inglaterra’, in Calderón: Actas delcongreso internacional sobre Calderón y el teatro español del Siglo de Oro, ed. LucianoGarcía Lorenzo, 3 vols (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1983),I, 541–48. For further details on major studies of the 1970s and 1980s, see CatherineLarson, ‘Metatheater: Past, Present’, pp. 209–11. I will also engage with more recentcontributions to the debate not considered in Larson’s article.

11 See Case, ‘Metatheater’; Catherine Larson, ‘Lope de Vega and Elena Garro: TheDoubling of La dama boba’, Hisp, 74 (1991), 15–25; Anita K. Stoll, ‘Staging, Metadrama,and Religion in Lope’s Los locos por el cielo’, Neophil, 78 (1994), 233–41 and VictorDixon, ‘El post-Lope: La noche de San Juan, meta-comedia urbana para palacio’, in Lopede Vega: comedia urbana y comedia palatina. Actas de las XVII Jornadas de teatro clásico,eds. F. B. Pedraza and R. González Cañal (Almagro: Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha,1996), pp. 61–82. Dixon’s most recent articles on Lope’s Lo fingido verdadero concentrateon an examination of a range of metatheatrical devices which present themselves in theplay. See introduction, p. 3, n. 10 for complete bibliographical references. The 1990s havewitnessed the publication of a significant number of critical analyses which concentrate onthe relationship between metatheatre and the comedia. Other works include: Michael Kidd,‘The Performance of Desire: Acting and Being in Lope de Vega’s El laberinto de Creta’,BCom, 47 (1995), 21–36; Jonathan Thacker, ‘Comedy’s Social Compromise: Tirso’s Martala piadosa and the Refashioning of Role’, BCom, 47 (1995), 267–89 and Harry VélezQuiñones, ‘ “Entre verdad y mentira”: Woman and Metatheater in Lope de Vega’s Losamantes sin amor’, BCom, 47 (1995), 43–53.

12 See Jonathan Thacker, ‘ “Que yo le haré de suerte que os espante, / Si el fingimientoa la verdad excede”: Creative Use of Art in Lope de Vega’s Los locos de Valencia (andVelázquez’s Fábula de Aracne)’, MLR, 95 (2000), 1007–18 and Role-play and the Worldas Stage in the Comedia (Liverpool: Liverpool UP, 2002).

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For the purposes of this analysis, a review of the studies by several of thesecritics is important for a number of reasons. In the first instance, such ana-lyses serve to highlight the variations in approaches which can be adopted inan exploration of the comedia as self-referential drama. Additionally, andmost significantly, they stress the fact that metatheatrical devices abound inboth secular and religious Golden Age plays, in spite of Abel’s claim that‘There is no such thing as religious metatheatre’.13 Before engaging with stud-ies of the 1980s and 1990s, I will focus on several studies of the 1970s, andwe will see that the analytical approaches are similar.

In ‘The Art of Role-Change’, Fischer examines the relationship between thesocial convention of honor and complex forms of role-change. In a study ofwhat she terms ‘socially conditioned role-change’ (p. 74), Fischer concentrateson the character of Roca of El pintor de su deshonra, a type of dramatist whoconfers on Serafina the role of faithless wife and who himself becomes thedetermined avenger. Fischer concludes that the fact that certain aspects oftwentieth-century psychological theory can be applied to Calderón’s depictionof the individual means that Calderón’s comedia is probably more universalthan unique (p. 78).14

Madrigal’s ‘Fuenteovejuna y los conceptos’ centres on two main issues.First of all, it aims to evaluate Abel’s theories on metatheatre and their appro-priateness to a study of the comedia. Secondly, by applying Moreno’s theorieson psychodrama, Madrigal examines how the individual or collective protag-onist acquires full consciousness of the part which has been assigned by theplaywright through the performance of roles.15 Madrigal concludes that Abel’stheories on metatheatre constitute useful critical apparatus for analysing thecomedia. He states: ‘A mi entender, su aporte al enfoque crítico reside enllamar la atención no sólo a la importancia que posee la ontogenia psíquica delos personajes, sino también a la técnica de �role playing�. [. . .] El person-aje dramático no se ha estudiado tan meticulosamente como merece’ (p. 16).16

However, he warns that his theories should not be considered definitive orabsolute (p. 17). This is what he regards as Sloane’s fundamental error in‘Action and Role’, in which Sloane claims that this play, although a sizable stepin Abel’s direction, is some distance from true ‘metatheatre’ because God playsthe role of a dramatist (p. 183). In response to Sloane’s assertions, Madrigalclaims that ‘decir que la comedia no es metateatro, a causa de que hay undramaturgo final (Dios), equivaldría a decir que Lionel Abel está negando, lo cual

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13 Metatheatre: A New View, p. 113. As will be seen in chapter 4, an analysis of Lofingido verdadero alone challenges this claim.

14 For the debate concerning the uniqueness or universality of the comedia, see EricBentley, ‘The Universality of the Comedia’ HR, 38 (1970), 147–62 and Arnold G.Reichenberger, ‘The Uniqueness of the Comedia’, HR, 38 (1970), 163–73.

15 See Joseph Moreno, Psychodrama (New York: Beacon House, 1972).16 The italics are mine.

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no creo sea su propósito, el fondo o mentalidad religiosa que era parte integralde la idiosincrasia de aquella época’ (p. 17). Madrigal devotes the second partof his article to a study of the involvement of Laurencia and the villanos in role-playing within the role in Lope’s Fuenteovejuna. He identifies Laurencia as thebest illustration of the actor/author dichotomy within the play.

The studies of the 1980s and 1990s on the comedia and metatheatre whichare considered illustrate that metadramatic properties are characteristic of bothsecular and religious plays of the Golden Age. In ‘Theater and the Quest’,Kirby examines the function of metatheatrical devices in Calderón’s El reydon Pedro en Madrid. She considers the implications of role-playing and itsimpact on the audience by focusing on the king’s appearance at the beginningof the drama as an unidentifiable, sweaty, untidy rider with a bloodied swordin hand, and his subsequent public performance as king in Act II. Kirbyproposes that Pedro is both consciously and unconsciously a playwright whomanipulates his subjects to perform particular roles. Moreover, she underlinesthe fact that the other characters in the play are not always aware that the kingis influencing their course of action. She refers to Pedro as ‘autor’ of the‘comedia palaciega’ (p. 153). Kirby traces the roles that Pedro adopts anddemonstrates how they are at odds with the spiritual nature which he issupposed to boast, in accordance with the political–theological doctrine of theking’s two bodies. She stresses that the king’s spiritual completion dependson the election and performance of new roles.

Moore examines the metatheatrical nature of El mágico prodigioso in‘Metatheater and Magic’ and presents five reasons why he considers this par-ticular drama to be a metaplay. Firstly, he identifies Cipriano, the devil andGod as three competing dramatists in the play. He acknowledges that thedevil’s main role is that of magician, while Cipriano plays various roles beforefinally assuming his definitive role as martyr in God’s play.17 Moreover,Moore claims that Cipriano can also be viewed as an apprentice dramatist.Finally, Moore divides the characters of the play into two groups. The firstcomprises those who are deceived by the devil and whose performances arethus directed by him, while the second contains those who focus upon a higherorder of reality and truth.18

The analyses conducted by Larson, Case and Stoll in the 1990s, which focusspecifically on Lope’s plays, demonstrate that both his religious and secularworks can be viewed in a metatheatrical light. Larson’s study is based on twoexamples of metaplays. Specifically, Larson’s primary concern in ‘Lope andElena Garro’ is a comparative study of the self-referential devices in Lope’sLa dama boba and Elena Garro’s adaptation of the play. Her analysis includesan examination of Finea’s self-referential language (p. 18) and the confusion


17 In Lo fingido verdadero, Ginés engages in the art of role-playing before finallybecoming a martyr.

18 See p. 135 of his article.

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of the audience within Elena Garro’s version who watch a performance ofLope’s La dama boba (p. 22). Larson concludes that ‘through her imitation ofLope’s self-conscious strategies, Elena Garro’s reading actualizes Lope’s textby incorporating it within a new horizon of expectations’ (p. 24).

In his investigation of the metatheatrical features of El divino africano in‘Metatheater’, Case maintains that metadramatic techniques are an essentialpart of the comedias de santos (p. 140). He also highlights the significance offaith in this particular drama, which alerts Agustino to his true role in life.Case identifies two levels of reality in the play – the reality of Agustino’shistorical life and the reality of the mystical world of salvation and God’sgrace. He qualifies God as a dramatist in the voz and emphasises how Mónicaand Alipio are responsible for the creation of plays within the play throughthe dramatisation of their dreams. Case also draws attention to an interestingmetadramatic ingredient in his reference to Agustino’s writing of his Confessionsin Act III. In point of fact, these Confessions constitute the script of Acts I andII of El divino africano (p. 134).

Finally, in ‘Staging, Metadrama’, Stoll begins by asserting that the view oflife in the Golden Age as having various levels of reality easily relates to theconcept of metatheatre in drama. She analyses the function of various meta-theatrical devices and pinpoints the play within the play as the most significantin Los locos por el cielo (p. 233). Stoll also investigates the use of the vestuarioor ‘discovery space’, which she describes as ‘an excellent vehicle for meta-theater’ (p. 233). Additionally, she draws attention to the dramatic impact of theintegration of the ‘stage’audience with the ‘real’audience as they watch the playwithin the play (pp. 236–37). Ultimately, Stoll convincingly proposes that Lopecombines metatheatrical devices, staging techniques and his Christian faith inan attempt to reconstruct his personal, profound beliefs for the audience (p. 239).Indeed, I would suggest that the self-conscious comedia is inextricably linked tothe seventeenth-century concept of theatrum mundi which Weisinger describesin the following manner:

Theatrum mundi is [. . .] an extended metaphor; the world is symbolized asa theatre, and all its events, or plot, and all its inhabitants, or dramatis per-sonae, are depicted as taking place and acting within its confines and withinits particular terms as a medium of representation.19

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19 See Herbert Weisinger, ‘Theatrum Mundi: Illusion as Reality’, in The Agony and theTriumph: Papers on the Use and Abuse of Myth (East Lansing: Michigan State UP, 1964),pp. 58–70 (p. 59). On the same theme, see also Katarzyna Mroczkowska-Brand, ‘OvertTheatricality and the Theatrum Mundi Metaphor in Spanish and English Drama, 1570–1640’,Kwartalnik Neofilologiczny, 26 (1979), 201–14. As this critic points out, ‘The comparison ofthe world to a stage and of men to actors was certainly not a new one in the sixteenth andseventeenth centuries. [. . .] We find more or less ample fragments on the Theatrum Mundimetaphor in the works of Plato, Plotinus, Democritus, Epictetus, Seneca, Petronius, andTerence among the more notable ancients’ (p. 206).

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‘The world is a stage’ and ‘life is a dream’ topoi stressed the illusory natureof life in which the individual was an actor or role-player.20 Consequently, itwould appear that the use of self-referential techniques in the comedia notonly enabled the Golden Age playwright to manipulate the horizon of expect-ation of his audience, but also to reinforce the principal themes of the age.

It is evident, then, that most studies to date have been concerned with iden-tifying the metatheatrical qualities of the comedia, but have not engaged withthe effects of metatheatre on the audience.21 In the following chapters, I willexamine several metatheatrical devices which present themselves in Lope’sLo fingido verdadero (approx. 1608) and La buena guarda (1610). My analy-sis will be based on an application of Richard Hornby’s categories ofmetadrama presented in Drama, Metadrama, which, according to Larson,‘gives what is arguably the most comprehensive approach to the concept ofself-conscious theater’.22 Hornby defines metadrama as ‘drama about drama’and stresses that the ‘seeing double’ of the audience constitutes the essence ofmetatheatre.23 Of the five overt forms of metadrama catalogued by him, twoin particular will be considered in my analysis of Lo fingido verdadero andone in my examination of La buena guarda. While I will concentrate onLope’s manipulation of role-playing within the role in both plays, I will analysein detail the function of the play within the play in Lo fingido verdadero. I will


20 The topoi of course provided Calderón with the titles of two of his most famousworks – La vida es sueño and El gran teatro del mundo. For a discussion of these inrelation to metatheatre, see, for example, Thomas Austin O’Connor, ‘La vida es sueño:A View From Metatheater’, KRQ, 25 (1978), 13–26 and Manuel Sito Alba, ‘Metateatro enCalderón: El gran teatro del mundo’, in Calderón: Actas del congreso, II, 789–802. Forfurther references, see Catherine Larson, ‘Metatheater: Past, Present’, p. 216, n. 6.

21 There are of course exceptions. These include Stoll’s ‘Staging, Metadrama’ whichhas already been discussed briefly in this chapter, and Thacker’s ‘Comedy’s SocialCompromise’. In his article which focuses on Tirso’s Marta la piadosa, Thacker examinesMarta’s role-playing within the role and considers the onstage and offstage audiences’reactions to incidents in the play. Furthermore, audience reception is taken into account byMaría del Pilar Palomo and Victor Dixon in their analyses of Lope’s metadrama, Lofingido verdadero. See ‘Proceso de comunicación en Lo fingido verdadero’, in El castigode venganza y el teatro de Lope de Vega, ed. Ricardo Doménech (Madrid: Cátedra/Teatroespañol, 1987), pp. 79–98 and ‘Lo fingido verdadero y sus espectadores’ respectively. Bothworks are discussed further in chapter 4.

22 ‘Lope and Elena Garro’, p. 16. See introduction, p. 4, n. 14 for full bibliographicaldetails of Hornby’s work on metatheatre. Hornby identifies five categories of overtmetadrama. They are as follows: 1) The Play within the Play; 2) The Ceremony within thePlay; 3) Role-Playing within the Role; 4) Literary and Real-Life Reference; 5) SelfReference (p. 32). For a definition of role-playing within the role and the play within theplay, see chapter 4, p. 98 and p. 110 respectively. The second part of Hornby’s work isdedicated to an examination of drama and perception, which he describes as a broader andmore subtle type of metadrama (p. 32). As will be seen subsequently, the theme ofperception is a fundamental component of audience reception.

23 Drama, Metadrama, p. 31; p. 32. Hornby also highlights that ‘The metadramaticexperience for the audience is one of unease, a dislocation of perception’ (p. 32).

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aim to determine the factors which stimulate role-change within the role, todifferentiate between positive and negative forms of role-playing and to assessthe connection between role-playing and destino. The relationship betweenlanguage, role, costume/disguise and identity will also be considered. In thecase of Lo fingido verdadero, I propose to compare the impact of the two playswithin the play on both the corral audience (which I will define as the outeraudience) and the audience within the main play (which will be described asthe inner audience), with specific focus on the complex fusion of both themain play and inset play.24 Ultimately, I hope to uncover the varying degreesof audience estrangement provoked by the exploitation of particular forms ofmetadrama and to demonstrate how such self-referential devices serve to illu-minate the thematic tension of the plays – the conflict between human anddivine love.25

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24 Hornby categorises the play within the play as being of either the ‘inset’ type or‘framed’ type. In the ‘inset’ type, Hornby states that ‘the inner play is secondary, aperformance set apart from the main action [. . .]’. In contrast, in the ‘framed’ type, ‘[. . .]the inner play is primary, with the outer play a framing device’ (Drama, Metadrama, p. 33).Both plays created by the character Ginés in Lo fingido verdadero are of the inset type andwill be classified as such in chapter 4.

25 Larson indicates that a variety of audience reponses to a metaplay is possible: ‘It isobvious that reader or audience reactions to a metaplay will vary – at least to a certainextent – due to the same kinds of reader–response factors that govern any type of reactionto literature: [. . .] Readers respond to a given text based on their own horizons ofexperience and expectations’ (‘Metatheater: Past, Present’, p. 207).

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4

LO FINGIDO VERDADERO AS METAPLAY

Lo fingido verdadero, described by Menéndez y Pelayo as ‘de las más notablesdel repertorio religioso de Lope’, was probably written about 1608, but firstappeared in print in Decimasexta parte de las comedias in 1621.1 Traditionallycategorised as a comedia de santos, it is essentially a dramatisation of theconversion and martyrdom of St Genesius, patron saint of actors, as well as therepresentation of the rise to power of the Roman emperor Diocletian.2 Act I ofthe play presents Diocleciano’s transition from soldier to emperor following thedeaths of the emperor Aurelio and his sons Carino and Numeriano. It opens withthe complaints of the soldiers Maximiano, Marcio, Diocleciano and Curioconcerning their campaign against the Persians and lack of food, togetherwith their condemnation of Aurelio and Carino and an appraisal of the qualitiesof Numeriano, soldier and second son of the emperor. This is followed byDiocleciano’s criticism of Aurelio, though later he repents and urges respect forhis role as emperor. With the appearance of Camila, the labradora and bread-seller, Diocleciano requests some bread and lightheartedly promises to repay

1 Estudios, I, 251. For Menéndez y Pelayo’s complete study of this play, see pp.249–68. All references to the play will be taken from this early edition (Madrid: Viuda deAlonso Martín,), fols 261r–84v. Spelling and punctuation will be modernised whereappropriate.

2 Lo fingido verdadero has been included in all of the main studies of Lope’shagiographical works to date. See for example Garasa, Santos; Aragone Terni, Studio sulle;Dassbach, La comedia hagiográfica and Morrison, Lope de Vega and the Comedia.Menéndez y Pelayo identifies Pedro de Rivadeneira’s Flos Sanctorum (1599–1601) andPero Mexía’s Historia imperial y cesárea as the probable sources of this play (II, 251; 258).The relevant passage from the Flos Sanctorum relating to the conversion and martyrdom ofGinés, entitled Vida de San Ginés representante, mártir, is presented in Estudios, I, 251–54.The emperor Diocletian was ruler of Rome from 284–305 AD. Born of humble parents inDalmatia, he became an officer in the Roman army and was proclaimed Emperor by histroops when emperor Numerianus died in 284 AD. Carinus, Numerianus’ brother, contestedDiocletian’s right to control the empire, but Diocletian’s rule was assured when Carinuswas killed by one of his own officers. Diocletian selected Maximianus, a Dalmatian, to beco-ruler of the Roman Empire, and believed that a successful reign depended on theveneration of pagan gods and the imposition of traditional laws and customs. Diocletian isparticularly remembered for his persecution of Christians. On this topic, see for exampleKarl Christ, The Romans (London: Chatto and Windus, 1984) and Antony Kamm, TheRomans. An Introduction (London: Routledge, 1995).

