Agustín Moreto y Cabaña

• Born: 1618
• Birthplace: Madrid, Spain
• Died: October 28, 1669
• Place of death: Toledo, Spain

Other Literary Forms

Agustín Moreto y Cabaña is known almost exclusively for his full-length plays. In addition to those plays listed above, which are generally accepted as written solely by Moreto, there are several more on which he collaborated and a few whose authorship is in question. He also wrote some thirty-eight one-act plays, or teatro menor, as well as at least fourteen poems and a few villancicos.

Achievements

Because very little is known about Agustín Moreto y Cabaña’s life and nonliterary activities, his reputation rests almost exclusively on his abilities as a dramatist. Interestingly, even those abilities have been long in question, this in spite of his prolific and popular dramatic production. The critical tendency to downplay Moreto’s achievements can be traced to a comment by a contemporary, Jerónimo de Cáncer y Velasco, who, as incoming secretary of the Academia Castellana, presented a composition to the members of the academy in which he criticized Moreto of plagiarism, of going through copies of old plays and selecting those which would be of use to him in his own writings.

Although on the same occasion, Cáncer y Velasco also made critical remarks about other illustrious contemporaries, all of which were without doubt taken as lighthearted jabs, as the spirit of the occasion would have dictated, and in spite of the fact that the plagiarism with which Moreto was charged was an accepted practice of the time and was engaged in by such famous Spanish dramatists as Lope de Vega Carpio, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, and Tirso de Molina, the charges seem to have stuck and to have done Moreto’s reputation considerable damage during the centuries that followed. It has only been in modern times that the criticism has been challenged by such authors as Ruth Lee Kennedy, Frank P. Casa, and James A. Castañeda. As Kennedy points out, Moreto did, in fact, use works by other authors as the basis for about half his major plays, a fact that she attributes to the “customs of the time.” Whatever one’s view regarding the originality of some of his works, Moreto was and continues to be one of the leading dramatists of Spain during the Golden Age, a time when Spain’s drama was a shining light among the literatures of the Western world.

Biography

Agustín Moreto y Cabaña was born to Agustín Moreto and Violante Cabaña, both of whom had come from Italy and settled in Madrid. The exact date of his birth is unknown, although he was baptized on April 9, 1618. The family was apparently affluent, as a result of the elder Moreto’s success as a merchant. Moreto attended the University of Alcalá, from which he was graduated in December of 1639. His earliest known literary effort, a poem eulogizing the poet Juan Perez Montalbán on the occasion of the latter’s funeral, predates his graduation by a few months.

By 1642, he was a cleric of minor orders in the Church of Santa María Magdalena, in Toledo. By the time his father died, in January of 1643, Moreto was a member of the Academia Castellana. Moreto died on October 28, 1669.

Analysis

The numerous plays written by Agustín Moreto y Cabaña alone or in collaboration with other writers cover a wide variety of subjects, both religious and secular. He wrote many different types of plays, some totally original and some clearly taken from identifiable sources. Among his works are found some of the best plays of his time, some of the best, in fact, in all of Spanish drama. Although long having been praised for his skill in developing and presenting his themes and characters, Moreto has also been condemned for his lack of originality.

Although Moreto wrote five religious plays by himself and collaborated in the writing of nine more, none of his really outstanding works is among them. Although not all modern critics share her views, Kennedy is quite negative in her appraisal of this category of his drama: “In his secular theatre Moreto was, as we shall see, ahead of his time. In the religious comedia he is entirely of his own day. Moreover, if put in comparison with other dramatists of his time, he cannot, in this genre, be said to rise above the level of mediocrity.”

