Three Major Plays (7 page)

Authors: Lope de Vega,Gwynne Edwards

Tags: #Fiction, #Drama, #Classics, #English; Irish; Scottish; Welsh, #Continental European

CHRONOLOGY OF LOPE DE VEGA'S LIFE

1562	Lope Félix de Vega Carpio born 25 November in Madrid.
1577	A student at the University of Alcalá de Henares.
1581?	Birth of Tirso de Molina, another major Golden Age dramatist.
1582	Leaves Alcalá de Henares.
1583	Begins a five-year affair with Elena Osorio, daughter of an actor- manager.
1588	Banished from Madrid for eight years and from Castile for two years as a result of libellous attacks on Elena Osorio and her family. Marries Isabel de Urbina by proxy. Sails with the Armada in the attack on England and is one of the few survivors.
1595	Death of Isabel de Urbina.
1596	Relationship with Antonia Trillo de Armento leads to prosecution.
1598	Lope marries Juana de Guarda, daughter of a Madrid butcher. Extra-marital affair with Micaela de Luján, wife of an actor. Death of Philip II, succeeded by his son, Philip III.
1600	Birth in Madrid of Calderón de la Barca, one of the great Golden Age dramatists.
1605	Lope Peribáñez possibly written in this year. Part I of Cervantes Don Quijote .
1609	Publication in Madrid of Lope's poetic essay, The New Art of Writing Plays .
1612?	Lope Fuente Ovejuna .
1613	Death of Juana de Guarda. Lope becomes a priest. Writes The Dog in the Manger . Cervantes Exemplary Novels published.
1615	Extra-marital affair with Marta de Nevares Santoyo. Publication of Part II of Cervantes Don Quijote .
1616	Death of Cervantes.
1620	Possible date for Lope The King is the Best Judge and The Knight from Olmedo .

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1621	Death of Philip III, succeeded by Philip IV.
1630	Publication of Tirso de Molina's Don Juan play, The Trickster of Seville .
1631	Writes Punishment Without Revenge .
1632	Death of Marta de Nevares Santoyo.
1634	Lope's daughter, Antonia, elopes with a courtier, and his son, Lope, is drowned in the Caribbean.
1635	Lope dies in Madrid on 27 August, aged 72.

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FUENTE OVEJUNA

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THE CHARACTERS OF THE PLAY

Fernán Gómez, the Grand Commander of Calatrava
	Ortuño
Flores, his servants
The Master of Calatrava, Rodrigo Téllez Girón
	Pascuala
Laurencia, peasant-women
	Mengo
Barrildo
Frondoso, peasants
Juan Rojo, alderman, Laurencia's uncle
Esteban, magistrate, Laurencia's father
Alonso, magistrate
King Fernando of Aragón
Queen Isabel of Castile
Manrique, Master of Santiago
An Alderman ^*
Cimbranos, a soldier
Jacinta, a peasant-woman
Boy
Peasants
A Judge
Musicians

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ACT ONE
^*

Enter the
COMMANDER,
with his servants
FLORES
and
ORTUÑO.

COMMANDER. Doesn't the Master
^*know I'm here?

FLORES. He does.

ORTUÑO. Now that he's older, he's much More high and mighty.

COMMANDER. But he surely knows That I am Fernán Gómez de Guzmán?

FLORES. He's still a boy. It's not surprising.

COMMANDER. But if not my name, my rank of Grand Commander.
^*

ORTUÑO. There are those who advise Him not to show respect.

COMMANDER. Then he'll not Win much affection. Respect's the key

To men's good will; discourtesy merely

Makes enemies.

ORTUÑO. If such men knew How everyone detests them and longs To see them grovel, they'd sooner die.

FLORES. Such people are so hard to take!

Such surliness and lack of manners.

Amongst equals it's pure folly; Towards inferiors sheer tyranny.
But you shouldn't take it to heart, sir. He's still too young to know
what it means To be loved by others.