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her when he becomes emperor of Rome. Camila teasingly predicts that he willbecome emperor when he kills a jabalí, or wild boar.

Following Camila’s prophecy, the emperors Aurelio and Carino are intro-duced into the dramatic action. Firstly, the arrogant Aurelio utters a lengthymonologue in which he asserts his authority and challenges the Roman godJupiter, only to be struck down and killed by lightning. Subsequently, Carinois presented on his nightly mission in Rome in search of adventure accom-panied by his criado, amante and músicos. After a discussion with Ginésregarding theatre in general and a play about himself which he would likeGinés to present, Carino is killed by Lelio, a consul whose wife has beenseduced by the libertine ruler.

At this point, the Roman soldiers are presented for a second time, now in thecompany of Apro, father-in-law of Numeriano. The discovery by the soldiersthat Apro has killed his son-in-law in order to gain personal control of theempire results in the murder of Apro, the metaphorical jabalí, by Diocleciano.With the fulfilment of Camila’s prediction, Act I ends with Diocleciano’sinstructions to the army to return to Rome.

In Acts II and III of Lo fingido verdadero, plays created by Ginés for theentertainment of Diocleciano and his favourites complicate the dramaticaction of the main play. Act II opens with the celebration of Diocleciano’selection as emperor and the presentation of the emperor’s generosity towardsthe soldiers who supported him. Diocleciano makes Maximiano his co-rulerand repays Camila by granting her wish to have unlimited access to the royalchambers and his personal company. Following Ginés’ appearance to pay hisrespects to the newly-crowned emperor, Diocleciano entrusts him with theresponsibility of preparing a comedia for performance in the palace. The discus-sion between emperor and autor/actor concerning various types of plays endswith Ginés’ decision to present one of his own dramas. The dramatisation ofGinés’ play, which he bases on his personal experience as the jealous lover,and through which the inset play and main play become inextricably linked,constitutes the remainder of Act II.

In Act III, Camila’s and Diocleciano’s declaration of love is followed byRutilio’s detailed description of the mythical fieras which have been gatheredtogether for the fiestas. A second play within the play is presented as a resultof Diocleciano’s request for a representation of the baptised Christian. Ginésultimately assumes the role of Christian within the framework of the maindrama which he only set out to adopt for the purposes of the inset play. Act IIIends with Ginés’ conversion, martyrdom and declaration concerning hisparticipation in the comedia divina.

While Lope’s comedias de santos have been largely disregarded by comediascholars, Lo fingido verdadero has attracted some critical attention.3 The

3 See especially Susan L. Fischer’s ‘Lope’s Lo fingido verdadero and the Dramatizationof the Theatrical Experience’, RHM, 39 (1976–77), 156–66; J. V. Bryans, ‘Fortune, Love

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play’s complex interplay between lo fingido and lo verdadero, explicit inits title, together with its engagement with the theatrum mundi topos andexploitation of metatheatrical devices such as role-playing within the roleand the play within the play, have been principally highlighted.4 In fact, severalcritics who have acknowledged Lo fingido verdadero as a metaplay havequestioned its classification as a comedia de santos. McGaha, for example,claims: ‘Ostensibly a religious drama based on the life and martyrdom ofSt Genesius, patron saint of actors, the play is in fact a sustained meditationon the phenomenon of role-playing and its consequences in human life.’ Headds that the religious overtones of the play ‘seem to have been introducedalmost as a casual afterthought’.5 Dixon explicitly criticises scholars forcategorising the play as a hagiographical drama: ‘De hecho no es más queparcialmente otra comedia de santos; ha sido un error de la crítica encasil-larla como tal, y condenarla luego por no haberlo sido centralmente y en sutotalidad.’6 The critics to whom Dixon alludes include Menéndez y Pelayo,who describes the first play within the play in terms of its ‘gravísimo defectode pertenecer enteramente a la comedia profana, y de no preparar de ningúnmodo el ánimo a las impresiones solemnes y trágicas de la conversión ymartirio de Ginés’.7 Garasa, on the other hand, defines the play as a comediahagiográfica in which the vida–teatro metaphor is developed throughout.However, by proposing that Lope was forced to add episodes to his playbecause the life of Ginés, ‘por conmovedor y fascinante que sea, no alcanzaa colmar tres jornadas’, he underlines his classification of the play primarilyas a comedia hagiográfica.8

and Power in Lope de Vega’s Lo fingido verdadero’, RCan, 9 (1985), 133–48; María delPilar Palomo, ‘Proceso’; Victor Dixon, ‘Lo fingido verdadero y sus espectadores’ and ‘Yatienes’. In ‘Dramatization of the Theatrical’, Fischer divides the play into three innerdramas and discusses the relationship between fiction and reality within the play. Bryans,on the other hand, examines the themes of fortune, love and power through an analysis ofthe subgenres of the tyrant play and the martyr play. In ‘Proceso’, Palomo defines thetheatrum mundi metaphor as the central idea of the play (p. 87) and looks briefly at theBaroque fondness for art within art. She also examines Lope’s captivation of his audiencethrough what she describes as ‘la complicidad entre emisor y receptor’ (p. 92). Dixon’sarticles in particular provide an invaluable insight into the use of metatheatrical techniqueswithin the play. In ‘Lo fingido verdadero y sus espectadores’, Dixon demonstrates that allsix of Hornby’s varieties of metadrama are present in Lo fingido verdadero. In ‘Ya tienes’,he discusses the adaptation and staging of Lo fingido verdadero for a modern audience,examines the play within the play and explores audience reception.

4 Dixon points out that this play constitutes the first Spanish dramatisation of thetheatrum mundi concept. See ‘Ya tienes’, p. 59.

5 See Lope de Vega, Lo fingido verdadero/Acting is Believing: A Tragicomedy in ThreeActs, trans. Michael McGaha (San Antonio: Trinity UP, 1986), p. 21; p. 25.

6 ‘Ya tienes’, p. 54.7 Estudios, I, 263–64.8 See Santos, p. 19. Garasa provides a brief summary and commentary on this play on

pp. 18–23.

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Clearly, the dramatisation of the conversion and martyrdom of Genesius inAct III of Lo fingido verdadero renders the play a type of comedia de santos,if not a fully developed one, and therefore merits its inclusion in this study.9

However, it is also true that the play’s appeal rests with Lope’s fascinationwith the association between illusion and reality and the incorporation of avariety of metatheatrical devices into the fabric of the drama.10 In fact, Lofingido verdadero is the most patent example of the metaplay among Lope’scorpus of plays, both religious and secular. I would suggest that the twoconcepts, religious drama and a metatheatrical approach, are not mutuallyexclusive but are interdependent. Through an analysis of role-playing withinthe role and the play within the play in Lo fingido verdadero, with particularfocus on the difficulties of perception encountered by both the characters andthe corral audience, I will demonstrate how a metadramatic methodologyserves to uncover the essential themes of Lope’s play.

Role-Playing within the role

According to Hornby, ‘Role playing within the role is an excellent meansfor delineating character, by showing not only who the character is, but whathe wants to be’.11 In Act I of Lo fingido verdadero, Carino, Apro (the father-in-law of Numeriano) and Diocleciano engage consciously in the art of role-playing.12 Motivated by a range of factors, the characters are responsible for

9 Dassbach stresses that Ginés even experiences quite an atypical martyr’s death:‘Ginés no sobrevive milagrosamente torturas y no se da evidencia de hechossobrenaturales en torno a su muerte. [. . .] Su martirio no atrae seguidores ni generaelogios, [. . .]. Por el contrario, los actores de la compañía de Ginés, como sucede a lostorturadores, no entienden su obstinación en querer morir por la fe cristiana y, por tanto,culpan a Ginés de su propia muerte’ (La comedia hagiográfica, p. 58). Dassbach states thatthe reason for this might be the lack of historical detail relating to Genesius and Lope’sconsequent greater freedom of expression in dramatising this saint (p. 66, n. 24).

10 Dixon describes the play’s ‘metateatralidad’ as ‘el atractivo primordial de la obra deLope’ (‘Ya tienes’, p. 55).

11 Drama, Metadrama, p. 67.12 Role-playing within the role is extremely important in Acts II and III, where Ginés

and several other characters, including Fabio and Marcela, adopt roles within the insetplays. As Hornby points out regarding the various types of metadrama, ‘They are rarelyfound in pure form, but often occur together or blend into one another’ (Drama,Metadrama, p. 32). This type of role-playing will be analysed in conjunction with the playwithin the play in the course of this chapter. It is important to note that the degree ofdislocation of perception produced by a particular metatheatrical device varies. Voluntaryrole-playing within the role, for example, is the most metadramatic type of role-playing.Involuntary role-playing, on the other hand, causes less estrangement, as Hornby indicates:‘we feel less estranged than when the role playing is voluntary, because we are moresecure as to who the character really is’ (Drama, Metadrama, p. 74). As will be seen in thecourse of this study, even voluntary forms of role-playing produce different degrees ofaudience dissociation.

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the manifestation of both positive and negative forms of role-playing. Thevarious roles which they play, however, are not affected by the tensionbetween human and divine love which characterises the performance of Ginésin Acts II and III. Prior to the appearance of Carino who is acting as deputyin Rome and who sees and refers to himself as an emperador, the audience isintroduced to him principally through Maximiano’s comments. Maximianotells the other soldiers:

Dicen que vive en Roma deshonesto,forzando las mujeres más honradas,sin que se escapen Senadores desto,ni las monjas a Vesta reservadas:que a mil nobles ha muerto y descompuesto,sin respetar las canas veneradasde hombres que han sido cónsules, jueces,Pretores, y triunfando muchas veces.

(I, fol. 262r)

The spectators therefore expect an indecent, dishonourable character dressedin the attire of an emperor.13 What they witness, however, is the presentationof Carino disguised ‘en hábito de noche’ (I, 264v) with those same negativetraits.14 Despite the fact that Carino explains to Ginés that he has adopted thepart of un noble – ‘un noble no más, un hombre / pretendo representar,’ (I, fol.265v), his discussion with Celio, his criado, and Rosarda, his amanteconcerning the pleasure he derives from dishonouring women emphasises theartificiality of this assumed title. Carino boasts:

Mucho me deleito y gustode quitar, Celio, el honora una mujer casta y noble,y virtuosa, y al doblesi es mujer de Senador.

(I, 266r)

It is ironic that Carino dresses as a lesser-ranking citizen in order to enjoy theworld of prostitution and corruption since his actions as seducer are identified

13 McGaha defines Carino and Diocleciano as the tyrant and good king respectively. Healso compares Carino to Philip III. See Lo fingido verdadero / Acting is Believing, pp. 31–34.

14 At the beginning of El castigo sin venganza, an acting scene is overheard by the Dukeof Ferrara, who, like Carino, is ‘de noche’. See El perro del hortelano, El castigo, ed. A. DavidKossoff, p. 231. On the use of disguise in Spanish drama, Richard F. Glenn states: ‘Of themany commonplaces in the Spanish theatre, one that had extensive success during thesixteenth and seventeenth centuries is the use of disguise and masquerade.’ See ‘Disguisesand Masquerades in Tirso’s El vergonzoso en palacio’, BCom, 17 (1965), 16–22 (p. 16).

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by several characters as evidence of his defective role as emperor’s son anddeputy.15 Characterised by soberbia like his father, Aurelio, who threatened toraise an army against Jupiter (I, fol. 263v), Carino not only plays the role ofemperor badly, but also the secondary role which he imposes on himself.16 Inthe belief that all emperors are ‘casi iguales / a los Dioses celestiales,’ anduntouchable by human law (I, fol. 265r), he exploits his privileged position inorder to create his own perverted version of the noble.17 Not only is he a seducerbut an indiscreto who discusses his deeds in public. Lelio, whose wife has beendishonoured by Carino, makes this point explicit by identifying himself as

Un Cónsul de tu Senado,cuya mujer has forzadomás en decirlo despuésque en hacer tan gran maldad.

(I, fol. 266r)

Consequently, Carino not only negates the image of the ruler as an ‘espejo delbien’, but also presents a distorted image of the nobleman.18 Although Carinovoluntarily engages in a form of role-playing within the role, the self-proclaimednoble is in fact analogous to the unruly son of Aurelio described by Maximianoat the beginning of the act. The proximity of his primary and secondary roleswould therefore have reduced the intensity of the metadramatic experience forLope’s audience.

In spite of this, the debate between Carino, Celio and Rosarda concerningthe relationship between theatre and life draws attention to the theatrum

Carino’s ‘hábito de noche’ is not only representative of his assumed role of nobleman, but,as McKendrick points out, it also fixes the action temporally: ‘Night scenes could besignalled at a stroke by a long cloak and hat’ (Theatre, p. 194; p. 195). While the relationshipbetween disguise and role-playing is not a major concern in the play, it is important to notethat Rosarda accompanies Carino on his nocturnal adventures ‘en hábito de hombre’.McKendrick describes the female dressed as a male as ‘one of the commonest and mostpopular stock types of the theatre’ (Theatre, pp. 194–95). Lope himself highlights thepopularity of the ‘mujer vestida de hombre’ in his Arte nuevo: ‘porque suele / el disfrazvaronil agradar mucho’ (282–83). While the ‘mujer vestida de hombre’ is not a commonfeature of Lope’s comedias de tema religioso, it is important in the dénouement of Los locospor el cielo. In Lo fingido verdadero, the importance of costume as a visual sign of statusis highlighted particularly through the emperor Diocleciano.

15 See, for example, Lelio’s speech in which he tells Carino: ‘perdiste la majestad /cuando tu honor ofendiste,’ (I, fol. 266r).

16 In ‘Ya tienes’, p. 61, Dixon states regarding Aurelio, Carino and Apro, ‘Cada unodesempeña mal el papel que le ha asignado el destino’.

17 For an analysis of Amán in La hermosa Ester and Apro in Lo fingido verdadero, whoare also exponents of soberbia, see, respectively, chapter 1 and pp. 102–105 of this chapter.

18 See chapter 1, p. 25 on Asuero’s contemplation of kings as ‘espejos del bien’ in Lahermosa Ester, and p. 25, n. 43 for details on Seneca’s treatise concerning the behaviourof the emperor Nero and a discussion of the comedia as espejo.

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mundi topos, a prevalent theme in seventeenth-century Spanish literature andart.19 The discussion is set in motion by Carino who asks Celio regarding severalactresses: ‘¿Y podrá un Emperador / ser galán de esas mujeres?’ (I, fol. 265r).By defining himself as a galán, Carino unintentionally draws a parallelbetween drama and reality which he subsequently rejects in a lengthy mono-logue in which he dissociates himself from the ‘emperador fingido’ (I, fol.265r). The theatrum mundi metaphor is explicitly addressed for the first timein the play by Celio who compares Carino to the actor-king:

[. . .] Les dura hora y mediasu comedia, y tu comediate dura toda la vida.Tú representas también,mas estás de Rey vestido,hasta la muerte, que ha sidosombra del fin.

(I, fol. 265r)

His views on the illusory nature of life are supported by Rosarda. She describesherself as ‘dama de esta comedia’ and rebukes Celio for his unsuccessful rep-resentation of the criado, thereby intensifying the relationship between vida/comedia and comedia/espejo presented by Lope in his Arte nuevo (I, fol.265r).20 In contrast, Carino rejects the very notion of the comedia as ‘imagen dela vida’ by instructing Ginés to organise the performance of a play based on afictitious version of his relationship with Rosarda.21 Carino would like himselfto be presented as ‘necio, y celoso’ and Rosarda as ‘discreta’ (I, fol. 265v). Onlywhen faced with death does Carino recognise that he is a player on the worldstage without any control of destino. His previous insistence on the permanenceof his role is completely undermined by the fact that he does not even die in thegarb of an emperor but with ‘la Majestad’ ‘embozada’.22 He emphasises the sig-nificance of costume as a visual sign of status as he relinquishes his robes to thenext actor-king:

sospecho que no durótoda mi vida hora y media.Poned aquestos vestidos

19 On the theatrum mundi metaphor, see chapter 3, p. 92. For Palomo, the theatrummundi topos is the ‘idea nuclear’ of the play (‘Proceso’, p. 87).

20 See chapter 1, p. 25, n. 43 for Lope’s assertions in the Arte nuevo on this theme.21 Just before the presentation of Ginés’ play in Act II, the first play within the play in Lo

fingido verdadero, Diocleciano announces that he is ready ‘para escuchar la imagen de la vida’(II, fol. 273r). Unlike Carino, Rosarda asks Ginés to present a play which is an ‘imagen de lavida’ in which she is ‘de mil celos llena’ and Carino is ‘amado, e ingrato’ (I, fol. 265v).

22 See Lelio’s speech, I, fol. 266v.

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De un representante Rey,pues es tan común la leya cuantos fueran nacidos,adonde mi sucesorlos vuelva luego a tomar,porque ha de representar.

(I, fol. 266v)

The theatrum mundi topos presents itself throughout the play and isexploited to its full potential in Act III with Ginés’ conversion to Christianity.Following Carino’s death, the depiction of the individual as a roleplayer isreinforced by Severio who, unlike the audience, is unaware of the emperor’sfate. In his description of Carino, he maintains ‘ni toma / un papel en la mano’(I, fol. 267r). The double meaning implicit in papel as both ‘paper’ and ‘role’expresses a lack of industry on Carino’s part in the role as deputy ruler, as wellas an inability to take on that very role. It is also possible that Severio’s refer-ence served as a reminder to the audience that the papel of emperor wouldhave to be assumed by another individual.

