‘¡Volvióse en Luto La Boda!’: Ritual, Torture, And The Technologies of Power in Lope’s Fuente Ovejuna

Abstract

'iVOLVIOSE EN LUTO LA BODA!': RITUAL, TORTURE, AND THE TECHNOLOGIES OF POWER IN LOPE'S FUENTE OVEjfUNA Whereas for the most part the immediate goal of torture in our era has been political repression, for the inhabitants of Lope de Vega's Fuente Ovejuna it is inherent in the judicial process. In the play torture is administered by an officer under the direct command of the King and Queen of Spain, Fernando and Isabel.1 The inhabitants submit to torment and this is ofricially sanctioned as a highly organized practice, the purpose of which is to gain knowledge or to punish by exemple. Following the murder of the Comendador, the King orders an investigation that is routinely accompanied by torture. The inhabitants of the village both accept and challenge this authority and his way of enforcing and demonstrating his power, by willingly submitting to the torture but heroically disregarding the pain, designed to undermine their integrity. In this way, as this paper will argue, torture is presented as a ritual that is associated not only with power but also with other rituals, including the wedding festival and the giving of gifts. Together, these manifestations contribute to the community's sense of collective identity. These points are foregrounded in the play by cultural and ritualistic practices, which construct a sense of cultural identity that contributes to the collective ethos that is necessary for the process of social ratification. In other words, Lope's play revolves around religious and folkloric rituals that underscore the intimate relationship between politics and ritual in the construction of a communal identity. My analysis of the play's rituals shows that the inhabitants of the village are a communal grouping because they apprehend their past as a coherent For commentsand editorialsuggestions, I am grateful tomycolleagueChristineArkinstall, tothe Hispanic editorofthisjournal, Dr David George,and to theanonymousreaderswho ofTered so manvinvahiahleromments 1 Strictly speaking,ofcourse,at thedateoftheactionFernandowas thePrinceofAragonand Isabel Queen of Castile. The play was publishedin Lope's Dozena parte in 1619. At theend of thenineteenth century MarcelinoMenendez Pelayoaffirmed that'se tratade una de las obrasmas admirablesde Lope, aunque,porrarocaprichode la suerte,no sea de las masconocidasen Espana' ('Fuenteovejuna', inLope de Vega:elteatro II, ed. byAntonioSanchez Romeralo(Madrid: Taurus, 1989), pp. 13-23 (p. 13)). The play's famehas grownconsiderablyduringthelasthundredyears bothin Spain and internationally. Interpretations and adaptationsvaryand rangefromthatofthe Moscow ArtTheatre in Soviet Russia, to Lorca's productionforLa Barraca,to Radiotelevision Espanola's filmversionand frequent theatreperformances. On theMoscow version,see Alberto Castilla,'Teatro Universitario: Fuentovejuna 65', inEn torno al teatrodelSiglode Oro: actasdelas jornadas VII-VIII celebradas enAlmeria,ed. byHeraclia Castellonand others(Almeria:Instituto de Estudios Almerienses,1992), pp. 39-58 (p. 50). On Lorca's version,see Suzanne W. Byrd,La (FuenteOvejuna*de FedericoGarcia Lorca (Madrid: Pliegos, 1984). Adolfo Marsillach directed a productionof the Compania Nacional de Teatro Clasico de Espana in 1993. Carlos Bousono adapted the textforthisperformance. A comprehensivereviewof the criticismof the play up to the 1970s is offered in Teresa J.Kirschner,'Evolucion de la criticade "Fuenteovejuna", de Lope de Vega en el Siglo XX', in En torno al teatrodelSiglo de Oro,ed. by Castellonand others, PP-77_97-Previouslyshe had tracedthehistoryoftranslations, adaptations,and productionsin 'Sobrevivencia de una comedia: historiade la difusionde Fuente Ovejuna', Revista canadiense de estudios hispdnicos, 1 (1976-77), 255-71. For a morerecentstudy,see Enrique Garcia SantoTomas , La creaciondel Fenix': recepcion criticayformacion canonicadel teatrode Lope de Vega (Madrid: Gredos,2000), pp. 319-72. MERCEDES CAMINO 383 history and see its present and future as contiguous processes. This continuity is sharply interrupted by the Comendador's tyranny, which ultimately provokes the villagers to revolt. His behaviour is presented throughout the play as not simply evil but also, and perhaps more importantly, breaking the flow of time and disrupting the life cycle. His presence and deeds disturb a sense of order and a hierarchical arrangement that the villagers see as 'natural' and wish to preserve. This order, needless to say, depends not only on the maintenance of the social status quo, but also on a binary division of gender roles. Such duality is, however, not based on the association of masculinity with bravado, as is seen by the hesitant attitude of the men until Laurencia calls them to action...