COMMANDER. The day

The sword was placed around his waist,

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The cross of Calatrava
^*on His breast, it should have been enough To teach him due respect.

FLORES. You'll soon know If they've turned him against you.

ORTUÑO. Look

This way. Find out for yourself.

COMMANDER. Let's hear What he has to say.

The
MASTER
enters with his attendants.

MASTER. Forgive me, Fernán Gómez de Guzmán! I've only just been told Of your arrival.

COMMANDER. I have good reason to

Complain. My love and background led Me to expect much more respect
From you, Master of Calatrava, Towards your most obedient servant
and Commander.

MASTER. I was expecting the warmest

Of welcomes, Fernando.
^*Let me Embrace you.

COMMANDER. You are right to honour me. How often have I risked my life On your account, before the Pope

Acknowledged you had come of age!

MASTER. Of course! And I swear by the cross Displayed on your breast
and mine That I am grateful, and honour you As much as my own
father.

COMMANDER. Then I Am happy.

MASTER. What news of the war?

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COMMANDER. Hear my account and you shall learn Where your duty lies.

MASTER. Proceed, then. I Am listening.

COMMANDER. Rodrigo Téllez Girón, Master of Calatrava,

You owe your high position to

Your brave and famous father.
^*When you Were only eight, he stepped Aside, granting you his great authority, Which was then ratified by kings

And great commanders too, as well

As papal bulls, first from Pius,
^*then From Paul,
^*but on condition that Juan Pacheco, Master of Santiago, shared Your rule. Now that he's dead and you,

Though still so young, govern alone,

Do not forget that you are duty bound To carry out the wishes of
Your family. They insist that, after The death of King Henry the
Fourth,
^*

His subjects swear allegiance to

Alonso King of Portugal, Who, through his wife and consort, Juana,
^*The child of Henry, rightly claims Castile. And though Fernando,
^*Prince

Of Aragon, contests that claim,

And seeks the kingdom for his wife, And Henry's sister, Isabel,
^*Your family favours Juana, at present in Your cousin's power, denying that

Her claims are false. So I am here

To urge you call upon the Knights Of Calatrava, assemble them in Almagro, and take Ciudad Real,
^*A town that, placed between Castile

And Andalusia, faces both.

We'll not need many men. The soldiers who

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Protect it are its own inhabitants, Together with some minor nobles, Who both defend the name of Isabel

And call Fernando their king.

You would do well, Rodrigo, to astonish those Who think you are too
young and that Great Cross too much for you to bear. Remember your
ancestors,

The Counts of Urueña,
^*and take

As your example their great deeds. Villena's Marquesses
^*as well, And other captains too whose feats The wings of Fame can scarcely bear.

Take your sword, so far unstained

By blood, and turn it red as the Cross Upon your breast. How else
can I Address you as Master of the Cross If the one is red and not
the other?

Let both of them be crimson, and you,

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Worthy Girón, crown the immortal temple of Your famous ancestors.

MASTER. Fernán Gómez, You may be sure that in this conflict I Support my family, for their cause

Is just. If you want proof, you'll see

105

Me march upon Ciudad Real, And like a bolt from heaven, destroy
Its walls. My uncle may be dead, But no one should assume, because

I'm still so young, that with his death

110

My courage vanished too. I'll take My sword and make the brightness
of Its blade the colour of this Cross, Bathed in blood. From where
you govern, can You provide some soldiers?

COMMANDER. Not many;

115

In fact my vassals. But if they are obliged, They'll fight as fiercely as lions.

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In Fuente Ovejuna* they
Are humble people, more used to fields
And ploughshares than battles.

MASTER
. Is that

120

Where you live?

COMMANDER
. In times as dangerous
As these, it's where I chose to live. Summon
Your men. No one shall remain behind.

MASTER
. You shall see me ride out, my lance

At the ready.

125