It is precisely Apro’s desire to play the role of ruler of the empire which causeshim to function as a type of intratextual dramatist as described by Larson.23

According to her: ‘Characters may become self-dramatizing or function as intra-textual dramatists or directors, writing new scripts or directing the actions ofother characters in a patently self-referential attitude.’24 Apro casts Numeriano,his son-in-law, in the role of enfermo when he is already dead, while he himselfposes as the concerned relation. Apro is, in fact, the murderer. This means thatthe audience is immediately presented with an illusion within the dramaticillusion of the main drama. Apro is transformed from caring minder to professedmurderer through his revelation of the secret killing to Felisardo. He openlyconfesses to him: ‘yo le he muerto, y le he traído / así cubierto y tapado’ (I, fol.267v). Apro’s complex double image may have generated various levels ofestrangement depending on, firstly, the audience’s susceptibility to his referencesto his son-in-law’s future role as emperor and, secondly, the audience’s aware-ness of the significance of his name.

Following the death of Aurelio, Apro expresses his wish for Numeriano tobecome emperor, a rejuvenated version of his father. He instructs the soldiersregarding the removal of Aurelio’s body:

Llevad el cuerpo luegoadonde se le dé el honor debido

23 It should be noted that Apro is intially referred to as ‘Apio’ in the text of the 1621edition, as well as in the list of characters presented at the beginning of the play. He is firstreferred to as Apro in I, fol. 267v.

24 See ‘Metatheater: Past, Present’, p. 213.

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para que de su fuegosalga, y de su valor recién nacidoel Fénix Numeriano.

(I, fol. 264r)

Subsequently, when he discusses Numeriano’s feigned illness with Severio, hedescribes him as: ‘el más gallardo / Príncipe que habrá visto aqueste Imperio’(I, fol. 267r). There is no indication on Apro’s part that he wishes to eliminatehis son-in-law from accession to the throne. Instead, he simply states thatNumeriano still has not recovered from his illness: ‘largos caminos, y la marrevuelta / convalecer apenas le han dejado,’ (I, fol. 267r). If Lope’s audiencehad paid attention to the lack of conflict between the two characters, as well asApro’s positive depiction of Numeriano’s qualities, then adverse or antag-onistic forms of behaviour on the part of either character would not have beenanticipated. Consequently, the mimetic reality established up to that pointwould have been destroyed with the discovery of Apro’s malicious deedthrough his conversation with Felisardo. The irony of Apro’s previous statementin his discussion with Severio, in which he maintains ‘felicidad de su gobiernoaguardo’ (I, fol. 267r), would also have become apparent.25 Both the audienceand Felisardo are thus confronted with the fact that Apro’s true identity liesbeneath the projected image which was presented intially.

The degree of unease experienced by the audience as a result of this suddenexposition of role-change may have been affected by an understanding of therelationship between Apro and ‘aper’, the Latin term for ‘wild boar’. In otherwords, the establishment of a link between this metaphorical jabalí and thatwhich Camila predicted would be killed by Diocleciano may have raisedsuspicions regarding Apro’s more barbaric nature. This being the case, Apro’sadmission of his unsavoury behaviour may not have produced the samedegree of shock or surprise found in an unsuspecting public. In addition,recognition of Apro’s association with the jabalí stresses the futility ofhis aspirations to become emperor. Of course, the unsuccessful nature of

25 Apro’s declaration is an example of what Catherine Larson describes as ‘linguisticmanifestations of dramatic irony’. See ‘Speech Act Theory and Linguistic Approaches toTeaching the Comedia’, in Approaches to Teaching Spanish Golden Age Drama, ed.Everett W. Hesse (York, South Carolina: Spanish Literature Publications Company, 1989),pp. 43–55 (pp. 47–48). In this article, in which she describes speech act theory in terms ofits ability to underscore the ways that speakers use language in order to act (p. 43), Larsondiscusses the function of multi-levelled discourse and linguistic subversion in relation toaudience reception: ‘Linguistic game-playing, double entendres, parodic language, andother examples of word play show how language can turn in on itself to create specificeffects for the audience’ (p. 48). On speech act theory, see also Inés Azar, ‘Self,Responsibility, Discourse: An Introduction to Speech Act Theory’, and Albert Prince,‘Dramatic Speech Acts: A Reconsideration’, in Things Done With Words: Speech Actsin Hispanic Drama, ed. Elias L. Rivers (Newark, Delaware: Juan de la Cuesta, 1986),pp. 1–13 and pp. 147–58 respectively.

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Apro’s quest is anticipated generally since Camila’s prediction has identifiedDiocleciano as the future emperor. Nevertheless, the case of Apro proves thatthe potential for variation in the degree of estrangement of individualspectators is considerable, depending on their appreciation of details relatingto a particular character.

Apro is motivated to assume the roles of both murderer and carer as a resultof his lust for power, or, in his own words, ‘el deseo de reinar’ (I, fol. 267v).He is acutely arrogant, unremorseful and confident that ‘con tan grandepoder, / opinión y sangre mía, / ninguno se ha de elegir / adonde estuviere yo’(I, fol. 267v). Devoid of any sense of shame, he eliminates Rome’s promisingruler, in spite of his reputation. Although Severio reveals that ‘la gente / aNumeriano espera alegremente’ (I, fol. 267r), Apro endeavours to reshape thefate of both his son-in-law and himself. The self-acknowledged murdererreverts to his position as concerned relation in the company of the soldiers,who are unaware of his crime, in order to ensure his acceptability as Rome’snewly-crowned emperor. He informs the soldiers: ‘Dios sabe con el cuidado /que por su vida miré’ (I, fol. 267v), before highlighting his personalredeeming characteristics:

[. . .] Siempre he sido yopadre de cualquier soldado.¿Qué hacienda no he repartido?¿Qué pobre no remedié?¿A quién jamás agravié?Ni fui desagradecido.A cualquiera doy licenciaque diga en qué le ofendí.

(I, fol. 268r)

The audience now witnesses, as it had done earlier, the presentation of afictitious pose as an authentic display of emotion. This shift between lofingido and lo verdadero is emphasised further by Felisardo. Having promisedhimself as Apro’s confidant, informing him ‘bien puedes fiar de mí /cualquiera dificultad’ (I, fol. 267v), he becomes the traitor who communicatesthe wicked crime to the soldiers, and consequently ensures Apro’s downfall.26

Apro is the ‘burlador burlado’; the deceiver is ultimately deceived.27

Apro’s engagement in role-playing within the role not only underlinesthe intangible nature of reality, but also makes a vital contribution to plotdevelopment in two significant ways. In the first instance, the murder ofNumeriano eliminates Carino’s natural successor and thereby clears theway for Diocleciano’s ascent to the throne. Secondly, by performing as an

26 See Felisardo’s speech, I, fol. 268v.27 See Fischer, ‘Dramatization of the Theatrical’, p. 161.

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assassin, Apro provides Diocleciano with a plausible excuse for murderinghim, the jabalí of Camila’s prophecy, and thus converts her prediction into areality. Felisardo’s transition from confidant to traitor, on the other hand, isnot critical to the plot, since the soldiers have already decided that Apro is themurderer. Prior to Felisardo’s declamation against Apro, the audience isexposed to attacks on Apro’s reputation by Maximiano and Curio, followingMarcelo’s assertion that illness has not caused Numeriano’s death:28

Maximiano Eso es cosamuy cierta, y que Apro le ha muerto.

Curio En lo que nos dijo ahora,se conoce bien que es Apro,y que le ha dado ponzoña.

(I, fol. 268r)

In spite of this, Felisardo’s statement is proof of the villainous conduct ofNumeriano’s father-in-law, for which he deserves to be punished.

Unlike Apro and Carino who, as intratextual dramatists, create individualpositions which lead to the degradation of other individuals, Diocleciano’schange of role within the play is more problematic. His substitution of the roleof soldier for that of emperor is preceded by two playful suggestions throughwhich he makes reference to his future status. As the ‘hijo de un esclavo’, heinforms the other soldiers that he could become emperor one day: ‘ya serpodría / que fuese Emperador’ (I, fol. 262r). Subsequently, he informs Camila,as he had done on previous occasions, that he will repay her for the bread‘cuando sea Emperador / de Roma’ (I, fol. 262v). Despite his aspirations, it isCamila who provides the method by which Diocleciano will become emperor,jesting twice that his transformation will occur following the slaughter of awild boar, or jabalí. In the first instance, Camila maintains: ‘toma, que cuandomatares / un jabalí, tú serás / Emperador’. On the second occasion, she simplyreinforces what she has already said: ‘tú serás César romano / en matando unjabalí’ (I, fol. 262v). This type of ‘performative language’, as described byLarson, exemplifies how dialogue and action interact in order to produce whatshe categorises as a ‘representable text’.29 Camila promotes the assumption ofboth the role of murderer and emperor, the former being crucial to the fulfil-ment of the latter. As a result of her light-hearted prediction, the question is

28 Marcelo is not included in the list of characters at the beginning of the play. He seemsto have replaced Marcio, whose name does feature in the character list and who accompaniesthe other soldiers at the beginning of Act I. Marcelo’s name first appears in I, fol. 263v, whenhe is presented with Diocleciano, Curio and Maximiano following the death of Aurelio.

29 See ‘Speech Act Theory’, p. 49; p. 43. In relation to Camila’s prophecy, McGahaclaims: ‘One of Lope’s favourite dramatic devices was to begin a play with a foreshadowingof later developments’. See Lo fingido verdadero / Acting is Believing, p. 28.

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raised as to whether Diocleciano engages voluntarily or not in role-playingwithin the role. In his discussion of involuntary role-playing, Hornby states:‘Involuntary role playing within the role may be caused by factors outside thecharacter, or caused by some inner weakness, or, quite commonly, caused bysome combination of outer and inner factors.’30 While the means of becomingemperor are not detected by Diocleciano himself but presented to him, hewillingly and consciously assumes the role for which he yearned. Accordingto Fischer: ‘He takes the prophecy as a cue for his future stage appearance.’31

However, the degree of dissociation experienced by the audience is reducedsince Diocleciano’s role-change constitutes a fundamental part of the plot ofthe play. In other words, his conversion to the status of emperor is imperativesince he will be responsible for instructing the martyrdom of Ginés. For thosewho were not aware of the historical background of the drama, Diocleciano’schange of role would have been anticipated as a result of Camila’s repeatedprophecy.32 The conversion, then, of soldier to emperor would have beenexpected generally.

Essentially, then, it is Camila who is the primary intratextual dramatistresponsible for the rewriting of the script of Diocleciano’s life. However, thesoldier himself also resorts to the creation of his own fiction before acting asApro’s assassin. He informs Apro:

[. . .] La imagen espantosade Numeriano, tu yerno,convertida en negra sombraanoche me apareció,y me dijo con voz roncaque de su sangre inocentediese esta venganza a Roma.

(I, fol. 268v)

By doing so, Diocleciano justifies his role as murderer to Apro, to the othersoldiers and, most importantly, to himself. While he is not driven by a desireto become the tyrannical, authoritarian ruler, it cannot be denied that heengages in an element of deceit, like Apro, in an attempt to validate his course

30 Drama, Metadrama, p. 74.31 ‘Dramatization of the Theatrical’, p. 159.32 Palomo describes Diocleciano’s first claim presented to the soldiers regarding his

future role as emperor as ‘un primer dato de la complicidad entre emisor y receptor: elpúblico sabe que no es locura sino premonición’ (‘Proceso’, p. 83). While I suspect that asignificant proportion of the audience might well have known that Diocletian was emperorduring the martyrdom of Genesius as a result of the availability of texts on the life of theemperor, such as Mexía’s Historia imperial, it is possible that several spectators wereunaware of the precise historical details. This being the case, not every individual wouldhave interpreted Diocleciano’s assertion as a statement of fact.

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of action. Nonetheless, it appears that Diocleciano is more concerned with themanifestation of his inherent generous nature and the rewarding of deservingindividuals. Following Camila’s prediction, he invites the soldiers to share hisbread, claiming:

que a verme yo por misterioen el imperio algún día,también repartir sabríacomo este pan el imperio.Toma y come, Maximiano,que has de ser mi coadjutor.Tú, amiga, por tanto amor,si llego a César romano,verás lo que eres por mí.

(I, fol. 262v)

Unlike Apro’s, Diocleciano’s aspirations to the throne do not involve theinfliction of suffering on the innocent. In addition, there is no indicationthat the role will be manipulated, as it was by Carino, in order to humiliatethose of a lesser rank for personal pleasure. Diocleciano, endowed withhumildad, not only acknowledges the risks involved in killing Apro byreminding himself ‘mira que nadie te abona, / que soy hijo de un esclavo(I, fol. 268v), but also offers himself up for punishment following hisjustification of his deed (I, fols 268v–269r). In effect, it is the soldierswho confer the title of emperor upon Diocleciano. Despite the fact thatDiocleciano has been motivated by Camila’s prediction, he neverthelesshas doubted his acceptability as ruler of the empire. His newly-acquiredstatus, therefore, is not one which he has taken by force, but one which hehas earned.

On the basis of this evidence, it could be argued that Diocleciano’s changeof role within the play is one which has a positive impact on himself and thosearound him. Indeed, once he assumes his position as emperor, in keeping withhis promise, he transforms Maximiano from soldier to César, and makesCamila both a privileged subject with unlimited access to his quarters and hislover.33 Such changes would have been expected, of course, by those whoregarded Diocleciano as a man of his word.34 Humildad is rewarded throughthe character of Maximiano as Diocleciano ignores his plea for his status to

33 It should be noted that, while we have been concerned in this section with role-playing within the role and the conversions of roles in Act I of the play, the change of rolesconferred upon Maximiano and Camila by Diocleciano occur at the beginning of Act II.

34 In her discussion of ‘performative language’, Catherine Larson highlights thesignificance of the promise: ‘In addition to the promise, curses, blessings, and warningsoffer a focus of attention that can lead to an examination of the world-changing power ofwords.’ See ‘Speech Act Theory’, p. 49.

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be lowered to that of criado and elevates him to the rank of César instead.35

The placing of the ‘hojas consagradas’(II, fol. 270r) upon Maximiano’s headis an outward symbol of his changed position. The laurel constitutes a visualrepresentation of identity and role, which is of extreme importance toDiocleciano who relinquishes wealth in exchange for the emperor’s attire.36

He informs the soldiers:

Pues esa tienda todade Numeriano y su suegro,dineros, armas y joyas,repartid entre vosotros,que a mí me basta esta ropay esta espada que os defienda.

(I, fol. 269r)

However, it is highly probable that the corral audience would not haveseen Diocleciano in such a positive light since he is the pagan who isultimately responsible for imposing a death sentence upon Ginés, theChristian. In spite of the fact that the emperor would have been expected toreact in such a manner to a convert’s open confession, the degradation of theChristian at the hands of the pagan would surely have provoked a negativereaction from Lope’s audience. In comparison with Carino and Apro,Diocleciano appears to play his role well, earning himself the titles of‘invicto señor’ and ‘César ínclito’ and being defined in terms of his ‘sacraMajestad’ and ‘raro divino entendimiento’.37 Nevertheless, the fact that hecan be viewed in a negative light emphasises the difficulties which arisewhen categorising behaviour/role.

In spite of the necessity of Diocleciano’s assumption of the role of emperorfor the purposes of plot development, his change in status may serve as acritique for some members of the corral audience of a restrictive hierarchicalstructure such as that which characterised seventeenth-century Spanish

35 Maximiano implores Diocleciano: ‘suplícote que me tengas / por tu criado en tu casa /que ya de lo justo pasa, / que a igualarme a tu ser vengas’ (II, fol. 269v).

36 It should be noted that contemporary costumes were used in the corrales, with the resultthat Diocleciano was more than likely presented in the garb of a contemporary king. On theuse of costume in the comedia, McKendrick comments: ‘As in the Shakespearean theatre,contemporary dress was normally worn whatever the period depicted, with vaguelydistinguishing costumes or accessories for kings and queens, Moors, Turks, angels, devils andso on. [. . .] However, ethnic and historical accuracy apart, a limited range of costumes andaccessories was normally perfectly adequate for the drama’s requirements’ (Theatre, p. 195).Lope presents his reservations about the use of costume in his Arte nuevo: ‘Los trages nosdixera Iulio Pollux, / Si fuera necessario, que en España / Es de las cosas bárbaras que tiene /La Comedia presente recebidas: / Sacar un Turco un cuello de Christiano, / Y calças atacadasun Romano’ (356–61).

37 See Maximiano’s and Ginés’ speeches, II, fol. 269v and fol. 270v respectively.

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society.38 A slave of lowly birth, he himself is dubious about his approval bythe other soldiers. Furthermore, he is exposed to the pessimistic remarks ofCurio, the ‘anti-playwright’, who presents his position as soldier as a fixed,stable one, and negates the possibility of change. Curio advises him: ‘nuncaen agüeros confíes. [. . .] Come, y deja de pensar / en lo que no ha de llegar’(I, fol. 262v). However, Diocleciano’s successful realisation of his dream tobecome emperor, as well as Felisardo’s rejection of the importance of ‘sangre’and ‘opinión’, promote the individual’s ability to transcend socially-imposedlimitations.39 The relationship between changeability/unpredictability and‘fortuna’ is one which presents itself throughout the play. Camila, for example,who has herself experienced a change of fortune as a result of Diocleciano’spromotion, comments on this issue prior to the presentation of Ginés’ secondplay within the play in Act III:

Ved lo que puede la fortuna varia,que a unos levanta y a otros aniquila;¿en qué piensa parar esta voltaria,que ya vuela en maroma, y ya en esferadel viento?

(III, fol. 280v)

It is through Diocleciano and, as we shall see, Ginés, that the potential forprofound change is best exemplified in the play.

