Three Major Plays (43 page)

235
no one overhears:
the point here is that, if Casandra's illicit relationship with
Federico becomes the subject of common gossip and therefore public
knowledge, the honour and reputation of the Duke will be destroyed. In
Calderón
The Surgeon of Honour
the characters are constantly afraid of speaking their thoughts for fear of being overheard.

236
Recesses:
the reference is to two small rooms off the dressing-room in which
Casandra would keep her jewels, jars of cream, and suchlike.

237
The tiger:
see note on
Not tigresses!,
p. 56.

238
Medusa's glass . . . Circe:
in Greek mythology Medusa was the Gorgon whose head had the power of
turning to stone those who looked at her directly. When Perseus killed
her, he used his shield as a mirror in order to avoid her fatal gaze.
Circe was the enchantress who could turn men into beasts. The meaning
here is that Aurora, having seen such a terrible thing in the mirror,
has avoided the even worse fate of being married to Federico, who has
fallen under the spell of another Circe, i.e. Casandra.

239
melancholy:
see note to p. 209. Aurora has just stated that Federico has paid no
attention to her for four months. His melancholic state is therefore one
which is deeply ingrained.

240
Tiberius:
the Roman emperor in question was in fact Claudius, who had his wife
Messalina put to death for adultery. The incident is related by
Suetonius in his
Lives of the Caesars
(v. 39).

Messala:
Messala Corvinus, described in Pliny
Natural History
( vii. 90), is said to have forgotten his own name in consequence of a fall.

Biscay:
one of the four areas of the Basque country, of which the capital is
Bilbao and to the north of which is the Bay of Biscay itself. The
Basques, having a language of their own which was quite different from
any other, frequently had problems with the grammar and pronunciation
of Spanish and were mocked on that account. In Lope's original the
Biscayan is such a person, using the second person of the verb for the
first.

241 [
aside
]: this is
not an indication that Federico is speaking to himself or to the
audience, unheard by Casandra, but that Federico and Casandra are
speaking to each other well away -- apart -- from the servants.

244
The Church's enemies:
see note to p. 223.

Trajan:
Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, Roman Emperor from AD 98 to 117, was born in
Spain. He was responsible for many notable foreign conquests.

245
The mighty lion:
some critics seem to think that the reference is to the Pope, but it
is surely to the Duke, in whose service Ricardo has fought.

King Saul and David:
the events concerning Saul and David are recounted in 1 Samuel, 18. Saul had made David captain of his troops,

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and after his victories the women of Israel sang his praises, claiming
that Saul had killed thousands, but David tens of thousands.

246
well-known story:
the story told by Batin is one of Aesop's fables. It was familiar in
Spain in both Latin and Spanish from the end of the fifteenth century.

247
Hector:
see note to p. 109.

248
religious brotherhood:
the original refers to Camándula, which was a religious order founded
by Saint Romualdo at the beginning of the eleventh century in
Camaldoli, near Florence.

250
King David:
the events referred to here are described in the second book of
Samuel. In order to possess Bathsheba, David arranged the death of her
husband, Uriah. Thereupon the prophet Nathan predicted that punishment
for David's sins would be brought upon him through the members of his
own family. The prophecy was subsequently realized when David's
daughter, Tamar, was raped by her half-brother Amnon and he in turn
was murdered by her brother Absalom, who then rebelled against David.

251
draw | Attention:
if the Duke calls witnesses, he will virtually ensure that the
offence committed against him will become public knowledge, thereby
guaranteeing his public disgrace.

254
easily | Convinced:
the answer to his question is, of course, that he himself has had
long experience of treachery and deception in matters of love.

258
the crime is quickly buried:
the predicament of the Duke is similar to that of Don Gutierre Solós in Calderón
The Surgeon of Honour
.
Gutierre believes -- mistakenly -- that his wife Mencía is having an
affair with Prince Enrique. Determined that the matter should not
become public knowledge, which would inevitably mean dishonour, Gutierre
arranges that she be bled to death by a doctor and that the death be
reported as an accident. In this way Gutierre buries the offence
against his honour along with Mencía's body.

260
harsh and cruel rule:
the complaints against the harsh and ruthless demands of honour are frequent in Golden Age plays. In Calderón
The Painter of Dishonour
the dishonoured husband, Don Juan Roca, similarly curses the inventor
of such a merciless and tyrannical code. A similar attack on honour
occurs in Lope
The Dog in the Manger
.

robbed of his good name:
dishonour very often stemmed not from the actions of an individual
but from an offence done to that individual. See note to p. 214.

261
A punishment without revenge:
if the Duke is simply the instrument through which God punishes the
wrongdoers, there can be no element of personal revenge in his actions.
The fact that his honour will be avenged in the process is less
important, he suggests, than God's vengeance.

262
Artaxerxes:
the reference is probably to Artaxerxes III, King of Persia

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from 359 to 338 BC, who, in order to obtain the throne for himself, murdered his brothers and most of his relatives.

262
Torquatus, Brutus, Darius:
Manlius Torquatus had his son executed when he took part in single
combat, strictly forbidden by his father. Lucius Junius Brutus,
founder of the Roman Republic, had his sons put to death when they
conspired against him. Darius II, King of Persia, killed his own
brother when the latter attempted to seize the throne.

264
Restores it:
the Duke's honour is restored only in part by the spilling of
Casandra's blood. It will be restored in full only with the death of
Federico. Even so, it is possible that, since others know of their
affair, it will still become public knowledge and that the Duke's
attempt to conceal his dishonour will be in vain.

266
a timely lesson for all Spain:
the lesson to be learned by the Spanish audiences at Lope's play was
as much to do with the lustful, sinful nature of the Duke's life as
with the behaviour of Casandra and Federico. They are punished with
death, but the Duke's life will be darkened by the knowledge that he
is responsible in more ways than one for the death of his only son.

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