Social Conflict in Lucas Fernandez' «Farsa de la Donzella»

Abstract

SOCIAL CONFLICT IN LUCAS FERNANDEZ'«FARSA DE LA DONZELLA» YVONNE YARBRO-BEJARANO, University of Washington As Alfredo Hermenegildo points out in the introductory study to his edition of Lucas Fernández' dramatic works, the early Castilian theater has recently become the object of renewed critical interest.(l) One relatively neglected aspect which is beginning to receive more attention is the social conflict dramatized by these little plays. Two approaches to the social dimension of the Castilian theater of the late 1490's and early 1500's are exemplified by the work of Hermenegildo and José María Diez-Borque. Hermenegildo, developing Americo Castro's theories that this theater is the work of conversos, focuses the conflict in terms of caste: cristianos viejos, represented by the figure of the pastor, against cristianos nuevos, represented by the caballero. In this latter group he includes Fernández himself .(2) Diez-Borque analyzes the theatrical confrontation between caballeros and pastores in terms of class, or estado, relating it to the hierarchical structure of Castilian society and the ideology of its ruling class.(3) His article develops ideas presented in Noël Salomon's Recherches sur le thème paysan dans la «comedia» au temps de Lope de Vega. (4) Salomon's study is fundamental for an understanding of the social context of the early theater, especially the first part, «Le paysan comique,» which examines the relationship between the comic treatment of the peasant and the ideology of the dominant class. The following pages attempt a preliminary analysis of Fernández' «Farsa de la donzella» as the dramatization of social conflict.(5) In the «Farsa, » Fernández uses the theme of love to maintain the separation between two social groups, conceding the upper hand in the conflict to representatives of the ruling class. His first play, the «Comedia,» also deals with the theme of love.(6) The meaning of the «Farsa» is clarified by comparing the two works. The «Comedia» presents the comic spectacle of rustic love. The shepherd is laughed at for his speech, his primarily sexual and materialistic concept of love, his ignorance and generally uncouth ways, and for the first time in Spanish drama, for his ridiculous pretensions to honor. This honor, for the peasant, ultimately depends on pure blood. Reparation for the offense against Juan Benito's honor (he is convinced that Bras Gil has deflowered his granddaughter Beringuella) can be made through marriage, but the old man makes it clear that the condition for such a solution is Bras Gil's pedigree: «Mas la casta ño se yguala/ d'él con la de la zagala/ en valer ni en caudal. »(7) Bras Gil provides ample proof of his irreproachable caste by extolling his genealogy, replete with comically Old Christian names and professions.(8) The presence of a grandmother who is married to a blacksmith is the detail which breaks down Juan Benito's resistance. That Spanish society recognized certain professions as caste-related is borne out by the jokes of the epoch, for example the following, collected by Juan 89 90Bulletin ofthe Comediantes Rufo in his Seiscientas apotegmas (1596): «Había en Ñapóles un sastre que se llamaba fulano Evangelista, al cual dijo [Rufo], 'Mudad oficio, o nombre; porque sastre y evangelista, no puede ser'. »(9) Just as the profession of tailoring signals New Christian in the joke, that of blacksmithing signals Old Christian in the play. The recitation of rustic genealogies, an innovation on Fernández' part, became a stock device in the early theater.(10) It is characteristic of Fernández' experimental approach to theater that he was not content to develop further the pattern presented in his first play. In the «Farsa» he chooses to strike out in a new direction, exploring other relationships, other ways in which the theme of love can be exploited theatrically. The comicality of the «Comedia» depends on an implicit contrast between the peasant and the courtly milieus, but the depicted world is exclusively rustic. The second play makes the contrast explicit, pitting one group against the other. The conflict latent in the social situation of the noble audience centered on the privileged position of a largely converso aristocracy challenged by...