It is evident, then, that varying degrees of audience dislocation are gener-ated primarily as a result of the spectators’ sensitivity to, and interpretation of,the material presented within the dramatic framework. Moreover, the variousforms of role-playing undertaken by the three characters presented above areall crucial to plot development. With the elimination of both Carino and Aprofrom succession to the throne as a consequence of their vile actions as seducerand murderer respectively, the path is cleared for Diocleciano’s essentialprogression towards control of the empire.

In spite of the problems posed when differentiating between positive andnegative forms of role-playing, especially in the case of Diocleciano, it is clearthat soberbia is ultimately punished, while humildad is rewarded. The failureof both Carino and Apro to assume the principal position of authority is proofof the individual’s powerlessness to control or reshape destino. On the otherhand, Diocleciano’s success in the same quest testifies to the capriciousnature of existence, or the illusory nature of life, which has been emphasised

38 Of course, those spectators who knew that Lope was following the account given inPero Mexía’s Historia imperial would not have interpreted Diocleciano’s assumption ofhis new role in the same manner.

39 Felisardo informs Apro: ‘que el romano Senado, / cualquiera César que toma / el ejércitoy legiones / aprueba sin distinción / de sangre, ni de opinión’ (I, fol. 267v).

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throughout Act I. The fate of the three characters highlights that life is indeeda perplexing, deceptive dream or play.

The degree of audience estrangement reaches its height in Acts II and IIIwith the presentation of Ginés’ inset plays. Hence, the play within the play, aswe shall see subsequently, offers the audience the prime opportunity to reflecton the concerns of the playwright.

The Play within the play

For a play within the play of either the inset or framed type to be fullymetadramatic requires that the outer play have characters and plot [. . .]; thatthese in turn must acknowledge the existence of the inner play; and that theyacknowledge it as a performance. In other words, there must be two sharplydistinguishable layers of performance. (Drama, Metadrama, p. 35)

In Lo fingido verdadero, the inset plays presented by Ginés to an inneraudience comprising Diocleciano and his favourites are not only highlymetatheatrical but extremely complex performances.40 Not only do theyimpact on the action of the main play itself, but also frustrate the expectationsof both the outer and inner audiences.41 Moreover, the actors themselves,including Ginés, creator and main protagonist, are often perplexed by plot

40 For a definition of the inset play and the framed play, see chapter 3, p. 94, n. 24.It should be noted that Fischer defines the play in terms of three inner dramas, ‘with orwithout the element of artistic formality but always with the key ingredient ofimpersonation’ (‘Dramatization of the Theatrical’, p. 158). She describes the first as‘a political drama that deals with Diocleciano’s ascent to the Roman throne’ (p. 158). Forthe purposes of this study, I am concerned with the full metadramatic quality of the playwithin the play as defined by Hornby. Thus, Diocleciano’s rise to power cannot bequalified as an inset play given the absence of two explicit layers of performance in thefirst act. The play within the play is a device which features in several other religious playsby Lope. In Los locos por el cielo, for example, an auto on the birth of Christ is presentedin Act III to a church congregation of 20,000 Christians in order to reinforce the tenets ofthe Christian faith. See Stoll, ‘Staging, Metadrama’ for an analysis of this inset play. Aswell as that, the crucifixion of Juanico, a Christian child, is presented in Act III of El niñoinocente de La Guardia by the Jews Hernando, Francisco, Benito, Pedro and Quintanar.The various characters associated with the crucifixion are enacted by the Jews. Finally, asection of the story of Esther, from Amán’s denunciation of the Jews to Esther’sappearance before the king, is enacted in Act II of La limpieza no manchada. On the playwithin the play, see also Nelson, Play Within a Play.

41 Palomo argues that the actors of Ginés’ company and the inner audience receive a‘mensaje equívoco’, while the outer audience experiences a ‘mensaje inequívoco’(‘Proceso’, p. 92). As will be highlighted in the course of this study, the concept of audiencereception is more complex than that. Dixon makes this point explicit: ‘en varios momentosde la acción el público externo queda engañado, o cuando menos auténticamente perplejo’(‘Lo fingido verdadero y sus espectadores’, p. 111).

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development.42 In fact, as will become evident, Ginés ultimately assumes arole to which he had never aspired, substituting his preoccupation with humanlove for devotion to the divine. It is his love for the actress Marcela, however,which inspires his first inset play.

The first play within the play is preceded by two canciones and a loa. The firstcanción celebrates the election of Diocleciano as emperor, while the secondhighlights the beauty of Lucinda, Lope’s poetic name for Micaela de Luján.43

The play begins with the harsh rejection of Rufino (played by Ginés) by Fabia(played by Marcela). The shunned lover questions his beloved: ‘¿tan resueltavives, Fabia, / de tratarme con rigor / y no agradecer mi amor?’ (II, fol. 274r).The illusion of the inset play is broken almost immediately as Ginés,overwhelmed by ‘loco amor’ (II, fol. 274r) for Marcela, addresses her as suchrather than by her character’s name. Subsequently, Rufino is granted Fabia’shand in marriage by her father, Señor Tebandro, who is impersonated byFabricio, father of Marcela in the main play. Once the engaged couple haveembraced, Rufino and Tebandro leave the stage in order to discuss the proposedmarriage with Rufino’s father. An onstage conflict ensues between Fabia and thejealous Octavio, performed by the character Octavio of the main play. Octaviorebukes Fabia for her treatment of him, her supposed lover, while Fabia usesobedience to her father as justification for her actions. Following Pinabelo’ssuggestion that the lovers should take flight and his revelation to the outeraudience of his plot to keep Fabia for himself, Marcela/Fabia expresses her wishfor the action of the comedia to become a reality. The lovers’ escape is madepublic by Celio, a criado, after Tebandro and Rufino disclose the successfuloutcome of their meeting with Rufino’s father. While Tebandro leaves to pursuethe couple, Rufino/Ginés engages in a lengthy monologue in which he expresseshis desire that the ship carrying the lovers will get out of control. His second,improvised speech in which he calls on Neptune to wreak destruction is followedby the confusing dénouement which leaves the actors within the inset play, theinner audience and the outer audience bewildered. Fabricio announces thatthe actors who were playing Fabia and Octavio have really fled, Ginés calls uponthe perplexed Diocleciano to act as restorer of justice, but Pinabelo declares thatOctavio has returned. Ultimately, Pinabelo’s statement marks the end of the insetplay for the inner audience, while his subsequent conversation with Ginés

42 Garasa incorrectly maintains that the actors in the first play within the play candistinguish between fiction and reality: ‘Pero los actores, al tanto del conflicto real entrebastidores, ven claramente los límites entre la vida y la ficción’ (Santos, p. 20).

43 On the presentation of the canción and the loa, Dixon states: ‘el público habrápensado en las representaciones de particulares en Palacio’ (‘Lo fingido verdadero y susespectadores’, p. 106). The song which celebrates Lucinda’s beauty exploits the languageand conventions of the Petrarchan sonnet. Lucinda’s mouth, for example, is described inthe following manner: ‘que su boca celestial / no sea el mismo coral, / bien puede ser, / masque no excedan la rosa / en ser roja, y olorosa, / no puede ser (II, fol. 273v).

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stresses to the outer audience that the fiction of Ginés’ play has in fact become areality within the main drama. In other words, Ginés’ play ends with thedeparture of Octavio and Marcela, rather than the return of Octavio and Fabia.

The intricate fusion of the action and characters of the main play and thoseof the inset play is of course responsible for the establishment of a complexform of audience reception. Nevertheless, both the inner and outer audiences’interpretation of the play within the play is also affected by their individualhorizons of expectation. The inner audience’s expectation is summed up byDiocleciano immediately preceding the first canción. He tells Camila that heis ready ‘para escuchar la imagen de la vida’ (II, fol. 273r).44 This assertionfollows a conversation with Ginés, who emphasised to the emperor the rela-tionship between acting and imitation and the advantages of having experi-enced the feelings associated with a particular role. Ginés explains:

El imitar es ser representante;pero como el poeta no es posibleque escriba con afecto y con blandurasentimientos de amor, si no le tiene,y entonces se descubren en sus versoscuando el amor le enseña los que escribe,así el representante, si no sientelas pasiones de amor, es imposibleque pueda, gran señor, representarlas;

(II, fol. 271v)

Therefore, while Diocleciano’s description of the play he is about to hearsuggests that he foresees it as a performance based on Ginés’ personal experi-ences as a lover, having requested a representation of an amante, there is noindication that he is aware of the galán’s true feelings for his leading lady,Marcela.

In contrast, the outer audience is not only introduced to Ginés, the jealouslover, prior to his performance before the emperor, but is also acquainted withMarcela’s love for Octavio and details relating to the inset play. The impactof jealousy upon Ginés is made explicit in a monologue in which the actorforms a decisive link between the individual and role-playing. Ginés identifieshis senses as ‘representantes’ which are each assigned a particular role. His‘oídos’, for example, play the part of the ‘sordo’ who refuses to listen to reason,while his ‘tristes ojos’ perform the role of the ‘ciego’ who recites his passion.His ‘olfato’, on the other hand, ‘imita una gente / que dicen mil escritores / que

44 Lope comments on the aural reception of the comedia in his Arte nuevo: ‘Si hablareel Rey, imite cuanto pueda / La grauedad real; si el viejo hablare / Procure vna modestiasentenciosa; / Descriua los amantes con afectos / Que mueuan co[n] estremo a quie[n]escucha. / Los soliloquios pinte de manera / Que se transforme todo el recitante, / Y conmudarse a sí mude al oyente’ (269–76).

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del olor de las flores / se sustenta solamente,’ (II, fols 271v–272r). Ginésemphasises the proximity of his fictional role within the inset play and hissentiments as the jealous lover in the main play by asking his senses to act forhim: ‘pues vístanse mis sentidos, / y representen por mí’ (II, fol. 272v). Despitethe fact that Pinabelo advises him, ‘entra a ponerte galán’ (II, fol. 272v), theouter audience is conscious of the fact that the use of costume is unnecessarysince he is, to a large extent, the part that he will play.

Apart from an insight into the character of Ginés, Lope’s audience is alsopresented with material concerning the relationship in the main dramabetween Ginés, Marcela and Octavio, and introduced to the theme of the insetplay. It is the conversation between Ginés and Pinabelo which serves as thesource of this information. Ginés stresses that his unrequited love for Marcelacauses him to suffer in the manner of the courtly lover. Following Pinabelo’senquiry concerning the pampering of the beloved, Ginés retorts:

¿Regalo a quien me desvela,y nunca me tuvo amor?No me nombres, Pinabelo,esa mujer.

(II, fol. 272r)45

Ginés also makes direct reference to the bond between Marcela and Octavioand the impact that his dismissing the latter would have on the former. Heexplains: ‘hará en ausencia de Octavio / algún sentimiento injusto’ (II, fol.272r). In addition, the corral audience is informed that the theme of jealousywill present itself in the inset play. Specifically, according to Ginés, the playwill not be a ‘celosa comedia’, but, given its subject matter, a ‘tragedia’. Inthe guise of Rufino, Ginés will have the opportunity to embraceMarcela/Fabia on several occasions, since he admits that he has exploited hisdual role as dramatist/protagonist: ‘compúsela con cautela, / por darle tantosabrazos, / cuantas prisiones y lazos / pone al alma que desvela.’ Finally, theinset play will be manipulated ‘por tratar mal / a Octavio’ (II, fol. 272v).

In essence, the outer audience anticipates an enactment of the relationshipbetween Ginés, Marcela and Octavio, albeit with modifications. While theillusion of the main play constitutes the basis of the inset play, it is evidentthat this will be reworked somewhat to Ginés’ advantage. Moreover, as aresult of the complicity between the outer audience and the playwrights (bothGinés, now as ‘writer’, and Lope as original author), some degree of thematic

45 On insomnia as one of the effects of love in courtly love poetry, see chapter 1, p. 26,n. 45. Félix and Clara in La buena guarda also suffer from insomnia as a result of theirlove for one another. Additionally, they suffer from loss of appetite, another common traitof the courtly lover. Félix explains ‘Ya no como ni duermo’, while Clara tells her lover ‘Nohe comido ni dormido’. See I. 689 and I. 946 respectively.

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conflict will be expected. The inner audience, on the other hand, simply looksforward to a performance in which love will be the prominent theme.

As a result of the intermingling of the main play with the first inset play, thedeliberate destruction of mimetic reality takes place and generates varyinglevels of identification and non-identification between the outer and inner audi-ences. The first instance of the interplay between lo fingido and lo verdaderooccurs in the introductory scene in which Fabia rejects Rufino’s love for her.Ginés/Rufino addresses his dama in the following manner:

Bien sé, Marcela, que naceel hacerme aqueste agraviode que quieres bien a Octavio;Octavio te satisface,Octavio te agrada, ingrata;por él me dejas a mí.

(II, fol. 274r)

Having been introduced previously to Ginés’ feelings for Marcela, the outeraudience would recognise the invasion of reality upon the fiction of Ginés’ play.On the other hand, since there is no indication of the inner audience’s familiar-ity with the relationship between the two, we would expect its experience of theinner play to be somewhat different. This is indeed the case, as illustrated by thecomments of Maximiano, Léntulo and Diocleciano. While Maximiano believesthat the characters have become confused, Léntulo attributes this to the presenceof the emperor.46 Diocleciano himself interprets the confusion of the lover as adeliberate dramatic technique employed by Ginés:

Mas pienso que es artificiodeste gran representante,porque turbarse un amantefue siempre el mayor indicio.

(II, fol. 274r)47

However, it should be noted that Ginés stresses the fact that he is speaking ashimself, rather than Rufino, following Marcela’s/Fabia’s enquiry regardinghis use of her real name:

Marcela ¿Cómo me llamas Marcela,si soy Fabia?

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46 Maximiano states: ‘sospecho que se han turbado, / que hablando a solas están.’Léntulo subsequently addresses Diocleciano: ‘con mirarte olvidarán, / señor, lo másestudiado’ (II, fol. 274r).

47 Confusion, of course, was the cornerstone of the secular love poetry of the Cancionerogeneral (1511) anthology.

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Ginés Por hablartede veras, por obligartea que tu desdén se duelade aqueste mi loco amor.

(II, fol. 274r)

The inner audience’s failure to even suspect Ginés’ love for Marcela increasesthe estrangement of members of the outer audience who, rather than see itsown role reflected in the onstage audience, sees it negated. For the corralaudience, the Ginés/Rufino interchange within the inset play serves toreinforce the illusory nature of life which is central to seventeenth-centurySpain’s theocentric view of the world. Hornby specifically refers to the asso-ciation between such a world view and the use of the play within the play:

Whenever the play within the play is used, it is both reflective and expres-sive of its society’s deep cynicism about life. When the prevalent view isthat the world is in some way illusory or false, then the play within the playbecomes a metaphor for life itself. The fact that the inner play is an obvi-ous illusion (since we see other characters watching it), reminds us that theplay we are watching is also an illusion, despite its vividness and excite-ment; by extension, the world in which we live, which also seems to be sovivid, is in the end a sham. (Drama, Metadrama, p. 45)

The transformation of the fate of both Octavio and Marcela within the maindrama as the action of Ginés’ play becomes a reality is indeed proof of thedeceptive and unpredictable nature of existence. In fact, it is the flight ofOctavio and Marcela that is chiefly responsible for the disruption of harmonyof both the inset and main plays in Act II. Marcela’s/Fabia’s declaration, inwhich she links the comedia to reality, follows Pinabelo’s exposition of theplot and prompts Octavio’s reference to her by her real name. Pinabelo’s allu-sion to the flight of the lovers proves so attractive to Marcela/Fabia that sheremarks: ‘¡Ay, cielo, si verdad fuera / la comedia!’ (II, fol. 275v). Moreover,she reiterates her desire to escape as Marcela with her beloved by informingOctavio ‘tan perdida estoy, / que quisiera que a Ginés / le hiciéramos este tiro’(II, fol. 275v). While the lovers’ conversion of fiction into reality will only berevealed explicitly to the outer audience and to Ginés himself byFabricio/Tebandro as the inset play draws to a close, Marcela hints at thecourse of action which will be taken. In response to Octavio’s expression ofadmiration for her loyalty to him, Marcela replies: ‘mayor la verás después’(II, fol. 275v). Hence, as a consequence of Marcela’s allusion to the lengthsto which she is prepared to go for her lover, it is possible that the outer audi-ence might anticipate the ensuing dénouement.

Undoubtedly, then, outer audience estrangement is dependent upon how itreceives the coded message of the inset play. However, the degree of dissoci-ation experienced by the outer audience is also affected by their subjection to


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the various interpretations of the scene by the inner audience. Diocleciano’sadmission that he suspects that a relationship exists between Octavio andMarcela is counterbalanced by Léntulo’s lack of awareness of the situation.48

In fact, Léntulo’s summary of the plot development he anticipates confirmshis indifference to the previous name changes and dialogue:

Ahora quiere el criadoser traidor a su señor,que Octavio al padre traidorviene a quedar engañado.De suerte que aquel Rufinoy este Octavio han de quedarsin Fabia, y la ha de gozarsu esclavo.

(II, fol. 275v)

Essentially, then, it is the complexity of reality and its relationship with falsi-fication and misconception that is brought to the outer audience’s attention.Furthermore, the association of human love with random, irrational forms ofbehaviour is also underscored, regardless of whether the departure of Marcelaand Octavio or Fabia and Octavio is envisaged.49 For the remainder of theinset play, the delusion and confusion of both the outer and inner audienceshighlights the intangible nature of reality.

