Background and applications of the honor code in Dryden's four Spanish-oriented heroic plays
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The treatment of honor in John Dryden’s four Spanish oriented heroic plays--The Indian Queen, The Indian Emperour, and both parts of The Conquest of Granada--follows dramatic patterns conspicuously parallel to those in earlier Spanish plays. From a basic complexity involving the dichotomy in types of honor to such specific elements as the blood rite, vengeance, conflict, reputation, the vow, the slander, and others, motifs abound in these four Dryden plays that abound also in the most popular plays of such renowned Siglo de Oro playwrights as Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, and Calderon. These motifs function in sufficiently explicit detail to suggest a deliberate borrowing on Dryden’s part. Such influence from Spanish drama has been largely ignored since no proof that Dryden could read the language has been previously documented. Dryden’s own acknowledgment that he can read Spanish, however, validates potential arguments hitherto discounted. While detailed analyses of possible analogues to these four heroic plays lie beyond the scope of my study, certain plays, such as Lope’s El perro del hortelano or La envidia de la nobleza, are suggested. The ethics of Dryden’s honor code expands, of course, far beyond these two plays. French tragedy, long considered by most Dryden critics as the sole supplier of outside influence for all his heroic plays, does not supply explicit character reactions to the honor code. Neo—Platonism cannot adequately explain or account for the dynamic behavior of such characters as Montezuma, Cortez, or Almanzor. Nor was Spanish influence channeled to Dryden through French playwrights. Spanish drama influenced only French comedy, and then the motifs were altered to fit Continental manners. Indeed, when Corneille early attempted to inject some authentic Spanish ethics and attitudes into Le Cid, he was soundly rebuked by Cardinal Richelieu’s Academy. No appreciably Spanish motifs appear in serious French drama thereafter. Dryden’s borrowings from Spanish literature should come as no surprise. Tudor and Stuart drama contain a rich legacy of Spanish references ranging from courtesy books and histories to novels and plays. Peninsular themes increase in popularity with the Restoration. Coupled with his ability to read the language, this popularity renders Dryden’s treatment of honor in his four heroics as all the more convincing evidence that he was strongly influenced by Spanish literature, and especially by Siglo de Oro playwrights.
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