The Wife-Murder Plays

Abstract

Few subgenres of the Spanish comedia have garnered as much critical attention as those plays in which a husband kills, or conspires to kill, his wife. From Seneca's Hercules furens to Hardy's Procris and Dolce's Marianna, to Shakespeare's Othello, it is clear that the murder of a spouse was considered worthy of theatrical treatment over a great span of time. The wife-murder plays drew upon so many different historical and literary traditions spanning more than two millennia tell us that wife murder as a theatrical plot was not unique to Spain, but what of those plays based upon incidents recorded in Spanish history? Considerable criticism has sought to establish connections between these plays and Spain's past, especially the influences of Visigothic, Jewish, and Muslim cultures in the development of the nation, in order to assert that wife murder was a well-known, feature of medieval and early modern Spanish society.Keywords: Jewish culture; Muslim culture; Shakespeare's Othello; Spanish society; wife-murder plays