Three Major Plays (38 page)

40
baggage
: the Spanish word
bagaje
refers specifically to the equipment, food, and clothing which the
army carries with it. The English word, on the other hand, has the
added meaning of loose woman, which fits in perfectly here.

S.D.
All exit
: the location changes with the entry of Laurencia and Frondoso to the village of Fuente Ovejuna itself.

41
I kiss your feet
:
the phrase is a formal one most often associated with the nobility
and the Court. Used here by a peasant, it points perhaps to the
nobility of Frondoso's love for Laurencia, as well as to his adoration
of her.

S.D.
Alderman
: the Alderman here is Juan Rojo.

42
The Catholic Kings
: the title of los Reyes Católicos was granted to Fernando and Isabel by Pope Alexander VI in 1494.

rod of office
: Esteban carries his staff of office, the symbol of his authority, throughout the play.

44
always obeys me?
:
the relationship between father and daughter and father and
prospective son-in-law is shown to be based on the kind of respect and
loyalty which is totally absent from the Commander's relationship with
his subjects, towards whom he too should show respect. On the theme of
love in the play, see the Introduction, p. xvi.

at your age
:
Esteban's age is not given but he is probably in his forties, and
therefore considered quite old at the time of the play's action.

45
four thousand maravedis
:
it is difficult to know which kind of coin is alluded to here. There
were in fact 'maravedis' of gold, silver, and bronze, all of different
value and also fluctuating in their value from time to time. The word
itself is of Arabic origin and yet another example of the profound
impact on Spanish life of Muslim influence over eight centuries.

S.D.
Enter the Master
:
the following scene takes place away from Fuente Ovejuna. The
happiness of Laurencia and Frondoso coincides, significantly, with the
triumph of the Catholic Kings, to whom the villagers are loyal, and
with the defeat of Rodrigo Téllez Girón and his followers, all of them
disloyal to Fernando and Isabel.

the flag of Calatrava
: the flag would at this point be on stage.

46
the highest towers
:
at this point in the action the flags or banners of Castile could
well have been displayed in the balconies or gallery high above the
back of the stage.

S.D.
Magistrate, and Juan Rojo
:
the magistrate mentioned here is a second magistrate, the other being
Esteban. Juan Rojo is not included in Lope's stage-direction, even
though he is involved in this scene. The location is probably the
square of Fuente Ovejuna.

47
pumped
: this would have been done by means of a hollow tube of wood or metal which was attached to a small bag of leather.

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47
Such dreadful poetry
:
Mengo is here the literary critic and in this respect voices Lope's
own opinion on bad poets. Controversies of this kind were, of course,
quite common at the time, frequently involving those who advocated a
relatively clear and uncomplicated style and those whose preference
was for a more ornate and complex kind of poetry.

48
as one!
:
the harmony between Frondoso and Laurencia anticipates that between
Fernando and Isabel, emphasized in the song in Act Three (see 3.338).
Consequently, it links the main and the sub-plot and also draws
attention to the disruptive influence of the Commander both in the lives
of Laurencia and Frondoso and in the political events concerning the
Catholic Kings.

The village-girl
: in the Spanish original the song is characterized by assonance in alternate lines:

Al val de Fuente Ovejuna
la niña en cabello b
a
j
a
;
el caballero la sigue
de la Cruz de Calatr
a
v
a
. . .

In the translation I have opted for rhyme or near rhyme in alternate lines.

49
S.D. Enter the Commander
:
a wonderfully dramatic moment. In the song the village-girl is not
named, nor is the knight who lusts after her. The sudden appearance of
Fernán Gómez at the very end of the song therefore transforms the words
of the song into a pressing and ominous reality.

50
His father
:
a rather strange line in the sense that there is no reference
anywhere in the play to Frondoso's father being a judge (though he
may, of course, be one).

His crime
:
Fernán GÓmez attempts to conceal his personal motives in taking
revenge against Frondoso by pretending that the latter's offence has
been against him as a representative of the Order of Calatrava, and
therefore against the Grand Master himself.

