Lope de Vega's Comedias "Los Pleitos de Ingalaterra" and "La Corona de Hungría"

Author(s): Hugo A. Rennert

Source: The Modern Language Review, Vol. 13, No. 4 (Oct., 1918), pp. 455-464
Published by: Modern Humanities Research Association
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LOPE DE VEGA'S COMEDIAS 'LOS PLEITOS DE
INGALATERRA' AND 'LA CORONA DE HUNGRIA.'

AT some time prior to 1603 (for the play is mentioned in the first
edition of El Peregrino en su Patria), Lope de Vega wrote a comedia
entitled Los Pleitos de Ingalaterra. It was not published till 1638-
three years after the dramatist's death-in Parte xxiii of his Comedias,
the privilege to print having been granted to the poet's son-in-law,
Luis de Usategui, on January 16 of that year. The dedication of the
volume was written by Manuel de Faria y Sousa, who, in all probability,
wrote the eulogistic 'Prologo,' which begins as follows: 'Este Tomo es
la verdadera Parte xxiii de las Comedias del Padre dellas: del Alpha y
Omega (permitasenos agora hablar con estas vozes) desta suerte de
Poesia; pues al fin al fin Lope de Vega fue el principio y el remate
della, de quien se debe decir lo que Veleo Paterculo dixo de Homero:
que antes de si no hallo a quien einitar, y despues\no huuo quien entera-
mente le imitasse. Porque si bien algunos escribieron cornedias con
varios aciertos, las de Lope son de la Naturaliza, y las otras de la
industria,' etc.
Perhaps we can ascertain more approximately the date of Los Pleitos
de Ingalaterra. It contains no figura del donayre, first introduced by
Lope in his comedia La Francesilla, and this play, its author tells us,
was written before 1602 (the date of the birth of Montalvan). But
there is other evidence as to the date of our play, though, perhaps, not
so decisive. From a reference in Act I to the war in Piedmont, it must
have been written after 1595, and an allusion in Act II points to the
year 1598 or shortly after. Moreover Lope introduces, among the
characters of the play, two rustics, Belardo and Riselo; Belardo being
the name under which the poet often appears in his early plays; while
Riselo is the pseudonym of Lope's intimate friend, the poet Pedro Lifan.
On December 23, 1633, less than two years before his death, Lope
de Vega finished in Madrid the manuscript of his comedia La Corona
de Hungria, the autograph of which, according to Duran, was formerly
in the archives of the Marquis of Astorga. Duran possessed a copy of
this autograph, and from this copy, at present in the Biblioteca Nacional

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456 'Los Pleitos de Ingalaterra' and 'La Corona de Hungria'
at Madrid, Sr. Cotarelo, on behalf of the Spanish Academy, has pub-
lished the play in volume II of the new edition of Lope's dramatic
works.
An examination of these two comedias shows that the plots are
essentially identical, and that in La Corona de Hungria Lope has
utilized entire passages of Los Pleitos de Ingalaterra, many lines' having
been transferred from the earlier play.
In December, 1633, the date of La Corona de Hungria, Lope was in
his seventy-second year, and for some reason unknown he found it con-
venient to take an old play of his own and alter it to his purpose. We
may presume that he had come into possession of the manuscript of
Los Pleitos de Ingalaterra, after it had disappeared for many years from
the eyes of the theatrical managers, and had passed out of the memory
of playgoers, and that he resolved to utilize it. There is, in fact, only
one comedia,-Las Bizarrias de Belisa,-of which we are sure that it
was written after Los Pleitos, and, fortunately, the autograph of Las
Bizarrias de Belisa is still extant, dated May 24, 1634.
A comparison of Los Pleitos de Ingalaterra with La Corona de
Hungria is illuminating. It shows how the great poet, with more than
a third of a century of experience behind him, remodelled an early play
with such consummate skill as to transform it into a comedia so different
from the original that the metamorphosis has escaped detection for
nearly three centuries.
In Los Pleitos de Ingalaterra we find a King of England jealous of
the attentions paid by the Conde de Bura to Queen Leonora. The
King is on the point of leaving to command his armies in war, when
the Queen, who is in advanced pregnancy, suggests that the Conde de
Bura should go in his stead. This confirms the King's suspicions. In
an interview the Conde de Bura tells the Queen that the King is in
love with one of her ladies-in-waiting, and seeks to prove it by reading
her a letter written by the King to the lady. Approaching the Queen
to read the letter, the Count tries to embrace her, and we read this
stage-direction: 'Quiere abraFarla y trauese la lechuguilla de la Reina
d las puntas de un cuello que tendrd el Conde.' At this moment the
King enters.
In like manner La Corona de Hungria opens with the King of
Hungary jealous of his Queen Leonora, on account of the attentions of
Count Arnaldo. Liseno (like Florisandro in Los Pleitos) tries to con-
vince the King that his jealousy is groundless. The King decides to
lead his troops against the King of Poland. The Queen, who is pregnant,

