Honor and the Wife-Killers of Calderon

In both situations the role of Prince Henry of Trastamara is of paramount importance. At Montiel it is Henry who plunges the dagger into his halfbrother 's body after a companion has helped him to gain the advantage in their struggle.7 In El médico de su honra Henry's total disregard for his vassal's reputation forces the punctilious Gutierre into the ritual murder and thereby fulfills two predictions stated earlier in the play. The first is Arias' prediction that the heaven will punish a man who has been "necio, escrupuloso y con extremo celoso" even before marriage. The second is Henry's own prediction in Act I that his fall from his horse was not accidental, but rather a "divino decreto" (246). Indeed , Prince Henry is as much the instrument of divine vengeance in the case of the overzealous Gutierre in El médico de su honra as he is later for the tyrannical King Peter in the historical drama at Montiel. In addition to his symbolic role as the agent of divine justice, we have seen the importance of Prince Henry's actions and influence on the other characters throughout the development of dramatic tension that culminates in Mencia's death. Although his role has often been overlooked by critics, Henry of Trastamara is unquestionably a major character in Calderóne El medico de su honra. NOTES *I wish to thank Dr. Bruce W. Wardropper for his encouragement to me in the preparation of this study, which I began while participating in his 1975 NEH summer seminar "Comedy in the Drama of the Spanish Golden Age." 1 Albert E. Sloman considers Henry the only willfully evil character in the play. See his study of Calderón's play and its source play of the same title attributed to Lope de Vega, in The Dramatic Craftsmanship of Calderón (Oxford: The Dolphin Book Company , 1958), 15-58. 2 Alexander A. Parker, "El médico de su honra as Tragedy," Hispanófila, Número especial dedicado a la comedia, I (Spring, 1974), 5. 3 Bruce W. Wardropper, "El problema de la responsabilidad en la comedia de capa y espada de Calderón," in Actas del segundo congreso internacional de hispanistas, ed. Jaime Sánchez Romeralo and Norbert Poulussen (Nijmegen: Universidad de Nimega, 1967) 692-3. 4 Pedro Calderón de la Barca, El médico de su honra, in Teatro español del Siglo de Oro, ed. Bruce W. Wardropper (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1970), lines 243-7. Numbered Une references in the text correspond to this edition of the play. 5 This episode has been commented upon by many critics of the play. Its foreshadowing of future events adds an element of historical interest to the play. Henry of Trastamara usurped the throne of Castile from his half-brother King Peter and killed him in hand-to-hand combat at the Casde of Montiel on March 23, 1369. 6 Frances Exum, "Lope's King Pedro: The Divine Right of Kings vs. The Right of Resistance ," Hispania, 57 (1974), 428-33. 7 Juan de Mariana mentions this aid given to Henry by one of his followers: "que les dio vuelta y le puso [a Enrique] encima," Historia de España, BAE, XXX (Madrid: Editorial Hernando, 1931), 487. HONOR AND THE WIFE-KILLERS OF CALDERÓN Frank P. Casa, University of Michigan The wife-killers of Calderón persist in the consciousness of readers of the Comedia as dark, solitary figures entrapped in self-imposed isolation. Their irrevocable act of destruction remains, in spite of many excellent attempts at interpretation, a disquieting and alien gesture of absolute self-assertion. We 6 think we understand the cultural imperatives that move these personages, but our continuously changing attidues toward them are proof of our bewilderment and unacceptance.1 Having lost our confidence in the absoluteness of many values, we are uncomfortable with them and with anyone who dares to sustain them. Having accepted the principle of relative truth, we reject those who maintain its oneness. Having dismissed the concept of a hierarchy of values, we can no longer perceive the boundaries of each. So the murders remain either confusing...