Honor from the Comic Perspective: Calderón's Comedias de capa y espada

Calderón's moral position with respect to honor is better defined in his comedias de capa y espada than in his honor tragedies. In the latter, characters are trapped by social conventions that they never consider discarding. They view honor as fate, and although they may recognize the injustice and even the absurdity of the honor code, they succumb to its demands. Because the honor hero never examines the nature of his own freedom, he is unable to take responsibility for his reaction to his wife's trespasses, real or imagined. While the honor plays do illustrate the blood-thirsty behavior to which strict adherence to the honor code leads, it is not clear to what extent Calderón sees his honor heroes as free to cast the code aside. From a moral and theological point of view, they are perfectly free, but from a social point of view, they are not.

The cloak-sword comedies are less ambiguous. The criticism of the honor fanatic is explicit, and blame for the catastrophe that nearly occurs as a result of his obsession is placed squarely on him. The cloak-sword comedies provide examples of sassy, clever heroines who work around the honor code and get away with it. These women outsmart honor-obsessed men and capture the sympathies of the audience. But the predicaments of the comic characters are as disconcerting as they are amusing, not only because we are aware that the same system of values leads to bloodshed in the tragedies, but also because these men and women seem to gain no insight from their experiences.