51
virtuous nature
:
the implication is that those of noble birth should also possess
nobility of soul and spirit. There is no sarcasm in Esteban's remark.
He is simply expressing his genuine expectation of a man in the
Commander's position of responsibility towards his vassals.

disorder: one of the first tasks which confronted Isabel when she
became ruler of Castile was the government of the three Orders of
Calatrava, Alcántara, and Santiago. By the fifteenth century the
orders had become immensely powerful and a threat to the monarchy
itself, while rivalry for the Grand Masterships was a constant source
of strife among the nobility. By 1499 Fernando, husband of Isabel, had
become Grand Master of all three orders, and in 1523 they were
incorporated into the crown of Castile by papal edict.

crosses
: the reference to the cross, which is of course emblazoned on the

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Commander's cloak, is another reminder of the Christian virtues which
he should embody, and a striking contrast to his subsequent abuse of
Esteban's office of magistrate.

51
overlord:
Esteban recognizes his responsibilities to his overlord in a way
which the Commander does not in relation to his vassals. He is therefore
prepared to accept the ill-treatment of the Commander in the
expectation that God will ultimately see justice done.

52
kettle-drums:
the kind of drum described here -- in Spanish atabal -- was
semi-spherical in shape. Two such drums side by side, therefore, suggest
to Mengo the two cheeks of his backside, on which a much harsher
rhythm has been played.

53 S.D.
Enter Esteban . . .:
the meeting which opens the Act evidently takes place in the village
council chamber behind closed doors, hence Juan Rojo's subsequent
remark 'This meeting must be secret'.

S.D.
Alderman:
this is the same alderman mentioned at the beginning of Act Two, whose name is Cuadrado.

54
Córdoba:
some 55 miles from Fuente Ovejuna. See note to 7.

55
Take arms against our overlord?:
to rebel against the Commander would be to overturn the natural order of things, as is the case in Shakespeare's
Macbeth
when Macbeth murders his overlord, Duncan the King.

56
You are responsible:
the father, as head of the family, was responsible for its honour and
reputation. When a daughter married, that responsibility passed, of
course, to her husband. Laurencia's abduction by the Commander was not
only an affront to the family name but was also something that would
become a source of gossip and speculation as to whether she had been
raped and therefore further 'dishonoured'.

precious stone:
honour was regarded as precious, something to be guarded with one's
life, for without honour life itself became meaningless. In his play
Peribáez, 3.2614-65, honour is also presented by Lope as something
essentially fragile, comparable to a reed or cane which may be easily
broken.

The name of our town:
the original name of the town was, in fact, Fuente Abejuna, 'well of
the bees', but over a period of time seems to have changed to Fuente
Ovejuna, the 'sheep-well'.

Not tigresses!:
in Classical literature tigresses had the reputation of pursuing the
hunter who had stolen their cubs and of sacrificing their lives in the
attempt to rescue them. See also Punishment Without Revenge, 3.83.

distaffs:
a distaff is a rotating vertical staff which holds the skein of wool
in hand-spinning, a task traditionally undertaken by women and therefore
symbolic of female activity. Laurencia suggests that the men of the
village are more suited to the passive domestic tasks of women.

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57
Amazons:
a legendary race of female warriors in ancient Scythia. The River
Amazon is believed to have acquired its name when early Spanish
explorers discovered that the women of the tribes who lived on its banks
fought with the ferocity of men.

59
No Cid or Rodamonte:
El Cid (the Arabic
Sayyidi
means 'my lord') was the name given to Rodrigo Díaz de Bivar, who was
born in the city of Burgos in 1030 and died in Valencia in 1099. He
was, perhaps, the exemplary Christian warrior during the Reconquest,
one of his greatest feats being the capture of Valencia from the
Moors. The exploits of El Cid are the subject of the anonymous
popular epic poem
Poema de mío Cid
(Poem of my Cid),
which was probably written in the middle of the twelfth century.
Rodamonte, King of Sarza, also noted for his bravery, is a character
in Ariosto's
Orlando furioso
( 1516).

S.D.
Enter Frondoso:
the action moves from the council chamber of Fuente Ovejuna to the
house of the Commander, evidently a substantial property, for it has
battlements from which Frondoso is to be hanged. The house itself
would not have been represented on stage any more than the council
chamber, but would have to be imagined by the audience. the residence:
presumably the house is not the personal property of Fernán Gómez but
belongs to the Order of Calatrava.