The first individual to allude to the lovers’ actions is Celio, the criado. Herelates to Fabricio/Tebandro and Ginés/Rufino that Fabia and Octavio haveescaped by boat.50 Consequently, by referring to the characters by the namesattributed to them in the inset play, Celio presents their flight as fictional, thatis, as part of the action of the play within the play, even if it may have beeninterpreted by the outer audience as ‘real’.51 Moreover, the delay of the loversto reappear on stage may have increased the outer audience’s expectation oftheir flight within the main play. Ginés stresses that their return constitutes thenext scene of his play by instructing Celio ‘di que salgan’ (II, fol. 276v).Nevertheless, their failure to present themselves does not raise Ginés’ suspi-cions. Instead, he believes that ‘sin duda se están vistiendo’ and repeats theircue to enter (II, fol. 276v). It is only through Fabricio’s direct reference to the

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48 Diocleciano states: ‘sospecho que representan / éstos su misma verdad’ (II, fol. 275v).49 On the association of human love with madness and irrationality, see chapter 2,

p. 80, n. 100.50 See his speech, II, fol. 276r.51 The choice of Celio as criado and bearer of news also contributes to the complex

interplay between fiction and reality, if he is the same Celio who was servant to thephilandering Carino. This being the case, Celio is the part he plays. The outer audience’sability to identify him as such increases the probability that his announcement will beviewed in the context of its impact on the main play.

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disappearance of his daughter, made all the more poignant with the removalof the false beard of Tebandro, that Ginés and the outer audience are clearlyinformed of the reality of the situation for the first time. Fabricio laments:

Castigo, invicto señor,que el mismo paso que hacíaFabia, o Marcela, hija mía,a quien amaba el autor,han hecho tan verdaderoque han salido del palacio,y en este pequeño espacioque aun era el paso primero,no parecen, ni hay un hombreque diga por dónde van.

(II, fol. 277r)

Yet the sensibilities of both character and audience are frustrated once againas Pinabelo announces the return of Octavio, the lover who bears the samename in both the main play and inset drama. This deliberate creation ofambiguity on Lope’s part is only clarified for Ginés and the outer audiencefollowing the close of the inset play. At this point, Pinabelo advises Ginés:‘recoge / al pensamiento la vela’, ‘[. . .] Ella y Octavio / se van, Ginés, aembarcar’ (II, fol. 277r).

As the outer audience attempts to establish an understanding of thesequence of events presented on stage, it is exposed to the confusion andduping of the inner audience. Indeed, it witnesses the destruction of mimeticreality for Diocleciano in particular following Fabricio’s explicit reference tothe departure of Marcela and Octavio. Ginés’ plea to Diocleciano to act asrestorer of justice perplexes the emperor, in spite of his allusion to Octavio’strue love for Marcela. In response to Ginés’ claim ‘muy cierto es / que Octavioamaba a Marcela’, Diocleciano questions the actor/playwright ‘¿hablas deveras o no?’ (II, fol. 277r). His inability to ascertain the course of actionrequired illustrates to the outer audience the difficulties encountered inattempting to detect the necessary or appropriate form of behaviour in reality.The final deception of the inner audience, for whom the return of Octavio con-stitutes the ending of the inset play and who is not fully aware of the linkbetween the performance and the reality of the main play at this stage, exem-plifies, and is symbolic of, the powerlessness of the individual to comprehendthe true nature of existence.52


52 By Act III, Diocleciano is conscious of the fact that Marcela and Octavio haveconverted fiction into reality and asks Ginés to describe the outcome of their actions – ‘¡OhGinés! / No te hemos visto después / de aquella riguridad / que usó Marcela contigo. /¿Qué se hicieron?’ (III, fol. 278v). While Diocleciano, at the end of the first play within theplay, asks Ginés to return the following day to perform the part of a Christian (II, fol. 277r),

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Ultimately, the outer audience ‘sees double’, not only as a result of thepresentation of the inset play within the main play, but also through theduplicity within the inset play itself. As we shall see, this multiple layeringeffect, which constitutes the most complex form of metadrama, is also aprimary feature of Ginés’ second play within the play. In essence, the firstinset play reinforces the illusory nature of life by approximating lo fingidoand lo verdadero. Moreover, it underlines the inability to detect authenticity,a theme which recurs throughout Lo fingido verdadero. Beyond the confinesof the inset play, Octavio, for example, still cannot distinguish betweenfiction and reality when he discovers his newly-wed in the company ofGinés. He informs his wife: ‘que aun las burlas, no las veras / que representacontigo / me parecen verdaderas’ (III, fol. 279v). In addition, the inset playstresses the impossibility of control, even within fiction, and the futility ofthe individual’s attempts to steer events of life in a certain direction – thepresumption of assuming the position of God. In the case of Ginés, his effortsto create a situation in his drama which is inconceivable within the reality ofthe principal play are thwarted.53 Specifically, his anticipated performance asthe abandoned betrothed who finally confronts his beloved and her lover isprevented by Marcela’s and Octavio’s manipulation of fiction for their ownends.54 While the course of action taken by these characters is evidence ofthe sacrifice which the individual is willing to make for the sake of love,human love is fundamentally associated with negative forms of behaviourand sentiments within Ginés’ play. Not only is it responsible for the suffer-ing of Ginés/Rufino, who is only briefly relieved of his pain with the prom-ise of his marriage to Marcela/Fabia, but it also causes conflict between thetrue lovers of the inset play. Octavio hurls bitter accusations at Fabia,describing her as ‘ingrata’, following his discovery that she has beenembraced by Rufino (II, fol. 275r). Moreover, Ginés/Rufino exemplifies therelationship between the unfulfilment of human love and aggression. As thepersonification of the abandoned lover, Ginés/Rufino engages in an impro-vised, hostile outburst through which he promotes the annihilation of thelovers by calling upon Neptune to act as a destructive force.55 Ultimately, theoverpowering and debilitating effects of human love are manifested through

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Ginés’ description of the events following the departure of the couple (Fabricio’s discoveryof the lovers, the marriage of Marcela and Octavio and Ginés’ forgiveness of them)suggests a longer time span.

53 Ginés himself emphasises the impossibility of a future relationship with Marcela. Inresponse to Pinabelo’s advice to ask Fabricio for Marcela’s hand in marriage, he replies:‘que los casamientos son / unión de las voluntades, / y en distintas calidades / es imposiblela unión’ (II, fol. 272v).

54 Marcela subsequently identifies Ginés as the culprit regarding her newly-foundreality. She tells him: ‘pero tú, que compusiste / la comedia en que me diste / a Fabia, quea Octavio amó, / el camino me enseñó; / luego la culpa tuviste’ (III, fol. 279r).

55 See his speech, II, fol. 276v.

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Marcela’s/Fabia’s willingness to risk honour and reputation for union withher beloved.56

In Ginés’ second inset play, his preoccupation with human love in the firstis replaced with a concern with the divine. As the following analysis of thisplay will demonstrate, the fiction of the inset play once again imposes on thereality of the main drama, resulting in Ginés’ conversion to Christianity by theend of Act III.

As in the first play within the play, the second is introduced by a canciónwhich alludes to the birth and crucifixion of Christ and the martyrdom ofChristians, together with a loa recited by Marcela. The canción, which estab-lishes a relationship between Christianity, suffering and martyrdom, preparesthe audience subconsciously for the dénouement of the second inset play: theconversion and martyrdom of Ginés. The drama itself opens with thepresentation of Ginés/León, the professed Christian, in the company of threesoldados and a capitán. Following an invitation by an angel to receive thesacrament of baptism and the soldiers’ and captain’s comments on deviationfrom the script, Ginés/León disappears behind a curtain and reappearssurrounded by angels having apparently been baptised. The remainder of theinset play is marked by a series of improvised speeches by Ginés/León inwhich he confesses his devotion to God, describes his conversion in theatricalterms and requests martyrdom. In addition, the drama becomes increasinglycomplex as a concerned soldier and captain call upon the prompter to assistthe main protagonist and a confused Fabio is reminded by both the inneraudience and by the captain that he has already played his part. Finally, theplay ends with Ginés’ explicit reference to his conversion to Christianity andDiocleciano’s subsequent bewilderment regarding the truthfulness of Ginés’statement.

Before the performance of the inset drama commences, the interplaybetween illusion and reality is highlighted as a result of Ginés’ inability todetermine the source of the voz which addresses him during rehearsals. Thevoz advises Ginés on the portrayal of the baptised Christian: ‘no le imitarásen vano, / Ginés, que te has de salvar’ (III, fol. 280r). In spite of the fact thatGinés debates whether the announcement is a heavenly authorised one, or,erroneously, a fictitious statement made by a member of his troupe, he finallyaccepts that ‘Fabio debió de ser / que en lo del ángel me habló’ (III, fol.280v).57 Indeed, the impact of the voz on Ginés, which, he admits ‘todomi oído me ha penetrado el sentido,’ (III, fol. 280r), is undermined by Fabio.


56 In La buena guarda, Clara also endangers her image as a reputable nun byabandoning her duties and fleeing with her lover. See chapter 5.

57 On the use of the voz to establish the first form of contact between the saint and thedivine, see Dassbach’s affirmation cited in chapter 2, p. 57. Ginés’ inability to accept theauthenticity of the voz echoes the reaction of Pedro, father of Isidro, to the prediction ofthe voz concerning his son’s future role in La niñez de San Isidro. See chapter 2, p. 58.

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The latter reduces Ginés’ supernatural experience with the divine to a con-frontation with human love through the association of the cielo, from whichthe voz has emanated, and the ángel, who has spoken to Ginés, with Marcela.He states:

Como Marcela es tu cielo,y el ángel había de hacer,pensando en ella receloque piensas que ha de poderglorificarte en el suelo,pues advierte que no sabeel ángel, y que me mandaque le estudie.

(III, fol. 280v)

Fabio’s unintentional degradation of Ginés’ heavenly encounter is made allthe more poignant for members of the corral audience, given their awarenessof the influence of the supernatural. The incorporation of a painting of theVirgin and Christ in his father’s arms into the play highlights the impact ofdivine intervention upon the action.58 Consequently, this complicity betweenplaywright and audience impresses upon the latter’s horizon of expectation,for whom Ginés’ eventual change of role is reinforced.

Naturally, the degree of audience estrangement achieved is also determinedby the outer audience’s familiarity with the hagiographical account of thesaint’s life. For certain members of the audience, there can be no surprises inthe dénouement. Those who are acquainted with the account of Ginés’ life areconfident from the outset that his conversion will take place at the end of theplay. However, the audience in general does not know at what exact momentGinés’ transformation will be enacted. Dixon stresses this point in his refer-ence to the audience’s inability to differentiate between Ginés’ lines: ‘Iniciadala representación, tampoco saben siempre cuáles son los versos improvisadospor Ginés.’59 The audience is forced to question what constitutes the illusionof the inset play, and what is evidence of Ginés’ true conversion. In otherwords, it experiences difficulty in distinguishing between Ginés, the feigned

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58 For Orozco Díaz’s analysis of the dramatic effectiveness of the presentation of theking or the Virgin by means of ‘la pintura’ or ‘la imagen’, see chapter 2, p. 76, n. 85.Dassbach emphasises the significance of divine intervention in Lo fingido verdadero bystating that Ginés’ conversion is not prompted by the role which he plays, but rather by theinfluence of supernatural forces: ‘Aunque críticos [. . .] afirman que la conversión deGinés es resultado del papel teatral que éste representa sobre un cristiano, pienso que estodebe considerarse como circunstancial ya que no se convierte, reflexiva o emocionalmente,instigado por su papel, sino a causa de las fuerzas sobrenaturales que operan sobre élmientras representa este papel’ (La comedia hagiográfica, p. 48, n. 8).

59 ‘Lo fingido verdadero y sus espectadores’, pp. 112–13.

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Christian, and Ginés, the new convert. In fact, Ginés’ final assertion whichprecedes his performance is ambiguous. Just prior to appearing before hisroyal audience, the actor exclaims:

¡Cristo mío, pues sois Dios,vos me llevaréis a vos,que yo desde ahora os sigo!

(III, fol. 280v)

This speech may have caused the corral audience to suspect that Ginés’transformation had already occurred, or may simply have been interpreted asa form of preparation or an extended rehearsal on the part of the actor for therole which he is about to assume. Dixon interprets the impact of this speech ina similar fashion. According to him, ‘no pueden saber si sólo está ensayandootra vez o si se ha convertido ya’.60 Consequently, the outer audience does notreceive what Palomo describes as a ‘mensaje inequívoco’, even while watchingthis play, the plot of which is known. The captain’s and soldier’s references toGinés’ abandonment of the script may have generated increasing suspicionregarding his assimilation of the role of the Christian. However, it is possiblethat the inner audience’s repeated comments on the proximity of Ginés’presentation of the feigned Christian to the true, self-confessed Christian mayhave engendered confusion among members of the corral audience.Maximiano, for example, comments:

Represéntale Ginés,que parece que lo es,y verdadero el suceso

(III, fol. 281r)

Undoubtedly, however, the most significant part of the second inset play interms of audience reception is the interpretation of the baptismal scene.

Essentially, this scene comprises two main parts, the first of which is intro-duced with the stage direction: ‘Un ángel en lo alto’ (III, fol. 281v). The angelprovides the actor with an invitation for baptism, addressing him as Ginés (hisreal name), rather than as León (his fictional name within the inset play). Theangel states: ‘sube, sube, llega a verme, / que te quiero bautizar’ (III, fol. 281v).61

Subsequently, Ginés/León, having withdrawn behind a curtain, emerges in the


60 ‘Lo fingido verdadero y sus espectadores’, p. 112.61 Ginés responds ‘Señor, aunque no sé hablar / Tú sabes bien entenderme, / pues este

lenguaje mudo / de mi pensamiento entiendes; / llévame donde pretendes’ (III, fol. 281v).His inability to speak to the angel mirrors the concerns of both Pedro in La niñez de SanIsidro and Isidro himself in La juventud de San Isidro regarding the inappropriateness oftheir speech when addressing God. See chapter 2 for further details.

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company of four angels. The stage directions read: ‘Descúbrase con músicahincado de rodillas; un ángel tenga una fuente, otro un aguamanil levantado,como que ya le echó el agua, y otro una vela blanca encendida, y otro un capillo’(III, fol. 281v). The inner audience’s interpretation of this scene is unquestion-able. Following the appearance of the first angel, Diocleciano declares:

Ginésfinge ahora que despuésque a Jesucristo adoró,que es el Dios de los cristianos,aquel ángel viene a verle,a enseñarle, y defenderle.

(III, fol. 281v)

Similarly, the staging of the baptism itself is interpreted as fictional, andevokes comments on Ginés’ persuasive acting skills. While Léntulo claims‘no hay diferencia / desto al verdadero caso’, Diocleciano is convinced that‘parece que lo es él mismo’ (III, fol. 282r).

However, in terms of its impact on the outer audience, the baptismal scenehas produced oppositional responses from two of the play’s main critics.Palomo argues that the outer audience knows that the baptism is not part of theplay, but rather that ‘pertenece, convencionalmente, al plano de la vida’.62

Dixon, on the other hand, claims: ‘Los espectadores externos, por tanto, nopueden haber sabido al presenciar el bautismo de Ginés por este actor y otros,que no fuera sólo, como suponían los demás, un paso no ensayado pero añadidoen el último momento a la representación interna.’63 Crucial to the analyses ofthese critics is the identification of the character who plays the part of the ángel.According to Palomo, the ángel is not impersonated by the actor Fabio, in spiteof the fact that, prior to the performance, Ginés has instructed Fabio to play thisrole. Ginés informs him: ‘como pudieres le harás, / ven, repásale conmigo’ (III,fol. 280v). Palomo presents the following argument: ‘Porque el hecho de salir‘en lo alto’ y además, no ser el actor Fabio, identifica para el espectador [. . .] aese Ángel como auténtico mensajero celestial’.64 In contrast, Dixon maintainsthat the inner audience’s and the capitán’s subsequent association of Fabio withthis angel when the young actor unwittingly appears to play his part is onlyjustified if the actor playing Fabio also plays the role of the first angel presented:‘sí tiene que ser el mismo actor, llevando naturalmente el mismo atuendo. Sóloasí se justifica la total seguridad con la cual le reconocen los demás’.65

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62 ‘Proceso’, p. 93.63 ‘Lo fingido verdadero y sus espectadores’, p. 113.64 ‘Proceso’, p. 93.65 ‘Lo fingido verdadero y sus espectadores’, p. 113. The capitán advises Fabio ‘¡sí habéis

salido!’, while Diocleciano and Camila both comment on the fact that they have already

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Although I support Dixon’s contention that the inner audience’s inability todistinguish between the angel and Fabio suggests that the same actor playedboth parts (by using one actor for both roles, Lope would have createddeliberate ambiguity within his play, and thereby intensified the relationshipbetween lo fingido and lo verdadero), one crucial factor in terms of the outeraudience’s interpretation has been overlooked by Palomo and Dixon.66 Neitherhas considered the manner in which the angel addresses the autor/actor. Theangel refers to him as Ginés and not as León, the name of the Christian whichhe plays in the inset drama. Consequently, the audience may well haveregistered the form of address used and automatically identified the characterof Ginés and therefore accepted the baptismal scene as part of the illusion ofthe main, rather than inset play. On the other hand, the character’s name(León) is presented on one occasion only in the play within the play and maynot have provided a sufficient opportunity for the outer audience to associatethe character with his name. This occurs when the capitán reprimands himwith ‘mucho, León, replicáis’ (III, fol. 281r). This single reference mustsurely be overshadowed by the various references to the Christian as Ginés byDiocleciano, in his discussion of the actor’s performance, and indeed by thecapitán, who calls on the prompter to provide assistance. In addition, Fabiostates: ‘Ginés, de parte de Dios / te vengo a hablar’ (III, fol. 282v) when heenters onstage to impersonate the angel which the inner and outer audienceshave already seen and heard. Therefore, it would seem more likely that theouter audience would have identified the character ‘León’ as Ginés and wouldhave been unable to further suspend disbelief with regard to the play withinthe play.67


seen Fabio. Diocleciano states: ‘¿pues no te he visto yo mismo?’ and Camila declares:‘hombre, ¿qué dices?, que yo / y todos te habemos visto!’ (III, fol. 282v).

