La palabra vengada, Attributed to Zárate: More Evidence that It Is a Lost Play of Lope de Vega

In 1925, Manuel Machado published a previously unedited plan of a play by Lope de Vega called La palabra vengada. Written in Lope's own hand and totaling some 1700 words, it is quite detailed. Based on its location within Durán's codex of Lopean autographs, Machado believes the plan was composed in late 1628 or early 1629, and the comedia itself written shortly thereafter. A half century later, a play entitled La palabra vengada was included in Parte 44 of the Comedias escogidas (Madrid, 1678), where it bears the name of Fernando de Zárate, the alias assumed by Antonio Enríquez Gómez upon his clandestine return to Spain from exile in France around 1649. Except for the denouement and a few other minor differences, the play follows Lope's plan closely. This study examines features of Parte 44 that appear in Lope's works but not Enríquez's, features that indicate that it is indeed Lope's lost play. Among these features are 1) the large number of verse forms and the use of specific meters; 2) references to four historical and quasi-historical figures; and 3) the laudatory reference to the Fénix himself. (JBW)