Lope de Vega's Use of Discretion: An Indication of a Change in Spanish Thought

In La vitoria de la honra Lope de Vega skillfully ranks three values the sixteenth- to seventeenth-century Spaniard esteemed most: pure blood, valor and discretion. In presenting discretion as the most valuable, he hints at the beginnings of an important psychological change in Spanish thought. Perhaps due to the socio-psychological and political climate of the time, and due in part to Lope's personal experiences, this play, while ostensibly giving lip service to the prevailing traditional values of lineage and honor, also questions them. The traditional values were inherently static: a man was the sum total of his inherited past and acted accordingly. In La vitoria de la honra the power the individual exhibits is due to his active discretion. The play's last scene demonstrates that honor depends on a continuing process of self-development. Man must focus not on «being» but on «becoming.» Lope thus aligns himself with those writers, such as Gracián, who stressed that a man's value depends on what he does.