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 HUGO A. RENNERT 457

objects to this, and on the King's asking her who shall commandin his
stead, she proposesthe Count Arnaldo,thinking thus to rid herself of
the latter'simportunities. The King says:
Por estar vos en los dias
del parto, no me he partido
a castigar prendas mias. (La Corona,p. 29, col. 1.)
The identical wordsare foundin Los Pleitos (fol. 207, col. 2, ed. Madrid,
1638). The Queen says:
Si estAis tratando, seior,
de la partida a la guerra,
no me encubrais su rigor,
que, si amor mi pecho encierra,
tambien encierra valor.
Hablad delante de mi;
sepa yo si he de perderos.
Rey. I Oyes esto ? (Aparte.)
Liseno. Senor, si.
Leonor. Si tan presto no he de veros,
merezca veros aqui.
Rey. Ves, Liseno, como aguarda
mi partida y la desea?
Ya le parece que tarda. (La Corona,p. 29, col. 2.)
The same words are found in Los Pleitos (foI.208, col. 2), except
line 4, which reads:
4 aun4 amor mi pecho encierra,
and Leonorsays:
q quiero este espacio veros,
y hablarle con vos aqui.
In the next line Liseno is changedto Florisandro.
Liseno,in attempting to dispel the King's suspicions,says:
Liseno. (El cielo ofendes, sefor,
teniendo de un angel celos.
i Mira que te hacen creer
con equivocos sentidos
cosas que no pueden ser!)
Rey. (No sujetes tus oidos
a palabras de mujer,
ni los rindas de esa suerte,
mira que las puertas son
por donidecon lazo fuerte
entra al alma la traici6n
y a nuestra vida la muerte.
Ella muere ya de deseo
de verme ya de partida.
Liseno. ( Eso dices?)
Rey. (Esto creo.)
Leonor. Durard mi corta vida
el breve tiempo que os veo.
(i Tal desamor! i Tal desdn !)
M. L. R. XIII. 30

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458 'Los Pleitos de Ingalaterra' and 'La Corona de Hungria'
Liseno. (Perd6name, que es locura,
senor, tu rigor.)
Rey. , A quien
no detendri tu hermosura,
mi Leonor, mi luz, mi bien?
Ya, por no daros enojos,
digo que vaya, mis ojos,
otro general por mi.
Leonor. Ya de dos almas ansf
cumplido habeis los antojos.
Ya no sereis su homicida
de alguna a quien distes vida.
Rey. Quien os parece, senora,
que vaya por mi, si agora
dejo por vos la partida ?
................................. (La Corona,p. 30, col. 1.)

In Los Pleitos (fol. 208, col. 2) we read:

Florisandro. Zelos no ay cosa tan fea,
son pena de amor bastarda.
Mira, que te hazen creer
con equivocos sentidos
cosas, que no pueden ser.
Rey. No sugetes los oidos
a palabras de muger.
No los rindas dessa suerte;
que siempre las puertas son
por donde con lazo fuerte
entra el alma a la traicion,
y d nuestra vida la muerte.
Ella muere de deseo
de verme ya de partida.
Florisandro. Que dizes?
Rey. Esto, q creo.
Florisandro. De una santa ?
Rey. Es mi homicida,
muero, mi deshonra veo.
O estoy loco, 6 quiere bien
al Conde.
Florisandro. Estrafia locura!
Reina. Mi bien, no me hablais?
Rey. A quien
no detendrAessa hermosura?
quien podra hazerla desden?
Digo, Leonor de mis ojos,
que por no daros enojos,
har6 un General por mi.
Reina. Esto estan pidiendo aqui
dos almas llenas de antojos.
No os dolais de la nacida;
duelaos la que no naci6.
Rey. Pues quie, Leonor de mi vida
ira en mi lugar? que yo
dexo por vos la partida....

