Lope De Vega's Fuenteovejuna

Lope de Vega’s Fuenteovejuna is one of the most prominent theatre productions from the Spanish Golden era of theatre. Honor is one major theme throughout plays from this era, and is readily seen in Fuenteovejuna. The reputation of Commander Guzman is one character that highlights the theme greatly, as he is a man that should be of good, but the people are very much disillusioned with his hypocrisy and abuse of the townspeople of Fuenteovejuna. Throughout the production, the conflict of the play revolves around the challenge of power and the fear in loss of honor. I agree with the play’s message and found the overall struggle and the bravery shown amongst the people to be very moving. The protagonist of the play, Laurencia, plays a crucial role in awaking people to realize that something must be done. Her return home after having been terribly abused, does not weaken her, but unleashes her anger to tell the men and women of Fuenteovejuna that they must unite against Commander Guzman, the antagonist of this play.

Moments before, Laurencia had fully drawn me into being one with the people of Fuenteovejuna. When Mason Patterson, playing the part of Alonso, spoke these words on stage, I snapped from the illusion of being one with the plat once. His tone was not effective or convincing at all. I think I even heard some people in the audience laugh, although it was not meant to be taken in a humorous manner. He spoke in a monotone manner, that kind of trailed off at the end, and in some way, could have been interpreted as sarcastic. I felt as if Constance Swain had built up this rising action, and Mason Patterson caused a dip and disillusionment with his tone. I felt that in this moment he was not Alonso’s character at