Fente Ovejuna Sparknotes

Braquece Smith, 1318836, Theatre 1331, Fuente Ovejuna
Fuente Ovejuna is a play written by the Spanish playwright, Lope de Vega. It was first published Madrid in 1619 as a reincarnation of an actual historical event that took place in the actual city of Fuente Ovejuna. The University of Houston’s theatre department put on a production of Fuente Ovejuna, successfully recreating the play’s story and theme with the use of superb acting, enveloping set pieces, and convincing costumes. This play takes place in a remote village, of course, called Fuente Ovejuna. In the first act of the play, we are introduced to Frondoso and Laurencia, played respectively by Jacob Perkel and Constance Swain. The two childhood sweethearts live with their love in hiding,

Frondoso and Laurencia both know that if they confess their love to the public, Gomez will then begin to attack Laurencia with more force and vigor than he already has. The two lovers, along with the rest of the town fear Gomez, unwillingly complying with his every wish in order to circumvent his irrational temper. However, as hard as they try, Gomez manages to find Laurencia alone atop a hill, where he makes an advance on her and tries to rape her. Frondoso comes to defend his love and takes the commander’s crossbow and turns it upon the commander, threatening to kill him. Both Laurencia and Frondoso get away, but this only angers the commander. Gomez, upset with his failed attempt at Laurencia, he changes his attention to the young Jacinta, played by Jeana Magallon. In an attempt to protect his fellow citizen, Mengo, played by Kenn Hopkins, steps in the way and receives 1000 lashes for treason against the commander. Thinking that the conflict is settled, Frondoso and Laurencia decide to confess their love to the public and get married. During their wedding, the commander shows up and arrests Frondoso for his threat with the crossbow, orders his servants to bean Alonso,

However, I believe that the underlying theme of society’s circumvention of the requirements of justice. Simply put, I believe the theme of this play is the Machiavellian thought process that the right action is the one that upholds the political power of the state. There are four pivotal plot points in this play that support this theme: when Frondoso threatens the commander with his bow, when the commander arrests Frondoso and kidnaps Laurencia, when the town revolts and kills the commander, and when Fernando and Isabel intervene on the investigation in order to reach a final verdict. Within these four key plot points, there are elements that show how the villagers act in a way that causes the commander to encounter the most trouble possible in order to protect their rights. The play rightfully displays society’s natural tendency to defend its own people from any corruptness that shows itself. In each of the four plot points, the protagonist, Laurencia, is trying to either stop the commander’s tyranny on her own or with the help of her fellow villagers; while the antagonist, Commander Guzman, is always creating obstacles that require Laurencia to rethink her plan and put her back into her “rightful place.” In relation to the theme, these two characters are the ignitions to every conflict in the play. The men of the village wouldn’t have felt the