The Queen suggests that the Conde de Bura, instead of the King,
should command the troops. So, in La Corona de Hungria, as already

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 HUGO A. RENNERT 459

observed, the Queen names the Count Arnaldo, and praises his soldierly
qualities.
Rey. Porque es la alabanga
la primer hija de amor.
Si al Conde no le tuuiera,
no le antepusiera A todos.
Florisandro. Antes, si bien le quisiera,
estoruara de mil modos
al Conde que no se fuera. (Los Pleitos, fol. 208, v. col. 1.)
In La Corona these lines are identical, except the last, which reads:
que el Conde a la guerra fuera. (p. 30, col. 2.)
The Qtieen rejoices that, at last, she is rid of the Count, saying:
Reina. Tu piedad, cielo, bendigo,
pues ya sin el Conde estoy,
fiero y mortal enemigo.
Porque dudo que en el suelo
naciesse tan atreuido
Cauallero, contra el zelo
A la Magestad deuido.... (Los Pleitos, fol. 208, v., col. 2.)
The same lines occur in La Corona (p. 30, col. 2), but here the two
plays differ considerably, a whole scene being inserted in La Corona.
In the latter play Lope has re-written the scene between the Queen
and the Count, but the episode of the reading of the letter and the
entanglement of the Count's collar, in one case, and his sleeve, in the
other, is found in both plays, with slight modifications. It is better
managed in Los Pleitos. We have already given (p. 456) the stage-
direction of this play, which is followed by this dialogue:
Conde. Gente viene.
Reina. La arandela
A las puntas se ha trauado
de tu cuello.
Conde. Quitarela.
Reina. No puedes?
Conde. Estoy turbado:
heme abrasado en la vela.
Salen el Rey y Florisandro.
Reina. Rasga el cuello.
Conde. Ya lo intento.
Rey. Que es esto que ven mis ojos?
Conde. ..........................................
y vine a ofrecer mi espada.... (fol. 210, col. 1.)
In La Corona the Queen attempts to snatch the letter from Count
Arnaldo :
Arnaldo. El puiio se me ha trabado
a las puntas o arandela
de tu cuello.
30-2

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460 'Los Pleitos de Ingalaterra' and 'La Corona de Hungria'
Leonor. Quita o tira.
Arnaldo. No puedo mis.
Leonor. El Rey entra.
Salen el Rey y Liseno.
Rey. Conde, de esta suerte aqui?
Arnaldo. Vine a ofreceros mi espada
en sabiendo la jornada,
y hablandola a la Reina, vi
una arafia que el rubi
de sus mejillas subia,
y a los ojos se atrevfa.
Llegue turbado al cabello,
asi6seme el puio al cuello
y desasirle queria.
...................................

Rey. La Reyna se ha desmayado;

susto de la araia ha sido.
i Sefiora! (p. 33, col. 1.)

In like manner in Los Pleitos we find the stage-direction:

Desmayase la Reina, and then:

Florisandro. La Reyna se ha desmayado
y el parto se anticipo
con el sobresalto. (fol. 210, v., col. 1.)

In both plays the Queen gives birth to two sons:

Florisandro. ...y vio que del tierno ninio
solo se mostraba un bravo,
. o,....................................
........... ............. ... Lucena
truxo una cinta de un santo,
que atada al bravo del nifio
escondi6 al momento el bravo. (Los Pleitos, fol. 213, col. 1.)

In La Coronawe read:
Liseno. Sac6 un infante la mano
en quien, una cinta atada,
reliquia de un santo obispo,
la volvi6 a esconder. (p. 34, col. 1.)

