La revolución española de 1820 en la escena británica: Ferdinand the Seventh; or, A Dramatic Sketch of the Recent Revolution in Spain (1823)

Abstract

This paper analyses the drama Ferdinand the Seventh; or, A Dramatic Sketch of the Recent Revolution in Spain. Published in London in 1823, this play explores the reactions to the coup led by Rafael de Riego in the court of Ferdinand VII. The author clearly supports the liberal cause and portrays the King as a weak and changeable individual, who first tries to repress the rebellion, but eventually proclaims the Constitution of 1812. Although the work is presented as the English translation of a Spanish manuscript by Manuel de Sarratea, the image of Spain and of the liberal revolution of 1820 contained in the text is in tune with the vision of the political situation in Spain that dominated public opinion in Britain.