The Passion Flower by Jacinto Benavente y Martínez
"The Passion Flower" is a dramatic work by Spanish playwright Jacinto Benavente y Martínez, written in 1913. Set in a small town in Castile, Spain, the play revolves around the complex emotional dynamics within a peasant family, particularly focusing on the engagement of Acacia, Esteban's stepdaughter, to Faustino. The narrative explores themes of love, betrayal, and the consequences of societal expectations, as Acacia grapples with her unresolved feelings for her former fiancé, Norbert. The tension escalates following Faustino's mysterious murder, leading to a trial that reveals deep-seated grudges and conflicts among the characters, including Esteban, Acacia, and Raimunda, her mother.
As the story unfolds, the characters are drawn into a web of accusations and violent emotions, culminating in a tragic climax that challenges the notions of loyalty and familial bonds. The title "The Passion Flower" metaphorically suggests the entangled relationships and passionate emotions that drive the characters’ actions. The play not only highlights the personal struggles of its characters but also reflects larger societal issues concerning marriage, peasantry, and individual aspirations within a constraining social framework. Benavente, who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1922, is recognized for his contributions to Spanish drama, and "The Passion Flower" is a significant example of his exploration of human psychology and social themes.
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The Passion Flower by Jacinto Benavente y Martínez
First produced:La malquerida, 1913; first published, 1914 (English translation, 1917)
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Tragedy
Time of plot: Early twentieth century
Locale: Castile, Spain
Principal characters
Esteban , a well-to-do Spanish peasantRaimunda , his second wifeAcacia , her daughterRubio andJuliana , family servantsNorbert , Acacia’s former fiancéFaustino , Acacia’s fiancé
The Story:
There is much excitement in the home of Esteban, a wealthy peasant living in an outlying section of a small town in Castile, Spain. The engagement of his stepdaughter Acacia to Faustino, son of Tio Eusebio, a friend of Esteban, has just been announced, and friends of Raimunda, Acacia’s mother, are coming by to talk about the event. Acacia, after turning down several suitors, has finally consented to Faustino’s suit. The women are wondering whether Acacia still thinks about Norbert, who some time before had broken off his engagement to her without explanation.
Fidelia, one of the callers, says that she saw Norbert leaving angrily with his gun after the engagement was announced that afternoon. Another, Engracia, shrewdly suspects that the young woman has accepted Faustino to get away from Esteban, against whom she has borne a grudge for marrying Raimunda so soon after the death of her first husband. Raimunda assures her friends that she has seen no signs of ill feeling toward Esteban from Acacia except in her unwillingness to call him “father.” Certainly Esteban has been most generous to both of them.
Night is coming on. Faustino and his father, who live in the next village, will have no moonlight for their journey, and hungry husbands will soon be demanding suppers, so the party ends. Esteban offers to accompany his friends to the edge of the village.
Raimunda, still not certain how her daughter feels about the coming marriage, begins questioning her, and she is reassured by her daughter’s replies. Only Juliana, a servant, strikes a sour note as she begins to tidy the house after the party, declaring that she wishes that Acacia’s real father had lived to see this day. Milagros, a friend who has stayed to see Acacia’s hope chest, also asks the young woman how she feels toward Norbert. When Milagros suggests that Acacia is still in love with him, Acacia’s answer is to tear his last letter to her into bits and throw the pieces out the window into the darkness.
At that moment, a gunshot is heard outside, and Raimunda sends Juliana to investigate. The servant returns with villagers who are carrying the body of Faustino. No one saw the shot fired, but the women are sure Norbert was the assassin. When a trial is held, however, unbiased witnesses give Norbert an unbreakable alibi. Weeks later, the people of the village are still arguing about the incident. Esteban mopes about the house and talks so much about the killing that Acacia is almost frantic. Raimunda finally decides to send Juliana to find Norbert. She is sure that she can learn the truth from him.
The servant Rubio, who was becoming increasingly drunk and impudent, tries to keep Eusebio from calling on Esteban to discuss the murder. Eusebio’s other sons, disgusted with what they regard as a miscarriage of justice, are threatening to shoot Norbert. Their father hints that even if the young man is innocent, rogues can be hired to assassinate him, or family servants may act through loyalty. Raimunda tells him that she prays every day that God will reveal and punish the murderer.