In both plays the King declares that the children are the sons of
the Count, in each case the lives of the children are saved by Florisandro
-Liseno; and a woman's corpse is substituted for the Queen:
Lisenac La Reina ha buelto del cruel desrnayo:
yo tengo de sacarla de Palacio,
y darte en su lugar un cuerpo muerto,
quitando la vida A alguna esclaua,
que poco importa que una Turca muera.
Amortajala, y ponla en el estrado,... (Los Pleitos, fol. 214.)

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 HUGO A. RENNERT 461

In La Corona the lines read:

Liseno. Di que es muerta, y pues la noche
piadosa a ayudarnos baja,
como pudiere al jardin,
aunque sea en brazos, la saca,
que, para fingir su muerte,
hoy se me ha muerto una esclava,
y la pondr6 en su lugar
si tfi tambien la amortajas. (p. 34, col. 2.)

Twenty years elapse between the first and second Acts, and in each
play the second Act opens with the two sons and their tutor; in Los
Pleitos the direction is:
Salen Vencislao, Enrique y el Ayo.
In La Corona it is:
Enrique y Alberto, hermanos, y Fabricio, su ayo.
In each case the brothers are disgusted with the study of Vergil,
Cicero, Homer and Aristotle, while their spirits are stirred by the rattle
of drums. While Lope has entirely re-written the first scene in La
Corona, many lines of the old play remain.
Enrique. Yo estudio de mala gana:
y Virgilio y Ciceron
por preciarme de leon
me han seruido de quartana. (Los Pleitos, fol. 216.)
These lines thus survive in La Corona:
Enrique. Tampoco quiero saber
preceptos para poesia,
ni de Aristoteles quiero
saber su arte............
Alberto. Quierenos dar por cuartanas
los estudios que aprendemos
del inimo de leones.... (p. 37.)
The following passage occurs in the early play:
Que aborrezco quanto puedo
el abito y el Latin:
y si callo, es porque en fin
tengo 6 Florisandro miedo;
que A vezes nos da t entender
que no es tu padre ni mio,
y entre el amor y el desvio
mezcla el pesar y el placer.
Veinte anos ha que no cessa
la guerra en Ingalaterra
All suena el atambor;
y aca estotro Licenciado
ciene de libros cargado
nuestro juuenil furor.

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462 'Los Pleitos de Ingalaterra' and 'La Coronade Hungria'
Declaranos de Virgilio obscuro
mientras el de Irlanda el muro
rompe al lugar ell que viuo. (Los Pleitos, fol. 216.)
This is repeated in La Corona, with very slight changes:
Yo aborrezco cuanto puedo
el hibito y el latin,
y si he callado es, en fin,
mis respeto que no miedo
A voces nos da a entender
que no es tu padre ni mio,
y entre el amor y el desvio
mezcla el pesar y el placer.
Veinte a'nis ha que no cesa
entre Polonia y IIungria
la guerra, y por vida ma !
que de las letras me pesa.
Alli suena el atambor
y aca estotro licenciado
tiene de libros cargado
nuestro juvenil furor.
Declaramos rnuy altivo
algin fil6sofo escuro,
mientras que Polonia el muro
rompe al lugar en que vivo. (p. 37.)
Comparealso Los Pleitos (fol. 217, v., col. 1):
Ayo. Quig&por este pecado
contra Leonor cometido
castiga el cielo ofendido
al Rey; perder&su estado,
y aun ruegue A Dios por la vida;
with La Corona,p. 39, col. 1:
Belisa. Que si por este pecado
contra Leonor comnetido
castiga el cielo ofendido
al Rey; perdera su estado,
y aun podra ser que la vida.
In Los Pleitos (fol. 217, v. col. 2) we read:
Ayo. Dexadle venga, y despues
ireis donde el cielo os guia.
.Enrique. Pues donde esta ?
Ayo. En la montaiia
en negocios de su hagienda.
Vencislao.Es donde esta aquella prenda,
que todo el afio acompafia?
Ayo. Alld esta cierta muger
cuyo nombre es Florisea,
mas nadie sabe quien sea.
Enrique. Su amiga debe de ser.
Ayo. No es por'Dios, que es virtuoso,
y ella es muger principal.
,o., ................................
Vencislao.Patria, pues en ti naci,
lo que te debo te doy.

