Calderón's Charlatan of Honor: Refranero Wisdom and Its Condemnation of Gutierre

Through an examination of the proverbial basis of Calderón's characterization of Gutierre in El médico de su honra, this study provides more evidence for the increasingly strong case that the actions of the play's protagonist are not at all commendable. The complaints against unskilled doctors and physicians of death found in the Refraneros are dramatized by the association Calderón builds between those inept practitioners of medicine and Gutierre, the metaphorical physician of his honor. By basing this figure and the play's discourse on the lowly art form of the refrán, Calderón undermines the honor and nobility of his protagonist and allows the entire society to condemn Gutierre by means of the common and collective wisdom enunciated in the proverb lore. (TSS)