"FUENTE OVEJUNA"   Term Paper ID:18697 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: (Lope de Vega). Analyzes play on 15th Cent. Spanish politics. Major themes, critical views, characters, action.... More...

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Paper Abstract: (Lope de Vega). Analyzes play on 15th Cent. Spanish politics. Major themes, critical views, characters, action. Paper Introduction: The purpose of this research is to examine Fuente Ovejuna by Lope de Vega. The plan of the research will be to set forth the major themes that emerge in the plot of the play, and then to discuss certain major ideas of critics with respect to Fuente Ovejuna. Additionally, the criticism of Fuente Ovejuna will be discussed based on a current reading of the play, with a view toward suggesting the impact that the play's pattern of ideas and the means by which the ideas emerge may have. Fuente Ovejuna is set in fifteenth-century provincial Spain, at the moment of history when the nation of Spain was emerging, owing to the unification of the crowns of Aragon and Castile under Ferdinand and Isabella and to the dominance of the Spanish over the Portuguese throne on the Iberian peninsula. Fuente Ovejuna, an outlying village, is occupied by troops of pro- Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Vol 1. Colford notes "a kind of collectivehonor which Lope cleverly couples with patriotic loyalty to the CatholicMonarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella" (Colford xv). Indeed, such lines asMengo's "Our folk will rally at a single cry, For all agree the tyrants nowmust die!" (III.3) has the ring of a people's revolution about it that isperfectly consistent with twentieth-century notions of political change.But this is cited in one way or another as a "tempting" Marxistmisinterpretation (Wardropper 798). The historical background of Fuente Ovejuna is an important part ofits plot because it is crucial to a modern understanding of the themes thatemerge in the play. Colford alignshimself with more modern interpretation as well: Quite to the contrary, Fuente Ovejuna is studded with passages that extol obedience to constituted authority, particularly to the monarchy. You cluck like chickens while you let your wives And daughters be enjoyed by other men! "Vega Carpio." The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. Laurencia's searing indictment of the villagers'cowardice after she has been violated by the Commander and his men is alsothe philosophical argument that claims for the peasantry--including women--as much as for any part of society a fundamental entitlement to honor. Varey, who cautions againstinterpolating later ages' political notions into classical drama, alsoreflects more current critical judgment: "As recent criticism hasdemonstrated, Lope's position is conservative rather than revolutionary:the brutal overlord is removed because he disrupts the harmony of society,failing in his duties to the king above him as well as to commoners beneathhim. vii-xvi.Gassner, John. Enraged and shamed by hisdaughter's outburst, Esteban leads the men on a raid of the Commander'squarters, and they rescue Frondoso and his friend Mengo from torture.Joining them are village women, led by Laurencia; invoking the names ofFerdinand and Isabella, the villagers kill the Commander. My honor calls me, yet I go with shame; For honor's sake I must not take offense (III.16) There speaks the would-be feudal lord who sees the handwriting on thenationalistic wall and so becomes Spain's loyal subject. 3rd ed. New York: Barron's Educational Series, 1969.Varey, J.E. Colford. Within a few years the royal writ ran unchallenged throughout the land. "Spain: Golden Age." The Reader's Encyclopedia of World Drama. The reason for this delicacy of statement,particularly in view of Mengo's declaration, immediately following, thatJacinta had been forced "to his will most bestially," is unclear. For the Commander, bound in theory to a code of chivalry, hasviolated the code; this opens him to morally if not politically justifiableassassination, carried out by the people, against spuriously noble tyrants,and in the name of the overlord of all nobles, the King. I even put small boys ten years of age Upon the rack: it was impossible To learn a word despite all promises And cunning tricks. There is no hintwhatever that the torture itself is inappropriate. 