The Ruling Temper of Calderon's La dama duende

THE RULING TEMPER OF CALDERONE LA DAMA DUENDE Robert ter Horst, University of Arizona Before Calderón permits the action of La dama duende to begin, he detains the public with a rather lengthy conversation between the play's male protagonist , Don Manuel Enriquez, and the work's comic genius, Cosme Catiboratos . Master and servant have arrived in Madrid too late to witness the public festivities celebrating the baptism , on November 4, 1629, of Philip the IVs heir-apparent, Baltasar Carlos. Naturally, they are disappointed. But Cosme tries to cheer his master up with a comic tirade about impetuous tragic figures. If they had only taken a bit more time, the gracioso declares, they might have avoided disaster. And the disaster that Cosme is determined to avoid is missing the good dinner and comfortable bed he assumes are waiting at the house of Don Juan de Toledo. Don Juan, as Manuel now explains, is the friend of his student days and a comrade-in-arms during an Italian campaign . Having learned that the King has rewarded Don Manuel's military service with a civil government, Don Juan has invited his old friend to stay with him while Manuel is in Madrid. Thus we learn that Cosme and his master are making their way to Don Juan's residence. It is only then that occurs the first in a series of violent and confusing events that constitute the vigorous, sustained action of La dama duende. It is, understandably, the action of the play which has attracted the few critics who have written about it.1 My view is, however, that the events of La dama duende can be misleading and that the observations with which it begins provide essential clues to the interpretation of what takes place. Principally, I hope to show that this play demonstrates the need for firm rational control over human impulse and action and that Don Manuel is the person who, at great risk, achieves the power to guide events. A special, CaIderonian concept of comedy is the artistic means by which this broad governance is realized: comedy is born when tragedy is averted. However, if Manuel represents La dama duende's aspiration to order, Doña Angela describes its path to chaos: "¿Es dama o es torbellino?" (I, 113)2 is Cosme's reaction to her first, whirlwind appearance. Angela in her element is thus the play's antagonist, while Manuel and his characteristic form are its protagonist. Since Angela is the mainspring of La dama duende's events, permit me a brief recounting of its plot. Angela is the only sister of Manuel's friend, Don Juan. She is young, beautiful, widowed and under a cloud, for her husband, a collector of customs in a Spanish port, has died owing the king considerable sums. His widow has come to Madrid incognita and is staying with her brothers while she tries to arrange a settlement of her debts. Angela chafes under Luis and Juan's extremely close supervision . Indeed, Manuel's arrival makes this difficult situation explosive, because Juan, unwilling to trust either his sister or his friend, immures Angela in her own quarters and does not reveal her presence to Manuel. A similar decision by Pedro Crespo in El alcalde de Zalamea leads to tragic consequences for his daughter Isabel. Nonetheless, even before Manuel 68 reaches her house, Angela appoints him her savior. As a distraction from her brothers' severities, Angela has taken to slipping out of the house tapada and engaging in public repartee with groups of intrigued males. Her younger brother joins one such corro. Angela falls silent and departs. Luis follows her. Angela encounters Don Manuel and begs him to ward off her pursuer. Manuel obliges but finally has to duel with Luis to keep his word. The rest of the play's action follows this pattern. Angela's heedless behavior threatens her small world more and more gravely until the balance can be redressed only by a fight to the death between Manuel and Luis or by marriage between Angela and Manuel. Marriage is better than death. But obviously La dama duende's dénouement is somewhat lacking in high festivity...