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 HUGO A. RENNERT. 463

These lines are repeated, almost word for word, in La Corona, p. 39,
col. 2.
Of especial interest is the comparison of the long passage in Los
Pleitos (fol. 218), beginning:
Conde. Alegres vozes suenan en Palacio,
with La Corona (p. 40, col. 1). It shows with what consummate skill
and apparent ease the changes in the text were made.
It would lead us too far to note all the parallel passages; one sig-
nificant example more must suffice. In Los Pleitos, fol. 219, v., we find
the stage-direction:
Sale el Rey huyendo solo, and this monologue follows:
Rey. Adonde avra para mi
remedio entre tanta guerra ?
pues no me sufre la tierra
despues que al cielo ofendi.
.......................................

A traidor Conde de Bura,

no bastaba que por ti
dos Angeles que perdi
cubre infame sepultura?
(ino que dando fauor
al de Irlanda, me has quitado
agora todo mi estado,
y antes de agora el honor.
Compare this with the following lines from La Corona (p. 43, col. 1).
Rey. 1Ad6nde habr6 para mi
remedio, amparo y consuelo,
pues me le ha negado el suelo
despues que al cielo ofendi ?
i Traidor Conde! t que locura
te mueve ya contra mi,
si dos angeles por ti
cubre infame sepultura?
i Oh, que venganza tan dura,
perder por tu loco amor,
no a Leonor, pues que Leonor
fue por tu engaiio traidora,
sino mis reinos agora
y antes de agora mi honor!
The defeated and fugitive King meets the Queen in a wooded region
where he seeks shelter, and there follows the remarkable dialogue so
much admired by Grillparzer (Sdmrtliche Werke, ed. Sauer, Vol. XVII,
p. 184, Stuttgart, no date). Though considerably shortened in the later
version, the very words of the old play are frequently retained. (Cf.
Los Pleitos, fol. 220, col. 2, with La Corona, p. 43, col. 2, the passage
beginning: Cuya es esta casa ?) It is instructive to observe how the

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464 ' Los Pleitos de Ingalaterra' and ' La Corona de Hungria'

poet's wider experience has improved this scene. The passage following
(Los Pleitos, fol. 221, v.) is adhered to very closely in La Corona (p. 45);
and though many changes have been made, the rhymes of the earlier
version have been preserved.
Act inl opens in both plays with the entrance of soldiers in search
of the King (cf. Los Pleitos, fol. 225, with La Corona, p. 50, col. 1); the
last eight lines of the scene are identical. The stage-direction which
follows in Los Pleitos reads: Corren una cortina, y aparecen Vencislao y
Enrique con una cortina (sic) asida entre los dos, while in La Corona
we find: Abren las puertas y se ven debajode un dosel Alberto y Enrique,
asidos de una. corona. The rest of the scene in Los Pleitos is followed
very closely in the later play, the first forty lines being identical in
both plays.
The concluding scenes differ considerably in the two comedias, and
it would be useless to point out resemblances. In both cases the brothers
are victorious over their enemies and are to rule jointly. Dissatisfied
with this arrangement, the decision as to which of the brothers is to be
King is, in each case, left to the first person who, on the morrow, shall
enter the city gates. This person happens to be the Queen, who is
accompanied by the King, both being disguised as peasants. In both
plays the brothers are married to the daughters of Florisandro-Liseno.
In spite of the identity of plot, and of the fact that numerous
passages of the early play have been transferred verbatim to the later
one, the marvellous dexterity with which Lope has handled the matter
makes La Corona de Hungria read like an entirely different play from
its precursor. The whole procedure illustrates once more Lope's life-
long indifference and carelessness with respect to his writings for the
stage. He never took his plays nearly so seriously as he did his other
poetical compositions.
In the present instance he did not even trouble to change the name
of the Queen, who, in each case, is called Leonora. Still more remark-
able is the fact that Lope did not hesitate to repeat the very striking
incident of the spider, which he had used in the early play,-an incident
so memorable that he might well think its repetition could not escape
detection. An inventor of his limitless resources might have substi-
tuted any one of a dozen devices, but he simply did not care. The
old one served the purpose of the hour, and beyond this Lope seems
to have had no concern.
HUGO A. RENNERT.
PA., U.S.A.
PHILADELPHIA,

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