66 On the appearance of angels as human beings, Dassbach states: ‘Ocasionalmente, sinembargo, los ángeles asumen la apariencia o persona de otros seres humanos, como ocurrea los ángeles convertidos en trabajadores de la construcción en Santa Teresa de Jesús [. . .],o al ángel que suplanta a Fabio, un actor, en Lo fingido verdadero’ (La comedia hagiográfica,p. 111). As will be seen in chapter 5, angels also assume the images of Clara and Carrizoin La buena guarda. In addition, the characters in La buena guarda are unable todistinguish between Clara and Carrizo and the angels which play their roles while they areabsent. This would suggest that the same actress and actor played both parts. However, aswill be discussed in chapter 5, the encounter between ‘Clara’ the angel and Clara the nun,and Carrizo with Carrizo fingido, makes the impersonation of both characters by one actoran impossibility in each case.

67 If we accept Case’s claim on the use of special effects in the form of thedifferent levels on the stage, then the emergence of the angel ‘en lo alto’ and the use of the‘discovery’ endow the action with a type of supernatural authority. The outer audience’srecognition of Lope’s subtle use of stage techniques would have conditioned its sensibilityto divine intervention at this point in the drama. See chapter 2, p. 70, n. 71 and p. 71for further details on Case’s comments on the three levels of staging in the comedia desantos.

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While the complexity of reception cannot be denied, there is no doubt thatboth the outer and inner audiences ultimately are persuaded to accept thesuperiority of divine love to human love in both the inset and main plays.68

As Bryans indicates, ‘Human love must give way to that more perfect love,the divine love for which it is a preparation’.69 Essentially, Ginés exchangeshis love for Marcela for love of God and contentedly prepares for martyr-dom.70 His rapid conversion from pagan to Christian is further evidence of theinconstant nature of reality and the unruly essence of destino. Ginés describeshis transformation into the ‘mejor representante’ (III, 282v) to the inner andouter audiences and to his compañía in theatrical terms:

Césares, yo soy cristiano,ya tengo el santo bautismo,esto represento yo,porque es mi autor Jesucristo;en la segunda jornadaestá vuestro enojo escrito,que en llegando la tercerarepresentaré el martirio.

(III, fol. 282v)

However, in spite of Ginés’ deliberate destruction of mimetic reality,Diocleciano repeats his inability to distinguish between fiction and realitywhich he demonstrated at the end of the first play within the play. FollowingGinés’ speech, he questions him: ‘¿hablas de veras, Ginés?’ (III, fol. 282v). Hisuncertainty serves to underline the pagan’s inability to identify ‘real’ life whichis divinely inspired. Ginés is indeed speaking the truth; in fact, his movementtowards a divinely-inspired love is emphasised through the use of theatricallanguage. Ginés himself explains:

Puso Dios en mi papelestos pies, que no pudiera

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68 For a comparison between human and divine love in both La hermosa Ester and Labuena guarda, see chapters 1 and 5 respectively. On the relationship between human anddivine love in Lo fingido verdadero, Trueblood states: ‘We now see the full irony inGenisus’ [sic] earlier assertion that role and reality coincide for the lover: the words aretrue of divine love, not of human.’ See Alan S. Trueblood, ‘Role-Playing and the Sense’,p. 314. Trueblood devotes pp. 312–15 of this article to a study of Lo fingido verdadero.

69 See ‘Fortune’, p. 141.70 El Amor Divino appears as an allegorical character in Act III of Santa Teresa de

Jesús. A clear identification between this character and Christ is established as AmorDivino emerges with a crown of thorns in his hands and is aided by Teresa to carry hiscross. The saving grace of divine love is underlined by Teresa’s reaction to the presentationof the crown of thorns to her. She comments that the thorns ‘Hoy, en mí, / no son sinoclavellinas’. See Obras, Biblioteca de Autores Españoles, 186–87, XI–XII (Madrid: Atlas,1965), XII, 247–305 (p. 302).

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seguirle si no pusieratodos estos pies en él.Con éstos le voy siguiendoen la comedia y comidade su mesa, y de la viday gloria que en Dios pretendo

(III, fol. 282r)71

In essence, the double meaning implicit in pies suggests not only that God isthe autor of Ginés’ role, but that a definitive transition from pagan to Christianoccurs. Effectively, Ginés becomes involved in a new paso created by God.His shift to that particular ‘scene’ is underlined by the angel who instructs him‘camina, Ginés, camina, / Ginés’ (III, fol. 282r). Indeed, Ginés now enjoyscontrol, which he did not have in his first inset play, when he hands himselfover to God. In contrast to Ginés who is engaged in a forward journey, Fabioexpresses a desire to retreat when he appears to play the part of the angel.72

The capitán informs Diocleciano ‘quería / volver al paso’ (III, fol. 282v).Carino, in opposition to Ginés, lacks direction, as he tells Celio and Rosarda‘estoy / desocupado de pies’ (I, fol. 266r). Moreover, Carino stresses the fic-titious, unstable nature of his existence in his reference to the relationshipbetween his ‘pies’ and poetry: ‘que en tratando con poetas, / pienso que estánen sus rimas’ (I, fol. 266r).

Fundamentally, both Fabio and Carino represent the antithesis of Ginés. Inother words, paganism is debased while Christianity is extolled in the play.Ginés alludes to the redeeming power of divine love in a comparison betweenthe heavenly and demonic troupes of players. According to him, Nicodemus,a member of God’s company, buries individuals who later rise from the dead:‘Nicodemus mete muertos, / pero luego resucitan.’ On the other hand, thepecador is responsible for the burial of the dead in Lucifer’s compañía, ‘masno vuelven a vivir’ (III, fol. 284r).73


71 On the importance of dining in a religious context, see chapter 2, p. 71, n. 72.72 In La buena guarda, Félix is involved in a forward movement towards the

consummation of human love. He declares: ‘pasos, no volváis atrás’ (I. 344).73 It should be noted that Roman emperors, representatives of paganism, are debased by

Ginés since they are assigned to Lucifer’s company of players. According to Ginés, ‘en esotracompañía / Judas hacía traidores, / romanos Emperadores, / la crueldad y tiranía’ (III, fol.284r). According to Dassbach, when the demonio is absent from the comedia de santos, ‘Hayuna tendencia en los actores a asociar, o encarnar, las fuerzas del mal en otros personajes,claramente identificados con grupos de creencias religiosas no cristianas: judíos, moros, opaganos’. ‘En El niño inocente de La Guardia, las fuerzas diabólicas aparecen encarnadas enlos judíos; [. . .] en Lo fingido verdadero, en los paganos’ (La comedia hagiográfica, pp.112–13; p. 122, n. 37). By extension, other characters in Lope’s comedias de tema religiosoare also embodiments of such fuerzas diabólicas. See, for example, Amán in La hermosaEster and the gentlemen who attempt to lure Clara in La buena guarda (III. 375–78).

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While Ginés’ comparison of both compañías serves to define thepredominance of amor divino, it is precisely his description of diabolical,Biblical and saintly characters as roleplayers which is particularly striking.Ginés’ second inset play makes explicit reference to the theatre of the worldmetaphor and reinforces the contemporary theocentric view of real life afterdeath. Accepting his sentence resolutely and rejecting the worldly for thedivine, Ginés abandons the company of the devil and moves to that of Jesús.With God as his scriptwriter, Ginés announces: ‘mañana temprano espero /para la segunda parte’ (III, fol. 284v). Following his baptism, Ginés addressesGod: ‘representad conmigo desde hoy más’ (III, fol. 282r). His request notonly anticipates his participation in the comedia divina at the end of the play,but also emphasises the theatrical nature of human existence which hasprepared him to assume his true role. Ginés underscores the image of theindividual as a roleplayer in a speech in which he reveals God’s involvementin his role. As far as he is concerned, everyone is a ‘representante’.74

Interestingly, Diocleciano is also responsible for the reinforcement of thetheatrum mundi concept. He recognises that he must perform the part ofrestorer of justice following Ginés’ confession.75 Hence, he orders the convert‘morirás en comedia, / pues en comedia has vivido’ (III, fol. 282v), andassigns roles to Léntulo and Sulpicio:

y acabaré mi papelcon que Léntulo y Sulpicioprendan y examinen luegoa cuantos vienen contigo.

(III, fol. 282v)

In the final analysis, the rejection of paganism is presented alongside theabandonment of lo fingido of existence for lo verdadero of the afterlife.

Ultimately, despite the fact that self-referential devices generate varyinglevels of audience estrangement throughout the play, Lo fingido verdadero isundoubtedly an example of a well-crafted metadrama. In fact, the ‘seeingdouble’ which is fundamental to metatheatre is not only presented through theincorporation of two inset plays within the main drama, but also as a result ofthe double images of characters within the inset plays themselves. Moreover,the unexpected role-changes of both Diocleciano and Ginés prove that destinocannot be controlled, and at the same time debase the concept of a restrictiveexistence. The illusory nature of life is highlighted through the characters’inability to detect the roles which they must assume, while the reality of the

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74 See his speech in III, fol. 282r.75 The final restoration of order was one of the conventions of the comedia. As

McKendrick highlights: ‘Often there are representatives of law and order – dukes, princes,kings – who contribute in some way to the solution at the end’ (Theatre, p. 73).

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afterlife is underscored in Ginés’ reference to the comedia divina. The estab-lishment of identity is presented as a complicated process for the individualconcerned (such as Ginés) and for those who witness his behaviour.Ultimately, Lope’s play expresses a sense of disillusion with life. While therelationship between amor divino and amor humano is not the principal focusof Lo fingido verdadero, the play does discredit negative attitudes and formsof behaviour associated with human love, while divine love triggers Ginés’martyrdom and assumption of his true role. As the following study of Labuena guarda will demonstrate, Clara, like Ginés, is also prompted to assumea number of roles as a result of a preoccupation with love, both human anddivine.


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5

DOÑA CLARA – SAINT OR SINNER? ROLE-PLAYINGWITHIN THE ROLE IN LA BUENA GUARDA

Written in 1610 and first published in 1621, La buena guarda presents theplight of Clara, abadesa, who is forced to confront the effects of both humanand divine love.1 Based on the legend of the monja sacristana, a devoted nunwho abandons the monastery with her lover and who is replaced by the Virginor an angel in her absence, La buena guarda focuses on the flight of Clara withFélix, the mayordomo.2 The play opens with a diatribe against female vanityas Carrizo, the sacristán of the monasterio, criticises the female preoccupation

1 An autographed manuscript of this play, dated 16th April 1610 and entitledLa encomienda bien guardada, is currently held at the Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid. Theplay was first published with the title La buena guarda in Decimaquinta parte de lascomedias (Madrid: Fernando Correa de Montenegro, 1621). For full bibliographical detailsof the edition of the play used for the purposes of this study, see chapter 2, p. 77, n. 88. This play has attracted little critical attention, although there have been some interestinganalyses in recent times. See especially Fernando Lázaro Carreter, ‘Cristo, pastor robado(Las escenas sacras de La buena guarda)’, in Homenaje a William L. Fichter: Estudiossobre el teatro antiguo hispánico y otros ensayos, eds David A. Kossoff and José Amor yVázquez (Madrid: Castalia, 1971), pp. 413–27; María del Carmen Artigas, ‘Edición críticay anotada de La buena guarda de Lope de Vega’ (unpublished doctoral thesis, University ofVirginia, 1990), ‘El mito del paraíso en La buena guarda (1610) de Lope de Vega’,Explicación de textos literarios, 19 (1990–91), 29–36 and ‘ “La mancha en la sangre versusla mancha en el alma” en La buena guarda de Lope de Vega’, RN, 32 (1991), 127–32.

2 The legend of the monja sacristana was extremely popular in Europe between thetwelfth and sixteenth centuries. According to both Giménez Castellanos and Menéndez yPelayo, the text written by Cesáreo de Heisterbach, a Cistercian monk, constitutes the oldestknown version of the legend. (See La buena guarda, p. 10, and Estudios, II, 86.) In ‘Edicióncrítica’, however, Artigas states on the origin of the legend: ‘Añadiremos que es nuestraopinión que el primer autor de la leyenda no es Heisterbach, sino que probablemente fuecompuesta unos años antes por un monje inglés, cuyo nombre desconocemos,’ (p. 8).Artigas’ work is an invaluable study which not only presents an annotated edition ofLa buena guarda, but also includes an examination of Marian literature in the West, in Spainand in Lope’s work, with specific reference to the legend of the sacristana in Spain and inLope. It should be noted that, while La buena guarda is not a comedia de santos, it isincluded in an analysis of Lope’s hagiographic plays by both Menéndez y Pelayo (Estudios,II, 85–95) and Garasa (Santos, pp. 76–78). Dassbach categorises this play as a comediapiadosa (La comedia hagiográfica, p. 5, n. 3), while Aragone Terni includes it in a list ofcommedie apologetiche e devozionali (Studio sulle, p. 84).

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with physical appearance.3 Subsequently, the action concentrates on Félix’sdeclaration of love for Clara, the efforts of both to overcome human passion,and Clara’s ultimate decision to become his lover. In Act II, the extent ofClara’s devotion to the Virgin is illustrated through the lengthy monologuewhich she offers to her patron and in which she calls upon the Mother of Godto protect her flock. Outside the monastery, Clara and Félix consummate theirlove while an angel plays the role of Clara, abadesa, under orders from theVirgin. At the end of Act II, Clara resolves to win divine favour, having beenabandoned by Félix. Thus, in Act III, Clara, disguised as Juana, the labradora,returns to the monastery after three years of penance, confronts the angel whohas been playing her part and regains her authority as abadesa.

Unlike Lo fingido verdadero, La buena guarda is not a fully-developedmetaplay, but it does concern itself with the metatheatrical device of role-playing within the role. Through the exploitation of this technique, the playemphasises the problematic nature of identity in terms of both physicalappearance and the inherent characteristics of the individual. Audience disso-ciation is not only generated as a result of the enactment of various roles byClara, abadesa / adúltera / labradora, but most significantly, through thepresentation of the complex double image of Clara, protagonist, and Clara, theangel who takes her place in the abbey.4 Indeed, the replacement of Carrizoduring his absence from the monasterio with Carrizo fingido, another angel,also contributes to the estrangement of the audience.5 Essentially, angelsperform Clara’s and Carrizo’s original roles as they assume new ones. As willbecome evident in the course of this chapter, Clara’s engagement in role-playing is defined by her shifting concern with human and divine love. In fact,Clara plays three discrete parts within the drama as ‘esposa de Cristo’ (I. 334),‘adúltera’ (II. 138) and ‘labradora’ (III. 692), which are conditioned by divinelove, human love, or a combination of both. As a result of her movement awayfrom the status of saint to sinner and her return to that of saint, Clara, like Ginés,ultimately recognises the pre-eminence of divine love to human love.

ROLE-PLAY: LA BUENA GUARDA 129

3 The topos of female preoccupation with physical appearance has its roots in classicalelegiac poetry and was often a standard criticism in anti-feminist discourse of Spanishmedieval literature. In La Celestina, Sempronio even alludes to the elegant appearance ofwomen in his condemnation of intrinsic female characteristics. He warns Calisto: ‘consideraqué sesito está debaxo de aquellas grandes y delgadas tocas, qué pensamientos so aquellasgorgueras, so aquel fausto, so aquellas largas y autorizantes ropas, qué imperfición, quéalvañares debaxo de templos pintados.’ See Fernando de Rojas, La Celestina, ed. DorothyS. Severin, 6th edn (Madrid: Cátedra, 1992), p. 97.

4 In the 1621 edition of La buena guarda, several amendments were made. Themonasterio of the manuscript became a casa de señoritas and the names of Spanish townsand cities were omitted. Clara herself was reduced from the status of abadesa to a nun whohad not yet taken her vows. It would seem that this last change was made in order to avoidany criticism of religious orders.

5 While I will concentrate on the various roles played by Clara in the play, referencewill also be made to the double image of Carrizo and Carrizo fingido where appropriate.

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Unlike Ginés, who is only inspired by divine love towards the end of Lo fingido verdadero, Clara is introduced to the audience as a devout, God-fearing, saintly abadesa, endowed with ‘honestidad’, ‘paciencia’ and ‘inocen-cia’.6 Nevertheless, the abadesa abandons her role in order to pursue humanpassion. This ‘ángel en velo humano’ (I. 625), according to Carrizo, isprompted to adopt an alternative role within the play by Félix, the enamouredmayordomo.7 In spite of the fact that she manages to resist Félix’s advanceson two occasions, Clara finally surrenders to her lover when he professes hislove for a third time. She insists:

y así, vengo a suplicartecon lágrimas en los ojos,que me lleves o me mates.

(I. 955–57)

By doing so, she runs the risk of losing her ‘gran santidad’ which, in Félix’sopinion, is common knowledge.8 Essentially, Félix is the intratextual dramatistwho is responsible for redirecting the course of Clara’s existence.9 He intro-duces her to the concept of human passion by declaring his personal love forher.10 Clara makes this point explicit:

el día que me dijisteamores o disparates,no pude dormir, pensandolos efectos que amor hace;y de pensar los efectos,me nació el determinarmea quererte; [. . .]

(I. 918–24)

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6 See Félix’s speech, I. 649–713 (678–85).7 Ironically, Clara perfectly fits Carrizo’s description when an angel impersonates her

in Acts II and III. As far as Félix is concerned, he embodies the typical characteristics ofthe courtly lover. In the belief that he is pursuing an impossible love for an unattainablewoman, he states: ‘que no hay mal que tenga igual / a amar imposiblemente’ (I. 329–30).Additionally, he describes his state in terms of Petrarchan conceits: ‘Ponme esa nieve /sobre aquestos labios presto; / ponla presto, que me abraso’ (I. 746–48). Likewise, Cosme,who subsequently falls in love with Clara, describes his condition in a similar fashion: ‘Amí me incita y me mueve / tan vivo desasosiego, / que es nieve, y me abrasa el fuego, / yes fuego, y me hiela en nieve’ (III. 224–27). See chapter 1, p. 23, n. 38 for a briefdiscussion of courtly love poetry and Petrarchism.

