Three Spanish Golden Age Plays: The Duchess of Amalfi’s Steward; The Capulets and Montagues; Cleopatra

Three classic Spanish plays, made famous by Shakespeare and Webster

Two of the most famous and successful playwrights of Spain’s Golden Age of playwriting were Lope de Vega (1562-1635) and Rojas Zorrilla (1607-48). From their prodigious output, the three plays in this volume, based on similar sources to Shakespeare’s and Webster’s versions, provide a fascinating comparison with their Jacobean counterparts.

Lope’s The Duchess of Amalfi’s Steward, in contrast to Webster’s play, focuses on the nobility of love, with characters who are complex and appealing. His Romeo-and-Juliet story, The Capulets and Montagues, is a fast-moving mixture of serious and comic, with an ending that will surprise and entertain.

Rojas’ treatment of Cleopatra, with its rich imagery, emphasises the love theme, held within a knot of jealous relationships.

A full introduction by Gwynne Edwards sets the plays in context and provides a thorough study of the individual works.