3rd ed. Indismissing the case for lack of evidence, the King actually takes littleaccount of the reasons for the revolt, focusing rather on the fact that thevillage has declared its loyalty to him. Additionally, the criticism ofFuente Ovejuna will be discussed based on a current reading of the play,with a view toward suggesting the impact that the play's pattern of ideasand the means by which the ideas emerge may have. The social and political position of character groupsis fundamental to an understanding of the emotional impact of the play.There are three principal groups of note in the play: the peasantry, theroyal court of Ferdinand and Isabella, and the provincial Iberian nobility,represented by the Commander. To be sure, the play depictspeasants as having psychological integrity that is usually associated withthe honor of nobility. Rather, they prove that Lope understood the dramatic valueof complexity, as well as the reality of the Spanish political arena.Further, the pattern of action in the play shows the profound politicalconservatism that informs the play. Still less do the peasants under a torture they know has beenauthorized by the King have a word to say against him. London: Oxford UP, 1972. Put spindles in your belts instead of swords! in defence of their interests. By Lope de Vega. To the degree the royal decisions of Ferdinand drive the action ofthe play, they support the contention, backed up by historical fact, thatFuente Ovejuna is politically conservative in tone. The plan of the research will be to set forth the major themes thatemerge in the plot of the play, and then to discuss certain major ideas ofcritics with respect to Fuente Ovejuna. A History of Spain and Portugal. Within thataffirmation, however, exemplified by the title of the play and of itsrefrain "Fuente Ovejuna did the deed," is an acknowledgment thatindividuals of low birth, and individuals in a group, have somepsychological standing, some claim to private dignity if not to publichonor. Further, through Esteban,the peasants declare, "Your Majesty, we want to be your folk" (III.25). You are not Spanish men, but heathen slaves! Fuente Ovejuna. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967. The purpose of this research is to examine Fuente Ovejuna by Lope deVega. It is this level of complexity that raises Fuente Ovejuna into therealm of great and not simply good drama. This is perfectlyconsistent with the historical consolidation of power, by Ferdinand andIsabella, in the Spanish crown, as against the power of feudal lords. By God above, we women all alone Will soon redeem our honor from these swine The Age of Amazons will have new birth, And be the lasting wonder of this earth! For what may seem on one hand to be analliance between king and peasantry, and on the other a declaration of thepeasantry in favor of its revolutionary rights, is really an emblem of thepolitical conflict between king and nobility, which witnessed the declineof feudal decentralization and the rise of centralized authority of themonarchy and, eventually, nationalism throughout Europe. That this is animportant theme of the play is shown when the Master of Calatrava hears ofthe Commander's death in the name of the King: "How can they giveallegiance to the King? To peasantry andcourt alike, torture is perceived simply as an instrument of policy. As each mastership fell vacant Isabella prevailed on the pope to vest administration of the order, and eventually the mastership itself, in Ferdinand, and thus secured also for the crown their enormous revenues and patronage (Atkinson 1 8-9). . Eds. John Gassner. 985-6.Wardropper, Bruce. Phyllis Hartnoll. But such statements do not prove that Fuente Ovejuna is fundamentallyrevolutionary. Fuente Ovejuna has been read as a play of revolutionary tenor,symbolized by the uprising of the villagers against the tyranny of theruling state. (III.3) The fury with which Laurencia speaks, as well as the stage directionthat describes her as disheveled, suggests that she has been raped as wellas brutally beaten. "Lope de Vega." A Treasury of the Theatre. On this view, the tyranny against which the villagers revolt is not thatof the state but that of the feudal lords who had opposed themselvesagainst the authentic state, i.e., the Spanish monarchy. Ed. As Spain evolved from the feudal ideas of the Middle Ages toward the more modern Renaissance concept of monarchy during the fifteenth century, the power of the local nobility in many towns and villages was sternly curbed by Ferdinand and Isabella . It is in the name of the Catholic Monarchs that the peasants revolt against Don Fernan, who was not only a petty tyrant but also a traitor to the Spanish crown because he favored foreign intervention by the Portuguese against Isabella of Castile. Further, the Master positionshimself as loyal to the chivalric code, in contrast with the dishonorableCommander: Since you have told me that the town has placed Itself in royal hands, I'll curb my wrath; It's best to seek an audience with him. / The village is a part of our estates?" (III.15).The Master, political realist that he is, quickly acknowledges that hisfeudatory authority is no match for that of the King, and he resolves infavor of political and personal expediency. Trans. The interplay of royalty, nobility, andpeasantry informs the conflict between individual characters. It is for this reason that he must be removed, and not merely becauseof his tyrannous repression of the villagers of Fuenteovejuna" (Varey 986). For though he may declare I am to blame, My very youth will be my best defense. 