8 Félix tells Clara: ‘Dicen mil cosas aquí / de vuestra gran santidad’ (I. 407–08).9 See chapter 4, p. 102 for Larson’s definition of the intratextual dramatist.10 This is a clear example of the force of eloquence which can be found in other plays

by Lope. For instance, in La dama boba, Finea is awakened to love through the power ofrhetoric, that is, through what Laurencio tells her.

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Although it is Clara who ultimately chooses to become, in Félix’s words, his‘esposa y eterno dueño’ (II. 100), the mayordomo represents the externalfactor which influences her decision. In addition, Clara specifically refers toa particular inner factor which shapes her course of action. In a lengthy mono-logue in which she regretfully redefines herself as ‘adúltera’, Clara pinpointspassion as the uncontrollable force which determines her change of role. Sheaddresses the Virgin in the following manner:

Con lágrimas lo digo, Virgen bella:adúltera soy ya; yo voy perdida;que un ciego amor me arroja y atropella,y una pasión en vano resistida.

(II. 137–40)

Through the rejection of legitimate love/God, Clara unwillingly becomes theembodiment of Eve, the sinner. Consequently, the establishment of thesaint/sinner or Virgin/Eve dichotomy means that the Virgin functions almostas the alter ego of Clara on a divine plane. Clearly, then, while Clara’s engage-ment in role-playing within the role cannot be defined as involuntary, theimpact of the factors outlined above upon her transformation would haveaffected the degree of audience estrangement generated.11 Moreover, since herinvolvement in role-playing, like that of Ginés and Diocleciano in Lo fingidoverdadero, is fundamental to the development of the plot, the intensity of themetadramatic experience for the outer audience might have been limited,depending on familiarity with the legend of the sacristana. Nevertheless,there can be no doubt that some level of dissociation would have beenproduced as a result of Clara’s various transformations.

What is particularly thought-provoking about Clara’s assumption of the roleof adúltera, or lover of Félix, is the fact that the former abadesa is endowedalmost with a reluctance to embrace the part. As already stressed, she agreesto adopt this specific role, but at the same time recognises that she isconsciously about to undertake a negative form of role-playing. In oppositionto Carino and Apro, who also play negative parts in Lo fingido verdadero, butare free from any form of guilt, Clara describes her behaviour to the Virgin as‘tan gran maldad’ (II. 154) and takes flight with Félix in spite of her sense of‘vergüenza’ (II. 141).12 Thus, while it cannot be denied that Clara becomes asinner as she abandons her flock, ‘de seglar’ (II, 63), in order to consummateher love with Félix, the outer audience might have been forced to sympathisewith this character. Clara is not solely responsible for her actions, but


11 See chapter 4, p. 98, n. 12 for Hornby’s definition of involuntary role-playing withinthe role.

12 For an analysis of Carino and Apro in terms of role-playing within the role, seechapter 4, pp. 98–105.

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apologises regardless before leaving the monasterio. Indeed, the explicit refer-ence within the play to the Virgin’s protection of Clara’s reputation during herabsence might have conditioned the audience’s judgement of the abadesa’sactions. The Virgin, in the form of an offstage voz, which, as we have seenthroughout the course of this study, constitutes an important link with thesupernatural in Lope’s comedias de tema religioso, instructs an angel:

Al punto te transformaen esta miserable, que, perdida,a su esposo desprecia desta forma.De su rostro y sus hábitos vestida,sirve su oficio, y las demás informade divinos consejos.

(II. 187–90)13

Therefore, rather than interpreting Clara’s departure from the convent as aselfish, despicable act, it is more likely that the audience would have regardedit as the actions of a confused, manipulated individual.

The change in Clara’s status from saint to sinner is accompanied by asignificant alteration in Félix’s discourse. The earlier eulogy of her innervirtue is now replaced with a detailed description of her physical beauty. InAct II, Félix compares his beloved’s beauty both to nature and to severalmythological characters and concludes that Clara is more beautiful:

aquí, donde las floresparece que se esfuerzan diligentesa vencer tus colores,aunque las desengañan las corrientes,espejo de sus hojas,contigo menos blancas, menos rojas,puedes, hermosa Clara,pasar aquesta siesta calurosa,si no es que el sol se paraa verte entre las flores, y más hermosaque Daphne y que Jacinto,

(II. 383–93)

The association of human love with physical attractiveness and divine love withinner beauty which is established by Félix is a concept which is underlined

132 ELAINE CANNING

13 Clearly, the Virgin/Voz safeguards Clara’s role as abadesa by putting an angel in herplace. In Acts II and III, the pastor/Christ who appears to Clara and urges her to return tothe convent also has an impact on Clara’s course of action. Clara remarks: ‘Quizá estepastor es ángel, / y me anima a dar la vuelta’ (III. 524–25). It could therefore be arguedthat both the voz and the pastor function as divine intratextual dramatists within the play.

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throughout the play. It is illustrated particularly through Clara as she undertakesher quest to regain divine favour (which she believes she has lost) in the guiseof Juana.14 After Félix’s reluctant abandonment of his beloved following hisdiscovery that she is still secretly wearing the scapular of her order, Clara simul-taneously assumes the roles of Juana, the labradora, and of repentant sinner.15

Clara’s change of role is significant because it is provoked for a second time bythe behaviour of Félix. In spite of her obvious, constant religious devotion, Clarais unable to detach herself from Félix. The separation of the couple is imposedupon her. Hence, it is only when she is abandoned that Clara fearfully seeks outher ‘first husband’:

¿Qué haré? Toda estoy turbada.Ya tiemblo mi airado Esposo,y no sé por dónde vayaa buscarle, aunque jamáscerró sus puertas al almaque le llamase contrita.

(II. 959–64)

In effect, the audience might have regarded Clara’s repeated failure ‘to act’without the influence of external factors as a sign of the protagonist’sweakness. Clara is in fact a ‘reactive’, rather than a ‘proactive’ role-player.However, it is also possible that Clara’s ability to manipulate unforeseen anduncontrollable events would have generated audience commendation. This ispossible because Clara maintains a constant, identifiable relationship with thedivine in spite of the imposition of roles upon her.

As adúltera and sinner, Clara’s scapular represents a visual sign of herdedication to her previous role. Subsequently, as she impersonates Juana, thelabradora and pastora (an appropriate role for an abadesa, which foreshad-ows her return to positive role-playing), her explicit task of looking after herflock is overshadowed by her personal mission to indulge in prayer, fastingand penance in an attempt to receive divine forgiveness for her past actions.


14 Carrizo also emphasises the relationship between human love and physical beauty bystating the reasons why he would like to travel to Toledo. He informs Félix and Clara of theattractions which Toledo offers: ‘gente noble, entendimientos / raros, damas siemprehermosas’ (II. 619–20). The italics are mine. At the beginning of Act I, in the role of thehypocritical sacristán, Carrizo criticises women who spend an excessive amount of time onbeauty treatments because, in his opinion, their physical appearance will attract the attentionof potential suitors at Mass. Carrizo laments: ‘y si ellas vienen ansí, / esos, ¿miráranme amí?’ (I. 175–76).

15 Félix highlights his grief to Carrizo before abandoning his beloved: ‘a Clara heescrito esta carta, / aunque breve de razones / de pesadumbre bien larga’ (II. 883–85). Inaddition, he explains that his course of action is determined by his fear of God’s reprisal –‘el temor de la justicia, / de su presencia me aparta’ (II. 894–95).

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Cosme, the labrador who seeks Clara’s hand in marriage, informs his fatherregarding her pious lifestyle:

Vive como una santa, recogidaen oración perpetua y en ayunos;métese en esas peñas que coronanlas márgenes del Tajo, y dase en ellastantos azotes, que sus carnes bellaslas hacen jaspe con la sangre viva;

(III. 194–99)

Essentially, her love for the divine is not explicitly substituted with humanlove, but in fact constitutes a latent preoccupation for the protagonist. As sherelinquishes the role of adúltera for that of Juana, Clara/Juana becomesincreasingly described in terms of her inherent, saintly characteristics, ratherthan her physical beauty. For both Cosme and Gentilhombre 2o, she is an‘ángel’;16 she is subsequently described as a ‘virtuosa’ who is invested with‘honestidad’.17 The redefinition of Clara as Juana, both in terms of her piousnature and in terms of Juana’s occupation as pastora serves as a preparationfor the play’s dénouement, when the saint/sinner will embrace the position ofabadesa once again.

It is evident, then, that while it is difficult to ascertain the level of audiencedissociation created as a result of the performance of several roles by the prin-cipal character, the metadramatic strategy of role-play focuses the audience’sattention on the question of identity. Clara demonstrates that the individual isa composite of oppositional, intrinsic characteristics – strength/weakness,perfection/imperfection – and is driven by both rational and irrational forces.The complexity of individuality is highlighted further through the introduc-tion of an angel, in the guise of Clara, into the play.18 As the following analy-sis will demonstrate, the incorporation of Clara fingida into the action causesthe destruction of mimetic reality for the outer audience, who witnesses theacceptance of Clara fingida as the absent Clara by a range of characters.

The complicity between the outer audience and the playwright functions onvarious levels and ultimately produces what Palomo describes as a ‘mensajeinequívoco’.19 In the first instance, the corral audience not only witnesses thepresentation of both Clara and Clara fingida onstage in Acts II and III, but isalso privy to the Virgin’s instructions to the angel to assume the role of the

134 ELAINE CANNING

16 See III. 241 and III. 374, respectively.17 See the remarks of Gentilhombre 1o, III. 384 and Gentilhombre 2o, III. 381, respectively.18 For the purposes of this study, and in an attempt to underline the relationship between

the angel and Clara, I will refer to the angel as Clara fingida.19 See chapter 4, p. 110, n. 41 for further details on Palomo’s analysis of the complicity

between Lope and the corral audience in Lo fingido verdadero.

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absent nun. Consequently, the outer audience is explicitly informed by thedramatist that Clara fingida is indeed a fictitious representation of Clara.On the other hand, the characters in the play who remain within or in contactwith the monasterio following Clara’s disappearance are unaware of the fateof their former abadesa, and, therefore, are ignorant of the true identity ofClara fingida. Their inability to differentiate between this new leading femaleand the previous one is hardly surprising since the Virgin has instructed theangel to assume both the ‘rostro’ and ‘hábitos’ of her predecessor.20 Carrizo,Félix and indeed Clara herself remain ignorant of the state of affairs at themonasterio. Clara may have beseeched the Virgin to protect her flock fromthe ‘hambriento león’ (II. 167), but she has not witnessed the outcome of herrequest. This means, therefore, that only the corral audience ‘sees double’where Clara is concerned.21 Secondly, the cast list provided by Lope at thebeginning of his play highlights the fact that Clara and Clara fingida, andindeed Carrizo and Carrizo fingido, were not played by the sameactress/actor.22 As a result, the use of two actors in each case would not onlyhave been necessary, given the fact that the characters ultimately confront oneanother, but also might have served to underline the distinction between thereal and fictional self for the corral audience, despite Lope’s attempts toapproximate the physical appearance of both. When Clara fingida firstappears, the stage directions read: ‘Entren el Angel en figura de Doña Clara,y don Carlos’ (II, 83). Similarly, Carrizo fingido ‘entre con el traje que traíael que se fue con Félix y con Clara’ (II, 71). It is highly probable that the delib-erate presentation of the fictitious characters in the garb of their true counter-parts might have made the characters’ acceptance of them as the real Claraand Carrizo more convincing to the outer audience.23

Fundamentally, the impact of the double image of Clara upon the outer audi-ence is twofold. Firstly, the inability of the characters to uncover the true iden-tity of Clara/Clara fingida stresses the individual’s susceptibility to delusion by


20 See p. 132 of this chapter for the Virgin’s complete instructions to the angel.21 It should be noted that, while Carrizo and Clara eventually come face to face with

their respective fictional selves when they return to the monasterio, neither has theopportunity to conduct a thorough comparison between himself/herself and his/hernamesake.

22 In the 1621 edition of this play, the cast list is omitted. Below the list of ‘figuras de lacomedia’, the text simply reads: ‘Representóla Riquelme’. See Decimaquinta parte, fol.204v. It should be noted that Carrizo, who deludes other characters with his false saintliness,is replaced with Carrizo fingido, the angel who warns Ginés against ‘mujeres’ and ‘juego’,the ‘terribles enemigos’ (II. 375–76). The play subsequently shifts between the presentationof Carrizo fingido, the devout sacristán, who is accepted as Carrizo, and Carrizo, thegracioso, whose primary concerns include food and women. See chapter 2, p. 60 for Case’sdefinition of the conventional gracioso.

23 While this play negates the relationship between costume and identity, costume is anoutward sign of role and status for Diocleciano in Lo fingido verdadero.

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outer appearances.24 Not even Clara’s father, Don Pedro, suspects that he isconversing with a supernatural being, rather than his daughter, when heinforms her of the behaviour of his philandering son-in-law, Carlos.25 On theother hand, Clara is unable to detect any similarity between herself and the so-called doña Clara de Lara with whom she comes face to face. FollowingCarlos’ revelation to her of the abadesa’s name (III. 700), Clara questions theunrecognisable stranger: ‘¿sois, señora, la Abadesa?’ (III. 724). Most signifi-cantly, however, Clara’s reassumption of the role of abadesa presents no prob-lems in terms of acceptance by the other characters. Hence, in spite of herfather’s inability to distinguish between his daughter and the angel, Clara’sown inability to recognise any similarity between herself and the character inquestion, and the distinction drawn by Carlos between the abadesa and thevisiting labradora, Clara’s transition from Juana to abadesa is a fairly smooth,uncomplicated one. Nevertheless, Clara finds herself having to improvisewhen she resumes her role. The role is that of abadesa which she had carriedout previously, but the role is now prescribed by the angel’s playing of it. Inseveral asides, Clara emphasises that she is out of touch. In one of these, shestates: ‘A todos tiemblo de hablarlos, / porque no sé la ocasión’ (III. 828–29).The outer audience is aware of Clara’s need to improvise, while the characterssurrounding her, a type of inner audience, mistakenly believe that she is out oftouch because she is elevada. Essentially, in the wider context of seventeenth-century Spain, the case of doña Clara stresses to the corral audience the diffi-culty of discovering the legitimate identity or personality of the individual in asociety which has abandoned itself to illusionism. In other words, the illusorynature of life, which lies at the heart of the seventeenth-century concept oftheatrum mundi, is highlighted through doña Clara.

136 ELAINE CANNING

24 While the portera notices some recent change in the abadesa, claiming ‘de unos díasa esta parte / está en ángel convertida’ (II. 814–15), she is completely unaware of thetruthfulness of her statement. Likewise, Ginés’ observation of slight changes in the characterof the sacristán does not prompt him to dispute the identity of the latter whom he simplyaccepts as Carrizo. He tells Carlos: ‘no tiene aquellas señales / que en el hermano se ven. /Es el mismo y no es el mismo; / más modesto y más compuesto / trae el hábito y el gesto’(II. 335–39). At the beginning of Act I, Carrizo emphasises the artificiality of physicalappearance in his discussion of female beauty treatments. He refers to their use of ‘fingidocolor’ and their ‘canas mal disimuladas’ (I. 125; 133). A play which deals with the conceptof susceptibility to delusion by outer appearances is very much in keeping with an obsessionof the literature and art of the period, often called the theme of Ser/Parecer. At the heart ofthe literature and art of seventeenth-century Spain was the notion of the individual’ssusceptibility to engaño, a concept which was encapsulated in Velázquez’s Las Meninas. Onthis theme, Jeremy Robbins states: ‘So obsessive are the questions of appearance and reality,of deceit and disillusionment, in Spanish baroque fiction that such fiction can justifiably beviewed as Spain’s major and distinctive contribution to the early-modern preoccupation withknowledge.’ See his The Challenges of Uncertainty: An Introduction to Seventeenth-CenturySpanish Literature (London: Duckworth, 1998), p. 41.

25 See the conversation between Pedro and the angel, III. 529–54.

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The second effect of the double image of Clara upon the audience relatesto how the characters evaluate Clara fingida, and how they relate to the vari-ous miraculous occurrences attributed to the angel. In basic terms, the outeraudience is confronted with the parallel images of Clara, the sinner, and Clara,the saint, as the words and deeds of the angel are associated with the real Claraby individuals within the play. As a result, the main protagonist becomes moresaintly, at the same time that she violates Holy Orders. Indeed, she is not onlya santa, but a unique being with supernatural powers. Miraculously, she dis-covers Carlos’ intentions to punish Don Juan, a gentleman who has won thefavour of Elena, Clara’s sister, and also Carlos’ subsequent, illicit affair withAna following his marriage to Elena.26 However, even more striking is theexplicit presentation of Clara fingida (Clara, of course, to the other charac-ters) as a miracle worker, who saves Magdalena. The miracle, which is pre-sented offstage, is related to Carlos and Ginés by the hortelana:

Para que no te vayas sin que sepasun milagro tan raro, y seas testigo,así como llegó Clara al estanque,entró por él, y sin mojarse el hábito,asió de un brazo a soror Magdalena,y la sacó a la orilla viva y sana:dilo a su padre y a su amada hermana.

(III. 659–65)

In addition, the implicit references to the relationship between Clara and theVirgin within the play serve to exaggerate the holiness of the imperfectabadesa. Ultimately, Clara becomes the buena guarda of the play, a rolewhich she attributed originally to the Virgin prior to her departure with herlover. Before her exit from the monasterio, Clara declares: ‘¡Virgen, en vosles dejo Buena Guarda!’ (II. 185). Consequently, the exaltation of the repent-ant sinner, particularly through the incorporation of Clara fingida into thedrama, stresses the redeeming power of divine love. Clara is elevated to asaintlike status, which she of course must assume and develop at the end ofthe play when she replaces the angel. Ultimately, she will devote herselfwholeheartedly to amor divino. Naturally, Clara highlights that human frailtyis not only permissible, but in fact is also found in even the most pious ofindividuals.27 The association of divine love with forgiveness is underlined by


26 See II. 671–78, and III. 621–27.27 The idea that there is scope for human error is one which also presents itself through

the development of the character Tirso in La juventud de San Isidro. See chapter 2, p. 83for further details. It is not surprising that Lope would have dealt with these issues in hisplays. Lope’s own behaviour was motivated by very human and divine impulses. He wastorn throughout his life between amor humano and amor divino. This has been welldocumented by critics.

