Lope de Vega
Las ferias de Madrid
edited by Donald McGrady

Among the secondary plays of Lope de Vega, Las ferias de Madrid (written in 1587) is one of the most interesting and intriguing. Critics have acclaimed its artistry while being puzzled by its action, in which a husband is killed while his beautiful wife finds a new love in an attractive youth. In other words, the traditional honor code seems to be turned on its ear. What commentators have not appreciated is that the husband is a repugnant philanderer, while his wife and her suitor are eminently likeable characters who are very much in love (the expression of their youthful affection is one of the most delightful in all of Lope’s theater). The text reproduces a manuscript based upon the lost autograph, whose readings are far superior to those of later printed versions. McGrady studies the sources of the play in Ser Giovanni Fiorentino, Giovan Francesco Straparola and Cristóbal de Tamariz, and annotates many hundreds of words, expressions and allusions unfamiliar to the modern reader.

Ediciones críticas #25
isbn 1-58871-082-3 (PB)
295 pp. (2006) $26.95