Justice Without Revenge by Lope de Vega Carpio
"Justice Without Revenge" by Lope de Vega Carpio is a profound and ironic tragedy that explores themes of love, honor, and moral conflict within a historical context. The drama centers around three main characters: the duke of Ferrara, his illegitimate son Count Federico, and Casandra, the young noblewoman the duke marries for legitimacy. The narrative begins with the duke's infidelity and Federico's selfish concerns about his lineage, contrasting the protagonists with traditional heroic ideals. As tensions rise, Federico and Casandra develop a deep, yet forbidden love, culminating in a poignant moment of confession when they are left alone during the duke's absence for war.
Upon the duke's return, he is transformed and pledges fidelity, only to discover the tragic truth of his family's entanglement. The duke's response to this revelation is to seek justice without vengeance, leading to a series of tragic events that leave him condemned to live with the consequences of his actions. Through this complex interplay of emotions and moral dilemmas, Vega Carpio challenges the audience to grapple with the intricacies of love, betrayal, and the societal expectations surrounding honor. The play invites reflection on the human condition, illustrating the profound pain that arises when love and honor collide.
On this Page
Justice Without Revenge by Lope de Vega Carpio
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published:El castigo sin venganza, 1635 (English translation, 1936)
Type of work: Play
The Work
Justice Without Revenge, one of Vega Carpio’s last works, is an ironic tragedy based on a short novel written about a historical fact. In this drama, there are three protagonists: the womanizing duke of Ferrara, his illegitimate son, Count Federico, and the young noblewoman, Casandra, whom the duke marries for legal reasons. In the beginning of the play, Vega Carpio develops the relationship between the characters. In contrast to Peribáñez, in which the charming heroes win the approval of a just monarch, the protagonists of this drama do not represent upstanding citizens. Yet in spite of their antiheroics, the audience does, to some extent, sympathize with their decisions and actions. The duke regularly frequents the local whorehouses but knows that he has to marry and beget a legitimate heir for his estate. He has little interest, however, in remaining faithful to his young, attractive bride. Federico, his illegitimate son, whom the duke sincerely loves, is selfishly concerned about his hereditary position and has little patience for his father’s amorous adventures. Upon seeing his future stepmother, whom he rescues in a stagecoach accident, he falls instantly in love with her. Casandra reciprocates these feelings, although at the same time she accepts her commitment to her future husband, and the two lovers suffer the anguish of not being able to express their love openly.
In act 2, Vega Carpio develops the moral positions of each of the characters. The two young lovers resist their feelings even though the duke continues his nightly adventures with the local prostitutes. Unexpectedly, the duke is called to fight in the religious wars. Federico and Casandra are left alone, and in beautiful and powerful verses they openly admit the intense love that they feel toward one another. This explosive scene is the climax of the love that Federico and Casandra feel for one another. The audience is torn between sympathizing with the two victims or rejecting them because they do not maintain their family honor.
In act 3, the duke returns from the wars a reformed man, vowing to be faithful to his wife. At this point, Vega Carpio aggrandizes the duke and tries to make him a worthy central figure. Upon his arrival, the duke receives an anonymous letter explaining the truth, technically incest, between his wife and his son. He suddenly realizes his own guilt for what has happened and decides to act, not as vengeful father or husband, but as supreme justice. He punishes his son and wife, although violently, without revenge. First, the duke tricks his son into killing Casandra, who is bound and gagged in a sack. Then, he accuses Federico of killing the duchess for fear of losing his inheritance and sentences him to death. The duke is condemned to live his life knowing that he has killed the one whom he loves most, his son. In this tragedy, Vega Carpio presents a somber conflict between love and honor, the hypocrisy that surrounds them both, and the pain that is suffered from their clashing.
Bibliography
Canning, Elaine M. Lope de Vega’s Comedias de Tema Religioso: Re-Creations and Re-Presentations. Rochester, N.Y.: Tamesis, 2004.
Flores, Angel. Spanish Drama. New York: Bantam Books, 1962.
Fox, Dian. Refiguring the Hero, from Peasant to Noble in Lope de Vega and Calderón. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1991.
Hayes, Francis C. Lope de Vega. New York: Twayne, 1967.
McKendrick, Melveena. Playing the King: Lope de Vega and the Limits of Conformity. Rochester, N.Y.: Tamesis, 2000.
Morrison, Robert R. Lope de Vega and the Comedia de Santos. New York: P. Lang, 2000.
Parker, A. A. The Approach to the Spanish Drama of the Golden Age. London: Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Councils, 1957.
Rennert, Hugo Albert. The Life of Lope de Vega, 1562-1635. New York: G. E. Stechert, 1937.
Wagschal, Steven. The Literature of Jealousy in the Age of Cervantes. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2006.
Wright, Elizabeth R. Pilgrimage to Patronage: Lope de Vega and the Court of Philip II, 1598-1621. Lewisburg, Pa.: Bucknell University Press, 2001.