‘Not I, my shadow’: Pilar Miró's adaptation of Lope de Vega's The Dog in the Manger (1996)

Abstract

In 1996, Lope de Vega's seventeenth-century classic The Dog in the Manger was adapted for the screen by Spanish film director Pilar Miró. Not only was it a popular success, but it also won seven prestigious Goya awards, including those for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. As a costume drama in verse form, the film has generally been categorized as a faithful adaptation of the Lopean original. But is it? The aim of this article is to assess to what extent Miró maintains fidelity to the source material while simultaneously accommodating the horizon of expectation of a contemporary audience. The appeal of The Dog in the Manger to a Spanish film-viewing public will be analysed in terms of camerawork, textual modifications and omissions, setting and costume. Furthermore, a consideration of Miró's decoding strategies will reveal how the film's principal theme and the emotional turmoil of the main female protagonist are clarified and reinforced through colour and character positioning. Ultimately, absolute faithfulness to the original will be examined in connection with the dénouement of The Dog in the Manger to determine whether it, like the leading male protagonist's noble status, is indeed a façade.