361- 2.Lope de Vega. It is Ferdinand whoauthorizes the court of inquiry that tortures the villagers. You've all been craven rabbits right from birth! Virtuallyall critics cite the central feature of the action as the fact that thevillage, Fuente Ovejuna, becomes the hero of the play because the villagersas an unshakably unified group take responsibility for killing theCommander. At the trial,however, all the villagers, under torture, insist that "Fuente ovejuna didthe deed" (III.13). This theme--praise for the benign monarch who sides with the people against the nobility--is a favorite of Lope's (Colford xiv). Fuente Ovejuna, an outlying village, is occupied bytroops of pro-Portuguese Commander Don Fernan Gomez, whose immediate patronis an inexperienced nobleman, Master of Calatrava. Since I did not succeed In finding out, I must suggest that you Should either pardon them, Your Majesty, or execute the village to a man (III.24) The Judge reasons that the case ought to be dismissed, and thepeasants explain why the Commander was killed. Middlexex: Penguin, 1967.Colford, William E. The Judge's report to the Kingexpresses bewilderment that the torture did not work. Moreover,the Commander's intentions, whatever the actions in a specific case, bringdisgrace on the notion of honor that was traditionally associated with thenobility. Thereis an absolute absence of revolutionary attitude toward the injustice ofthe torture, a void that indirectly suggests the peasants have noparticular claim to honor after all. 797-8 1.----------------------- 1 This explainsFerdinand's declaration, after hearing of the Commander's actions in thevillage, that "perhaps some good Commander may / Come forth to rule withjustice there some day" (III.25; emphasis added). . Fuente Ovejuna is set in fifteenth-century provincial Spain, at themoment of history when the nation of Spain was emerging, owing to theunification of the crowns of Aragon and Castile under Ferdinand andIsabella and to the dominance of the Spanish over the Portuguese throne onthe Iberian peninsula. Flores, theCommander's deputy, appeals to King Ferdinand for justice. Sexually corrupt andpolitically ambitious, the Commander manipulates or coerces virtually anypeasant girl into what amounts to a private harem, except for Laurencia,daughter of Fuente Ovejuna's mayor Esteban and bride of Frondoso.Laurencia refuses the Commander's attentions, backed up by Frondoso, whothreatens him with a crossbow. William E. Theplaywright expresses no hint of moral outrage at the idea of torturingthem. . Ed. Later, in audience with Ferdinand, Esteban explainsthat the Commander's death was mere justice and in the name of the villageswears loyalty to the Spanish crown. Their dissensions could divide the country: contested elections to a grandmastership had been known to loose civil war. There is nothing revolutionaryabout the way the case is resolved, if by revolutionary one means somethingon the order of "power to the people." Rather, there is an affirmation ofa highly conservative, authoritarian, centralized monarchy. Symbolic of such realms within the realm were the three military orders, which had long outlived their crusading purpose, and were become vast in defence of their concentrations of power and wealth . Later, however, Frondoso tells the King that, althoughLaurencia was kidnapped by the Commander, "If she had not been able todefend / Herself and keep her virtue, as she did, / It's evident what wouldhave happened there" (III.25). Introduction. In the wake of a military defeat byFerdinand, the Commander interrupts the wedding of Frondoso and Laurencia,arresting him for assault and carrying her to his quarters. John Gassner and Edward Quinn. New York: Thomas Y. Fuente Ovejuna. Works CitedAtkinson, William C. Laurencia,beaten and perhaps raped (although Frondoso later insists that she foughther way out of captivity) by the Commander and sundry soldiers, returns tothe village and scornfully challenges Esteban and other men of the villageto avenge her and other women of the village. No less significant is that the villagers achieve dramaticstature that, in drama of the various classical periods, is usuallyreserved for heroes of noble birth. In this regard, Colford says that in the 192 s, which may betermed as the wake years of the successful bolshevik revolution in Russia,the play was presented as a revolutionary document. Fuente Ovejuna is therefore played out against the backdrop of anemerging political landscape in Europe. Gassner, similarly,observes, "In Fuente Ovejuna, Lope has also performed the feat--and amodern one it is--of creating a 'collective hero' by treating the villageof Fuente Ovejuna as the protagonist of the play" (Gassner 362). Theoutrage of the Commander's men, however, is the principal point. . New York: Barron's Educational Series, 1969. Crowell, 1969. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.