A Rejoinder To: Matrimony In The Theatre Of Guillen De Castro

A Rejoinder To: Matrimony In The Theatre Of Guillen De Castro by Robert R. La Du Marquette University A recent article entitled Matrimony in the Theatre of Guillen de Castro, which appeared in the Bulletin of the Comediantes, X (Fall, 1958), 1-3, purports to: . . . re-examine matrimony in Castro's plays, not as isolated instances to be cited out of context, but as an intregal part of his theater, (p. 1) The author, Mr. Weiger, states: It is evident throughout Castro's plays that there are three conditions necessary for a happy marriage, the lack of any one of which inevitably spells doom for the married couple (p. 1) The three conditions that Mr. Weiger proposes are: 1) "the man and woman to be married must belong to the same social class"; 2) "the couple's ages should be reasonably equal"; 3) the man and woman to be married must consent to the marriage of their own free will. After citing certain examples from Castro 's plays, he concludes: Thus it has been shown that unhappy matrimony in Castro's theater is often caused by a disregard for one of the principles discussed above. Hence the conclusion that Guillen de Castro does not disdain matrimony per se, but bases many of his plays on the problems which cause marriage to fail. While I agree to the general truth of the three proposed conditions for marriage in the comedia, and while Mr. Weiger's conclusion is general enough to permit me to agree with it, I hope to show in the following pages that: 1) the lack of any one of the three conditions does not "inevitably spell doom for the married couple" in Castro 's theater; 2) the theme of disparity of the married couple's ages is so negligible in Castro's works that the second condition is not at issue in the consideration of matrimony in his theater; 3) the third proposed condition is violated so many times in Castro 's plays without the unhappy results that Mr. Weiger believes is inevitable, that the importance attached to this condition is not warranted. Additionally, there are certain factual errors in Mr. Weiger's article which will be noted below. On p. 1 of the article in question it is pointed out that those who marry should belong to the same social class. Then is added: At times this maxim can be unusually strict, as in Pagar en propia moneda, where Elena, daughter of the King, is seen kissing a count. Although it was only a kiss in return for a favor, the King calls it an afrenta that the Princess lowered herself to kiss a count (I, 98).1 If only to rush to the defense of a woman 's reputation, I would like to point out, for those readers not acquainted with the above mentioned play, that Elena was not seen kissing a count, that it was not a kiss in return for a favor, and that the King did not accuse her of giving the count a kiss. The references to the alleged act are five, and they occur in I, 96b; I, 98a; and I, 98b. In the first reference the action is described as follows: "Los brazos te quiero dar,/ y esta cadena guarda."; in the subsequent references the verb abrazar is used to describe the act involved. It is apparent that Elena does not reward the count for a favor (that of acting as a go-between), but with a simple embrace, not with a kiss. Furthermore , she unconsciously mitigates any undercurrents which this unaffected action might have had by giving the count something of monetary value—treating him, in other words, as the go-between that he is. On p. 2 of Mr. Weiger's article we read: The first prerequisite for a happy marriage , equal social status, is, with one 10 interesting exception, never violated. In El desengaño dichoso, the Duke Polineso , who had attempted the most serious of crimes—assassination of the King—receives as his only punishment an order to marry Dalinda, the Princess ' lady-in-waiting. . . . Thus the King is punishing the Duke not with matrimony itself...