San Franco de Sena

An example of Moreto’s religious drama, San Franco de Sena, was first published in 1652. Casa notes that its publication took place one year after the establishment of the cult of that saint in Madrid and was probably written as part of the celebration in honor of San Franco. The critics’ comments on its artistic value range from very negative to extremely laudatory. Kennedy says, for example, in reference to Moreto’s writing of religious drama in general: “His works show clearly that he had not that appreciation of the mystical, that understanding of the sublime, nor that comprehension of the tragic depths of life which enabled his great contemporary [Calderón] to transform pictures of the commonplace into scenes of moving beauty and grandeur.” Angel Valbuena Prat, on the other hand, considers San Franco de Sena to represent the most profound aspect of Moreto’s dramatic genius. Perhaps Casa represents a more measured and realistic judgment in his assessment of this particular work: “While [Moreto] does not deal with a complex theological problem, as does Tirso in El condenado por desconfiado, he treats with artistry and profound feeling the theme of contrition and forgiveness.”

San Franco de Sena deals with Franco’s sinful life and his later repentance and conversion to a life as a pilgrim and ascetic. The play illustrates the concept that “the greatest sinners make the greatest saints.” In the first act, he is a shameless criminal and sinner. Among other things, he duels with and kills Aurelio, Lucrecia’s suitor. The latter, mistaking him for Aurelio, leaves with Franco and is dishonored by him. She, in fact, becomes as much a sinner and outlaw as he, for a time leading her own band of bandits.

Having introduced his main characters in the first act, the author continues to demonstrate their evil nature in the second, which deals in large part with Franco’s attempts to rescue his sick father from the local police. On his way to the city to do so, he is confronted by an example of divine intervention, not at all unusual in Golden Age theater. As he passes the home of the slain Aurelio, Franco sees a cross marking the spot where Aurelio died. As he stops to extinguish the light on the cross, because the memorial bothers him, he hears a voice warning him to desist. He persists anyway and an arm miraculously appears and stops him. He is startled by the occurrence but in no way dissuaded from his sinful life. As he passes the same spot with his father, having killed his father’s guards, he again hears a voice. This time the voice tells him to go and gamble, that in losing he will win.

He does in fact soon engage in a card game with other criminals. After he loses all of his possessions, he offers to bet his sight, a sacrilege that astonishes even his fellow gamblers. He is stricken blind and at once realizes the enormity of his sins and begins to repent. The balance of the play deals with Franco’s contrition and penitence, as well as with Lucrecia’s repentance. She, having been constrained by a Guardian Angel, also eventually sees the error of her ways and turns to a life of righteousness.

The source of Moreto’s play was a work written by Father Gregorio Lombardello, in which was detailed the life, sins, and conversion of the saint. While following the historical account in the broadest of terms, the author employed considerable originality in developing his play, including the addition of numerous characters and events.

The popularity that Moreto has enjoyed through the centuries is attributable far more to his secular than to his religious plays. Kennedy divides the former into two main groups: plays of plot (which she further divides into plays of novelistic interest and plays of intrigue) and plays of character and idea. It is from the latter group that his fame principally derives. Of these, eighteen of which Kennedy attributes to his authorship alone, the two most popular are Love’s Victory and El lindo don Diego.

Love’s Victory

Love’s Victory was first published with a collection of Moreto’s plays in 1654 and has been published many times since, including translations into several languages. It has been variously described as “the best comedia which our language possesses” and “among the four best plays of the Castilian repertoire.” Not only has it been translated into several languages, but it also has served as the basis of a number of adaptations.

The play begins with the arrival of Carlos, count of Urgel, and his servant Polilla in Barcelona. The count is expressing to his servant his love for Diana, the daughter of the Count of Barcelona. Diana is an unusual beauty, of whom all the available young noblemen present are enamored. Diana is completely uninterested in any of them and disdainful of their advances. Her disdain only intensifies Carlos’s interest, and, under the instigation and coaching of Polilla, he decides to fight fire with fire, or disdain with disdain, from whence the original title. The ploy works. The more uninterested he appears, the more determined she becomes to make him fall in love with her, with the intention of maintaining control over her own feelings.

The second act is devoted to the development of the theme and to the conflict between the two protagonists, he struggling with himself to appear aloof and uninterested and not to give away his true feelings, and she ever more determined to accomplish her own ends. She says in an aside: “I’ve got to make this man love me if it costs me my very soul.” Polilla, meanwhile, enters into Diana’s service under the name Caniquí. He acts as a go-between and constantly urges his master not to weaken in his resolve.