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Félix in a statement which can be categorised as one of the most patent moralsof the play:

Errar es de hombre mortal,y más en esto que ves;pero de demonios esperseverar en el mal.

(III. 81–84)

It is only unrepentant persistence in sin that earns damnation. Indeed, thedetermination of the pastor, Christ himself, who appears twice in the play inhis search for ‘la oveja / de más hermosa y cándida pelleja’ (II. 447–48), which‘en la frente sola / una mancha tenía’ (II. 480–81), stresses the relationshipbetween compassion and amor divino.28 While Félix’s decision to desert Claraserves to associate human love with rejection and abandonment, the pastor’sconstant quest for his lost sheep, in spite of physical suffering, symbolises thevery opposite.29 In fact, for Christ, pain becomes almost pleasurable when itis endured for a worthy cause. In his description of his search to Clara, hestates: ‘que aun por ella entre espinas / andar juzgan mis pies por calvellinas(sic)’ (II. 489–90).30

Thus, while La buena guarda cannot be defined as a well-developedmetadrama like Lo fingido verdadero, there is no doubt that Lope’s exploitationof role-playing within the role within the play causes the outer audience to ques-tion the essence of identity. The illusory nature of existence, a predominanttheme in Lo fingido verdadero, is reinforced in this play primarily through thedeceptive nature of physical appearance. In addition, Lope’s exploitation of thedouble image of the main protagonist serves to define amor divino as a forgiv-ing, ennobling love, in contrast to amor humano, conveyed as a degrading anddestructive force. Ultimately, Clara, like Ginés, abandons human love for divinelove and allows divine love to redefine her role. Ironically, this is the samerole which the audience saw threatened at the outset. By finally ‘proactively’assuming this role, Clara too discovers the saving grace of God.

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28 For an analysis of the appearance of Christ to Isidro in both La niñez de San Isidroand La juventud de San Isidro, see chapter 2.

29 See the pastor’s speech, III. 427–49 for details on his various forms of suffering.30 The pastor’s reaction to the thorns is analogous to that of Teresa to the crown of

thorns in Santa Teresa de Jesús. See chapter 4, p. 124, n. 70. This image would have causedthe audience to recall Christ’s own crown of thorns, and to contemplate the themes ofsacrifice, suffering and redemption.

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CONCLUSION

While this study consists of two discrete parts, together they offer a coherentanalysis of the origins and key features of Lope’s comedias de tema religioso.In part I, it is evident that through the re-creation of his models, Lope is ableto generate a variety of forms of audience reception, as well as to re-createidentifiable and instructive images of the biblical Esther and Isidro. In Lahermosa Ester, the reconstruction of episodes taken from the Book of Estherenables Lope to problematise socio-literary themes such as love, honour andthe role of woman. In addition, susceptibility to a more subversive form ofaudience reception serves to elevate the Jew above the dramatic representa-tion of the Spaniard. The pre-eminence of divine love over human love whichis presented in La hermosa Ester is also a principal theme in Lope’s playswhich deal with the life of Madrid’s patrón. Through the re-creation of thesource material, Lope establishes a link between the child Isidro and his adultequivalent in La niñez de San Isidro. Lope’s innovative manipulation of thewritten source material in La juventud serves to present Isidro as a Christ-likeand humble figure, who is willing to sacrifice human love for divine love.Moreover, the fact that Lope’s dramatic re-creations of the saint were pre-sented to the seventeenth-century public when Isidro’s actual canonisationwas being celebrated stresses the interplay between illusion and reality whichprevails in these plays.

The connection between role-playing, language and costume which char-acterises Lo fingido verdadero and La buena guarda in part II serves to high-light the complexity of identity and the relationship between role and destino.Above all, Lope’s engagement with self-referential devices underlines theillusory nature of life and the link between lo verdadero and lo divino, whichconstitute the very essence of the theocentric world view of seventeenth-century Spain. While varying degrees of audience estrangement are a possi-bility, particularly in Lo fingido verdadero, Lope also draws attention to therelationship between divine love and human love in both plays.

It is evident that in his comedias religiosas, Lope deals with a variety ofcontemporary issues which he also treats in his secular plays. In La hermosaEster, for example, there is an explicit preoccupation with anti-Semitism andhonor/honra, while in Lo fingido verdadero, some members of the corral audi-ence may have interpreted Diocleciano’s elevation to the status of emperor ascriticism of class division. The conflicting imperatives of human and divine

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love are treated in all of the plays studied in this book, and as is to be expectedin a comedia de tema religioso, role is ultimately defined in terms of its rela-tionship with the divine. Lope’s shifting concern with the positive and negativeeffects of human love throughout this study is perhaps evidence of his personalambivalence to amor humano.

Although I have addressed several characteristic features of Lope’s comediasreligiosas, there are many issues still to be explored. The themes examined –the reworking of biblical and hagiographical texts and the relationship betweenthe comedia religiosa and metatheatre – can naturally be applied to other reli-gious plays. A detailed study of the use of comedy, as well as an examinationof allegorical characters in Lope’s religious plays, also merit attention. Ofcourse, there are a wealth of investigative opportunities for the scholar interestedin comparative analysis with Lope’s secular drama. The representation of thefemale in both types of comedia, together with the similarities between Lope’sexploitation and re-creation of source material in historical/legendary plays andthe comedia religiosa, are just two areas which lend themselves to potentialresearch. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, the scant availability ofmodern editions of Lope’s religious plays needs to be addressed.

In a fairly recent article, Robert Morrison made the following commentabout religious drama in general: ‘Among the multitude of dramas writtenduring the seventeenth century were several hundred religious ones. [. . .] Theautos have been repeatedly studied. The comedias devotas – comedias bíblicasand comedias de santos, for the most part – may be still awaiting full appreci-ation.’1 It is hoped that this study has gone some way towards redressing thebalance.

140 CONCLUSION

1 ‘Graciosos’, p. 33.

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1 All dates for Lope’s comedias de tema religioso are taken from Morley and Bruerton,Cronología de las comedias de Lope de Vega (Madrid: Editorial Gredos, 1968).

APPENDIX: LOPE’S COMEDIAS DE TEMA RELIGIOSO1

1590–1604 Santa Teresa de Jesús1594 Comedia de San Segundo1596–1603 La gran columna fogosa1598–1603 Los locos por el cielo1598–1608 (prob. 1603) El niño inocente de la Guardia1598–1608 (prob. 1604–06) San Isidro, labrador de Madrid1598–1610 (1604?–10) Juan de Dios y Antón Martín1605 El rústico del cielo 1606–1615 (prob. 1609) Historia de TobíasBefore 1607 El santo negro Rosambuco1608 (approx.) Lo fingido verdadero1610 (approx.) El divino africano1610 La hermosa Ester1610 La buena guarda1610 El cardenal de Belén1610–1615 (prob. 1610–12) El serafín humano1610–1615 (prob. 1610–12) La madre de la mejor1611 Barlaán y Josafat1613 San Diego de Alcalá1613–1615 El nacimiento de Cristo1613–1615 (prob. 1614) San Nicolás de Tolentino1613–1616 (prob. 1615) El Capellán de la Virgen1618 La limpieza no manchada1615–1622 El robo de Dina1622 La juventud de San Isidro1622 La niñez de San Isidro1625 La niñez del Padre Rojas1629 La vida de San Pedro Nolasco1620–1630 Los trabajos de Jacob

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——, El arte nuevo de hacer comedias, ed. Juana de José Prades (Madrid: ConsejoSuperior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1971)

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27 n.49

Dassbach, Elma, 2, 57, 60 n.48, 71 n.72,n.74, 75, 98 n.9, 120 n.58, 123 n.66,125 n.73

De Armas, Frederick A., 38 n.72Deuterocanonical additions, see ApocryphaDiocletian, emperor, 95 Dixon, Victor, 3, 28 n.51, 31 n.56, 44 n.1,

61 n.50, 89, 93 n.21, 96 n.3, 97, 98n.10, 100 n.16, 110 n.41, 111 n.43,120, 121, 122, 123

Dunn, Peter N., 88 n.6

Edwards, Gwynne, 28 n.51

Farrell, Anthony J., 3Fischer, Susan, 89, 90, 96 n.3, 104, 106,

110 n.40Fishlock, A. D. H., 14 n.16Fita, Fidel, 47 n.11, 52Flasche, Hans, 10 n.5Forster, Leonard, 23 n.40Friedman, Edward H., 11 n.8

Gallego Roca, Miguel, 3, 45 n.7, 54 n.36,63 n.52, 64, 70 n.71, 71 n.74, 74, 76n.83

Garasa, Delfín Leocadio, 1, 51 n.27, 54n.36, 71 n.73, 76 n.84, 97, 111 n.42

García Lorenzo, Luciano, 26 n.45Genesis, 12 n.9, 33 n.59, 64Genesius, St, 95; see also Lo fingido

verdaderoGilson, Catharine, 46 n.10, 60 n.47Glaser, Edward, 14 n.16, 15 n.20, 19,

23 n.39, 29 n.52, 41 n.77Glenn, Richard F., 99 n.14Godínez, Felipe

Amán y Mardoqueo, 13 n.15La Reyna Ester, 13 n.15

Goldberg, Alice, 13 n.15Gracioso, 60–1

INDEX

Mono204-Index.qxd 4/7/04 10:15 AM Page 151

Grant, Helen F., 63 n.56Green, Otis H., 23 n.38, 26 n.44, 45 n.4Guerrero, José Ramón, 10 n.6

Heiple, Daniel L., 42 n.83Hornby, Richard, 4, 65 n.61, 93, 94 n.24,

98, 106, 110, 115

Inquisition, 9, 10 n.6Isaac, Old Testament, 33 n.59Isidore of Seville, St, 65–6, 70Isidro, patron saint of Madrid, 44–8; see

also under Vega Carpio, Lope de;El Isidro; La juventud de San Isidro;La niñez de San Isidro; San Isidro,labrador de Madrid

Javier, Francisco, 48 n.15, 73Josephus, Flavius, Jewish Antiquities,

15–20, 24 n.41, n.42, 27 n.48, 30n.54, 31 n.55, 34–5, 39 n.73

Juan Diácono/Juan the Deacon, Leyendade San Isidro, 44 n.2, 47 n.11, 51–4

Kidd, Michael, 89 n.11Kirby, Carol Bingham, 89, 91Kirschner, Teresa, 63 n.54Knight, Alan E., 12 n.9, 43

Lama, Víctor de, 23 n.38Larson, Catherine, 4, 87, 88, 89, 91–2, 93,

94 n.25, 102, 103 n.25, 105, 107 n.34Larson, Donald, 28Lavine, Roberta Zimmerman, 14 n.16,

42 n.83Lázaro Carreter, Fernando, 128 n.1Lipmann, Stephen, 88–9Lowes, John Livingston, 26 n.45Loyola, Ignacio de, 48 n.14, 73

Madrigal, José A., 89, 90–1María de la Cabeza, 46 n.10, 49Mayberry, Nancy, 14 n.16McCrary, William, 89 n.9McGaha, Michael, 97, 99 n.13, 105 n.29McKendrick, Melveena, 38 n.72, 99 n.14,

108 n.36, 126 n.75Menéndez Onrubia, Carmen, 14 n.16Menéndez y Pelayo, Don Marcelino, 1, 12,

20 n.36, 48–9, 54 n.36, 95, 97Metatheatre, 87, 90, 93, 94 n.25, 98 n.12

ceremony within the play, 65 n.61

intratextual dramatist, 102play within the play, 94 n.24, 110, 115role-playing within the role, 98, 106

Metzger, Bruce, 18, 19 n.31Mexía, Pero, Historia imperial y cesárea,

95 n.2Mira de Amescua, 10 n.3Moir, Duncan, 31Monja sacristana, 128Montesinos, José, 1Moore, Roger, 89, 91Moreno, Francisco, 44, 46 n.10, 47 n.11,

n.12, 49, 51 n.27, 52, 54 n.35, 55n.38, 57, 65 n.59

Moreno, Joseph, 90Morley and Bruerton, Cronología de las

comedias de Lope de Vega, 1 n.4Morreale, Margherita, 10 n.6Morrison, Robert, 2, 60 n.48, 73 n.78,

83–4, 140Mroczkowska-Brand, Katarzyna, 92 n.19Mundo al revés, 63

Nalle, Sara T., 10 n.6, 11 n.7Navarrete, Ignacio, 23 n.38Nebuchadnezzar II, 14 n.17Nelson, Robert J., 87 n.3Neri, Philip, 48 n.17

O’Connor, Thomas Austin, 87, 88, 93 n.20Orozco Díaz, Emilio, 76 n.85Ortiz Lucio, Fray Juan, Flos Sanctorum,

52 n.30

Palomo, María del Pilar, 93 n.21, 96 n.3,101 n.19, 106 n.32, 110 n.41, 121,122, 123, 134

Paredes L., Alejandro, 89 n.10Parker A. A., 23 n.38Petrarchism, 23 n.38, n.40, 26 n.45,

27 n.49, 111 n.43Philip II, 44 n.3, 48, 56Philip III, 47–8, 51 n.28, 99 n.13Philip IV, 48, 51 n.28, 56, 73Prince, Albert, 103 n.25Purim, feast of, 15 n.18, 18

Racine, Jean, Esther, 13 n.13, 30 n.54, 31 n.57

Reichenberger, Arnold G., 88, 90 n.14Rivadeneira, Pedro de, Flos Sanctorum,

95 n.2

152 INDEX


Robbins, Jeremy, 136 n.24Rojas, Fernando de, La Celestina, 129 n.3Ross, Cecilia, 2

Sacks, Diane, 14 n.16Sáinz de Robles, Federico Carlos, 20

n.36, 50, 54Seneca, De Clementia, 25 n.43Ser/Parecer, 136 n.24Shervill, Robert, 2Sicroff, A. A., 14 n.16, 40, 42Simerka, Barbara, 11 n.8, 42Sito Alba, Manuel, 93 n.20Sloane, Robert, 88 n.6, 90Smith, Dawn L., 38 n.72Soufas, Teresa Scott, 26 n.45Stoll, Anita K., 38 n.72, 89, 92, 93 n.21St Thérèse of Lisieux, 48 n.15

Teresa de Ávila/Teresa de Jesús, 48 n.16, 73

Thacker, Jonathan, 89, 93 n.21Theatrum mundi, 92, 97, 100–2Ticknor, George, 74 n.81Tirso de Molina, 10 n.4

El burlador de Sevilla, 11 n.8, 71 n.72Torres, Isabel, 31 n.56Trueblood, Alan S., 88 n.6, 124 n.68

Valencia, Juan O., 32, 37Vallejo González, Irene, 54 n.36Vega Carpio, Lope de, 1, 5, 137 n.27, 140

El alcaide de Madrid, 65 n.61El arte nuevo de hacer comedias en

este tiempo, 23 n.37, 25 n.43, 83, 99n.14, 108 n.36, 112 n.44

El castigo sin venganza, 25 n.43, 28n.51, 99 n.14

El divino africano, 70 n.71El Isidro, 41 n.77, 50, 54, 56, 63 n.53,

65–8, 70 n.70, 72, 73–9El niño inocente de La Guardia, 37

n.68, 55 n.39, 110 n.40El perro del hortelano, 28 n.51El robo de Dina, 12 n.9, 83 n.107Fuento Ovejuna, 29 n.53, 38 n.72,

46 n.9Historia de Tobías, 12 n.9, 35 n.64, 36

n.67, 69 n.69

Justa poética y alabanzas justas, 49n.21, 50, 51 n.29

La buena guarda, 77 n.88, 113 n.45,119 n.56, 123 n.66, 125 n.72, 128–38

La dama boba, 130 n.10La hermosa Ester, 12–13, 14 n.16,

20–43La juventud de San Isidro, 45–6, 55, 56

59–61, 66–9, 72, 73–84La limpieza no manchada, 41 n.78, 45

n.5, 110 n.40La madre de la mejor, 55 n.39La niñez de San Isidro, 45–6, 55–73,

74, 77, 79, 81, 82, 83, 84La niñez del Padre Rojas, 55 n.39La vida de San Pedro Nolasco, 45 n.5Las mujeres sin hombres, 38 n.72Lo fingido verdadero, 95–127Los locos de Valencia, 26 n.45Los locos por el cielo, 46 n.10, 99 n.14,

110 n.40Los trabajos de Jacob, 12 n.9, 64 n.57,

83 n.107Relación de las fiestas en la

canonización de San Isidro, 45 n.6,n.7, 46 n.8, 49–50

San Diego de Alcalá, 46 n.9, 66 n.64San Isidro, labrador de Madrid, 12

n.10, 41 n.77, 50–1, 54–5, 59–61,66–9, 72, 73–83

Santa Teresa de Jesús, 123 n.66, 124n.70

Vega García-Luengos, Germán, 14 n.16, 20n.36, 41 n.77

Velázquez, Las Meninas, 136 n.24Vélez Quiñones, Harry, 89 n.11Villegas, Alonso de, Vida de San Isidro

labrador, 52 n.30Vulgate, 19

Wardropper, Bruce W., 88 n.6Weiner, Jack, 2, 13 n.12, 14 n.16, 15

n.20, 24 n.41, 37, 40–1, 42Weisinger, Herbert, 92Wilson, Stephen, 47 n.12, n.13

Xerxes I, 14 n.17

Zavala, Iris M., 23 n.38

INDEX 153


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