1. Describes about the play in general, whenitwas written and bywhom. In the next write about the characters, themes and the main subject of the play in English.

2. What did Leonor do? (In English.)

3. Write in Spanish about eight sentences describing the character of Leonor or don Juan. Describe personality and physical characteristics using adjectives and verbs studied in previous classes.

4. Include the opinion about the play.(In English)

Play Valor Agravio y mujer

In this comedy from Spain's Golden Age, playwright Ana Caro criticizes the customs of her era and the position of women in the social order while ridiculing through parody the erotic myth of Don Juan.

The protagonist, Leonor, seeks to recover her lost honor against Don Juan who made a false promise of marriage while seducing her. To revenge herself, Leonor dresses in male attire (a common technique in Spanish Golden Age Theatre), calls herself Leonardo, and pretends to be a rival suitor for her hand. Don Juan has already moved to seduce the Duchess Estela, who in turn falls in love with "Leonardo." After a series of deceits and much ado, Leonor denounces Don Juan and regains her honor by forcing him into marriage with her. Although a typical finale for a 17th century Spanish play, the unconventional aspect is that a woman has solved her own misfortune without the help of a man.

ABOUT ANA CARO

Ana Caro (1600-1652) was a playwright of the Spanish Golden Age. Caro's career took off in 1628 when she published poetry as well as studies on festivals and cultural activities. However, there is little to no documentation of her poetry or research-based studies. Her career as a playwright began later in life, in the 1640s. She was the author of two religious plays as well as a number of entremeses, which are short interlude plays placed between acts of comedias.

Among the works fast moving into the Spanish canon are the plays of the Golden Age author Ana Caro, a contemporary of Calderon, who achieved a significant following during her lifetime. As Lola Luna reminds the reader in her introduction, women as well as men went to the theater in the Golden Age, and plays such as Valor, agravio y mujer delighted female spectators. Although the works of female playwrights were neglected for centuries, an increasing number are now available to the modern audience, thanks to the efforts of scholars such as Lola Luna.

Valor, agravio y mujer is a reworking of the Don Juan myth, but from a feminine perspective. Don Juan courts Leonor in Seville, then abandons her, fleeing to Flanders. Instead of weeping over Don Juan's treachery like the female victims in Tirso's better known El Burlador de Sevilla, Leonor leaves for the north disguised as a man in order to take vengeance. Going by the name Leonardo, she arrives in Flanders to discover that the fickle Don Juan is now pursuing another woman, Estela, a countess from Brussels, who immediately falls for Leonardo.

Caro exploits this typically baroque muddle of disguises, mistaken identities, and amorous rivalries to poke fun at conventional gender stereotypes. Pretending to be Estela, Leonor invites Don Juan to a tryst at night in a dark, secluded corner where he will be unable to recognize her. Once she has him at her feet swearing eternal fidelity, she (still impersonating Estela) accuses him of having betrayed a worthy noblewoman in Seville. Caught off guard, Don Juan stammers and hedges. This flustered, spluttering Don Juan is a mockery of the arrogant seducer depicted by male playwrights. In this scene and throughout the play, the female protagonist is fully in control. Later, when Don Juan boasts that he is willing to take on the entire world, his stance seems ludicrous. Caro has already reduced him to a silly, vulnerable figure.

The play climaxes when Leonor/Leonardo lures Don Juan into a duel. In an obvious parody of the traditional male-honor hero, Leonor/Leonardo brags and struts and threatens. She/He out-swears Don Juan and vaunts the sense of honor that makes it impossible for a gentleman to back down. On the one hand, Caro ridicules the bluster and hyperbole of conventional male protagonists. On the other, she reveals the fortitude and determination of which women are capable. Rather than accept her situation passively, Leonor actively seeks a remedy. She has placed herself in a very dangerous situation, but her wits, sense of purpose, and self-esteem see her through.

In the end, it is Caro, not Leonor, who takes vengeance on Don Juan. Leonor has no need to kill her former suitor, for once she reveals her true identity, he is so overcome with admiration for her bravery and devotion that he agrees to marry her. However, before that happens, Caro puts Don Juan where she (and most other women) want him: on his knees. She not only forces him to confess and repent for his wrongdoings, but also to make good on his promises.

In Caro's feminist version, Don Juan is not the larger-than-life rebel who defies social and divine law, thereby forfeiting his own salvation. On the contrary, Caro's Don Juan never really basks in his exploits. Instead, these cause him endless anxiety, for he is forever straggling to extricate himself from the web of his own lies. Furthermore, while Tirso's Don Juan deflowers maidens left and right, Caro's fails technically to dishonor Leonor, who marries a virgin. This detail not only elevates Leonor's position as a Golden Age heroine, but also tarnishes Don Juan's image as a peerless seducer.

By making Valor, agravio y mujer accessible to a modern audience, Lola Luna has not only broadened our knowledge of Golden Age theater, but also given voice to a little heard from segment of seventeenth-century society. Of course, it would be foolhardy to impose a twentieth-century feminist perspective on a Spanish baroque play. Nevertheless, Luna has revealed that women in the Golden Age did not necessarily accept and respect the archetypes that dominated their theater, and that they could be quite skillful at debunking them and turning them topsy-turvy.