61 S.D.
The women enter:
the location is now outside Fernán Gómez's house as the women arrive.

62
Slash his face!:
see 2.161-2, where Flores to have given Frondoso a present, 'from ear
¶ To ear'. Although there is no other reference in the text to
Frondoso's having received such an injury, his anger here points to a
desire to inflict a similar injury on Ortuño.

63
Our King!:
the main and sub-plots are cleverly linked here, for the villagers'
victory over their enemy, the Commander, immediately becomes, with the
entrance of Fernando and Isabel, an account of their triumph over
their foe, the supporters of the King of Portugal.

64 S.D.
Enter Flores:
we have been told earlier (3.29-30) that Fernando and Isabel will be
in Córdoba, some 55 miles from Fuente Ovejuna. Flores has therefore
travelled that distance in spite of his wounds and, it seems, in the
space of a day and a night (see 3.311-12).

The ruler of Castile:
Fernando of Aragon married Isabel of Castile in 1469, but she did not
succeed to the throne of Castile until 1479, three years after the
Fuente Ovejuna uprising.

these terrible \ Events:
much of the detail of Flores's account corresponds to the description
of events set out in Francisco de Rades's Chrónica . . . (See the
Introduction, p. xiii), though Flores, of course, places the blame
entirely on the villagers and presents the Commander as an innocent
victim.

65
orders to investigate:
although he is shocked by Flores's account and anxious to punish wrongdoing, Fernando does not allow his emotions to

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rule his head. Lope presents him as an exemplary king, intent on
discovering the truth before taking action. In this respect Fernando is
reminiscent of King Enrique in Peribñez, who, though initially incensed
by the account of the death of a nobleman at the hands of a peasant,
in the end makes a fair and just judgement.

65 S.D.
fixed on a lance:
the Chrónica makes no reference to this.

Long life to King Fernando:
this song in praise of the Catholic Kings echoes the earlier song in
celebration of the wedding of Laurencia and Frondoso. To that extent
it creates a link between the two couples.

66
Saint Michael:
the Archangel Michael, who, after death, led righteous souls into the presence of God.

67
a roasting:
a reference to the practice of smearing hot bacon-fat on the open
wounds of individuals who had been flogged, in particular Jews and
negroes.

outside the Council Chamber:
as the head of Fernán Gómez is taken down, so the royal coat of arms
is raised, pointing, as Frondoso observes (3.381), to the 'dawn of our
new day!' and the end of the terror inflicted on the villagers by
their overlord.

bright as any sun:
just as Fernán Gómez's behaviour has been described in images
associated with darkness and predatory birds and animals, so the rule
of the Catholic Kings is presented in terms of light and illumination.
As the monarch occupied the supreme position in the hierarchy of human
beings, so the sun was supreme amongst the planets.

68
Fuente Ovejuna did it!:
in de Rades's
Chrónica
the villagers are said to have called out 'Fuente Ovejuna'. The
phrase 'Fuente Ovejuna did it!' ('Fuente Ovejuna lo hizo') is
described by Sebastián de Covarrubias Horozco in his
Tesoro de la lengua castellana
of 1611 as having become common usage when the intention was to
indicate communal rather than individual guilt in a particular crime.

to be tortured:
the implication is clearly that torture was an automatic part of any interrogation by the authorities.

69
The screw:
either a reference to the rack, on which the prisoner would be
stretched out and screws tightened in order to extend further his or her
limbs until the pain led to a confession, or to thumbscrews.

S.D.
the Alderman:
see note to 53.

you could be put to death:
messengers who are the bringers of bad news traditionally incurred the wrath of those to whom the news was delivered.

70 Allegiance:
the crown had given Fuente Ovejuna to Rodrigo Téllez Girón's father
in 1460, but five years later had placed it under the jurisdiction of
Córdoba.

Control my rage:
despite the fact that he has been persuaded to attack Ciudad Real, the
Master, though young and impetuous, shows signs of growing prudence,
in contrast to Fernán Gómez.

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