The climax comes in the third act, with both Carlos and Diana going so far as to tell each other that they are in love with someone else. In the final scene, they both proclaim their love for each other and receive her father’s blessing. Carlos has conquered disdain with disdain. Of this play Castañeda states, “The psychological dimensions of love, vanity, disdain and ambition are carefully woven into a plot which, although it highlights the momentary weaknesses in resolve of the protagonist, also illustrates step by logical step his inexorable progress toward victory, if he will only follow the sage counsel of Polilla. This servant, one of Moreto’s greatest comic creations, plays a truly dominant role.”

El lindo don Diego

El lindo don Diego is the second of Moreto’s two masterpieces, which are in large part responsible for his continued popularity. It was first published in 1662 and is based on an earlier play by Guillén de Castro y Bellvís titled El narciso en su opinión (1618). As has been pointed out by a number of critics, Moreto’s rendition of the story of the insufferable dandy, Don Diego, is a vast improvement over the original. In the words of Castañeda,

Moreto’s adaptation . . . represents gigantic improvement over its humorous but loosely structured source. Frank Casa ably studies the systematic transformation wrought by Moreto to give dramatic cohesiveness to this play which, close behind El desdén con el desdén enjoys an undisputed place of honor very near the pinnacle occupied by the greatest plays of the Spanish Golden Age.

The play begins with a dialogue between Don Tello and Don Juan. The former announces to the latter that he has arranged for his two daughters, Doña Inés and Doña Leonor, to marry, respectively, their cousins, Don Diego and Don Mendo. Unknown to Don Tello, Doña Inés and Don Juan are lovers. Don Juan is shocked by the news and accuses Doña Inés of treachery, although he soon learns that she knows nothing of her father’s plans. Although she is as dismayed as he at the prospect of being obliged to marry Don Diego, whom she has as yet not met, she says that she can plead with her father but cannot go against his wishes.

The servant, Mosquito, enters and describes the two cousins. Don Mendo is in every way an admirable young gentleman. Don Diego, on the other hand, is a complete dandy and a fool. Don Diego is certain that he is the greatest thing that ever walked. Every time he looks at himself, Mosquito reports, he admires himself and praises God. He is astonished that anyone could be as perfect as he and is sure that any woman would swoon at the sight of him. He is so preoccupied with his looks that, after having spent nine hours primping in front of his mirrors, he complains about being rushed.

His only concern regarding Doña Inés is whether she is worthy of him. She at first tries to make a bad impression, but he misinterprets everything and is convinced that she and her sister are madly in love with him and jealous of each other.

The conflict is finally resolved when, through an intrigue arranged by Mosquito, the maid Beatriz impersonates a countess and convinces Don Diego that he should marry her. Because marriage with a countess would be more advantageous to him, Don Diego declines to accept Doña Inés, with the result that she and Don Juan are reunited, with her father’s blessing. The “countess” suddenly becomes a maid and, at the conclusion of a very well done and comic work, everyone is happy except Don Diego, who has been shown for the fool that he is.

Bibliography

Casa, Frank P. The Dramatic Craftsmanship of Moreto. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1966. A significant study of Moreto and his plays. Casa defends Moreto’s practice of borrowing themes from other writers.

Castañeda, James A. Agustín Moreto. New York: Twayne, 1974. A concise but thorough treatment of Moreto’s life and works.

Exum, Frances, ed. Essays on Comedy and the Gracioso in Plays by Agustín Moreto. York, S.C.: Spanish Literature Publishing, 1986. These essays examine the role of the gracioso, or fool, in the comedies of Moreto, particularly Polilla in Love’s Victory. Includes bibliographies.

Kennedy, Ruth Lee. The Dramatic Art of Moreto. Northampton, Mass.: Smith College, 1932. An early, classic work on Moreto and his works. Bibliography.

Rissel, Hilda. Three Plays by Moreto and Their Adaptation in France. New York: P. Lang, 1995. Rissel examines three plays by Moreto that were performed in France in the seventeenth century. Bibliography and index.