Two Recurring Themes In Castro's Plays

Rojas, Fernando de. La Celestina. At Tegucigalpa , Honduras (see Don Juan Theme). At San José, Costa Rica, by the Compania Mexicana de Teatro Clásico del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes.—ABC, Mar. 28, 1957. Rojas, Fernando de. La Celestina. Version by Huberto Pérez de la Ossa, directed by Luis Escobar, for the inauguration of the renovated Teatro Eslava, Madrid, May-July, 1957.—ABC, May 18, July 4, 1957; also Program, courtesy Arnold G. Reichenberger. Rueda, Lope de. Las aceitunas. At Málaga (see Moreto). Tirso de Molina. Santa Juana. At Palma de Mallorca (see Calderón). Vega, Lope de. El castigo sin venganza and La discreta enamorada. At Tegucigalpa, Honduras (see Don Juan Theme). Vega, Lope de. Le Chevalier d'Olmedo. French text by Albert Camus. At the Chateau d'Angers, France, 6e Festival d'Art Dramatique, June 21, 23, 26, 29.—Courtesy Arnold G. Reichenberger. Vega, Lope de. La discreta enamorada. At San Juan, Costa Rica (see Fernando de Rojas). Two Recurring Themes In Castro's Plays by William E. Wilson University of Washington Many Golden Age dramatists were not averse toward using the same themes and other dramatic elements again and again. Guillen de Castro was no exception, and in his practice of self-plagiarism he has left clues which can be of value in shedding light on the authorship of Ingratitud por amor and Las canas en el papel y dudoso en la venganza, plays which have not with certainty been attributed to him. A theme which recurs repeatedly in authentic Castro plays deals With an event in Spanish history—the marriage of King don Pedro el Católico of Aragon and doña María Ia Santa. Persuaded by certain ambassadors to marry this woman whom he had never seen, don Pedro was greatly disappointed when he discovered that Maria was older and less beautiful than he had hoped his bride would be. As a result, he refused to consummate the marriage, and indulged in amorous affairs with other women. The king's councilors , anxious that he should have a legitimate heir, arranged to deceive him into admitting the queen to his darkened bedchamber one night, while he was in reality expecting a visit from a young noble lady whom he had been courting. Castro's first use of this theme is in Los mal casados de Valencia. Elvira, disguised as a page, makes the following promise to Eugenia regarding the latter's husband, who is completely cold and indifferent toward her: Vente esta noche conmigo donde yo te llevaré, y contigo le pondré sin saber que está contigo. Que le goces y te goce sin saber que te ha gozado, tengo, señora, trazado. (II, 483b).1 Elvira plans to play the same trick on Alvaro and his wife Hipólita, all of which results in a highly confused climax. In El perfecto caballero we have a queen whose marriage has not been consummated, and whose husband is interested in one of his wife's ladies-in-waiting. The queen, desirous of having an heir, is reminded by one of her advisers of King don Pedro of Aragon and the way in which he was led to lie unknowingly with his wife (II, 148a). The queen, aided by her lady-in-waiting, deceives her husband as don Pedro had been deceived. This theme is alluded to in Cuánto se estima el honor (II, 97b), but it is not an integral part of the plot. El vicio en los extremos presents the situation of two neglected wives who plan to H have the philandering husband of one of them visit his own wife unknowingly at night. Cited as precedent is una Reina de Aragón * * * pues de su esposo obligada, hizo con él otro tanto. (III, 346a). There are, then, three plays by Castro in which a neglected wife, aided by the darkness, deceives her husband into lying with her, and a fourth play in which there is an allusion to this theme. The same theme also appears in Ingratitud por amor, which Bruerton lists as "Doubtful or not with certainty authentic,"2 although he does consider it to be "Probably by Castro...