After Eusebio leaves, Juliana sneaks Norbert into the house. He assures Raimunda that he is completely innocent of the crime. Bernabe, another servant, arrives with accounts of Rubio’s drunken boasting that he is now master in Esteban’s house. The servant also repeats a song, heard in the tavern, that calls Acacia “the Passion Flower” because she inspires an unholy love in men. Norbert confesses that he broke off his engagement to Acacia because he had been threatened and had not been courageous enough to resist.
When Acacia appears, Raimunda, to test her suspicions, accuses her of being in love with her stepfather. The girl replies that her father is in the cemetery and that she hates the man who has taken his place. The arrival of Esteban brings further denunciation from Raimunda: Let him get Rubio’s help to murder Acacia and her, if he wishes, but she will kill him if he approaches her daughter. Norbert, trying to leave the house in spite of Bernabe’s warning, is shot by Eusebio’s sons.
Norbert recovers from his wounds, but an atmosphere of hatred hangs over all because of the things that have been said and done. Raimunda and Juliana discuss the time when Esteban came courting Raimunda; now they wonder whether he loved Acacia then. Juliana warns that great hatred such as Acacia’s might contain the germ of great love.
Rubio, becoming insolent in his demands, proves that Esteban never actually told him to murder Faustino. Esteban had only spoken aloud his hope that no one would take Acacia from his house. There is still love between Esteban and Raimunda, however, and to preserve it they decide that they would be wise to send Acacia briefly to a convent and then try to find a husband for her. Acacia, who has been listening outside the door, bursts in with the announcement that she will not leave the house. Esteban acquiesces; since he has been the cause of all the trouble, he should be the one to go. At that Acacia breaks down, saying that Esteban must not go; she loves him.
Raimunda’s screams denouncing him bring the neighbors to the scene. The trapped Esteban shoots Raimunda, who dies happy because Acacia has turned to her at the end as she lies dying, and not to Esteban. With her death, Raimunda has saved her daughter. Esteban will never have her now.
Bibliography
Goldberg, Isaac. The Drama of Transition. Cincinnati: Stewart Kidd, 1922. Provides a lengthy discussion of Benavente’s achievement and offers insight into the critical reception of The Passion Flower both in Spain and throughout Europe. Also includes summaries of critical commentaries on Benavente by several early twentieth century scholars and artists.
Jameson, Storm. “The Drama of Italy and Spain.” In Modern Drama in Europe. London: Collins, 1920. Places Benavente and his plays within the context of the dramatic works produced in twentieth century Spain, linking him with the earlier dramatist Lope de Vega Carpio as one of the country’s major playwrights. Discusses formal qualities of Benavente’s plays and provides insight into the dramatist’s techniques.
Parker, Mary, ed. Modern Spanish Dramatists: A Bio-bibliographical Sourcebook. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002. Reference work includes an article about Benavente that contains a brief biography, discusses his dramaturgy and the themes of his plays, and provides an overview of the critical and scholarly responses to his work.
Peñuelas, Marcelino C. Jacinto Benavente. Translated by Kay Engler. New York: Twayne, 1968. Provides an introductory overview of the work of one of the most popular Spanish playwrights of the first half of the twentieth century. Establishes the relationship of The Passion Flower to the social and literary climate in which it was written.
Soufas, C. Christopher, Jr. “Benavente and the Spanish Discourse on Theater.” Hispanic Review 68, no. 2 (Spring, 2000): 147-159. Examines why Benavente, once considered the leading twentieth century Spanish dramatist, later came to be seen as inferior to other Spanish playwrights. Discusses The Passion Flower and some of Benavente’s other plays and describes the negative critical reception of his work.
Starkie, Walter. Jacinto Benavente. London: H. Milford, 1924. Includes commentary on The Passion Flower in a general discussion of Benavente’s dialect plays. Analyzes character development and compares the work to similar dramas by other European playwrights.
Underhill, John Garrett. Introduction to The Plays of Jacinto Benavente. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1921. Discusses The Passion Flower as one of Benavente’s “peasant dramas” in which the playwright dramatizes “the struggle of the individual conscience against the conscience of the masses.”