El médico de su honra
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Plot Summary
El médico de su honra (1637), written by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, is a story of love and honour, of murder, violence, and control.
The play centres around Don Gutierre, a Spanish gentleman, married to Doña Mencía, who becomes increasingly obsessed with the suspicion that his wife has been unfaithful to him and that she secretly loves another man, Prince Enrique, the brother of King Pedro and Mencía's previous love interest.
Over the course of the play, Don Gutierre's suspicions and his desire to keep his alleged dishonour become all-consuming, finally he decides that the only way to protect himself and his reputation is to murder his wife and become 'the surgeon of his honour'. When, at the close of the play, King Pedro comes to learn of Gutierre's murderous actions, rather than punishing him, he orders Guiterre to marry another woman, Doña Leonor, whom he had previously courted but abandoned after believing her too to be unfaithful. As the curtains close, with the murder of Mencía fresh in their minds, the audience cannot help but ponder on the fate that awaits Doña Leonor.
Doña Mencía
El médico de su honra. Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico. 2015.
El médico de su honra. Clásicos en Alcála. Foto: Marcos G. Punto. 2021.
El médico de su honra. Teatro Corsario. 2012.
El médico de su honra. Teatro Cosario. 2012.
Who is Doña Mencía?
As a young woman Doña Mencía falls in love with Enrique, the brother of King Pedro. Yet, despite both parties loving one another, Mencía considered herself to be too low in the social order to marry a prince. Her father therefore arranged a marriage for his daughter with Don Gutierre, a match to which Doña Mencía consented. When Mencía marries Gutierre she must set aside her love for Enrique as she is now held responsible for maintaining her husband's precious honour. It is in response to this feeling of entrapment she now feels that Doña Mencía delivers one of the play's most celebrated monologues. In this speech she explains the conflicting emotions, love and fear, she is experiencing.
What actually happens to Doña Mencía?
When, at the start of the play, Enrique unexpectedly falls from his horse and into her life once again, Mencía is left feeling confused and trapped. This chance encounter rekindles the Prince's passions. Although Mencía is married, the Prince continues to pursue her, even visiting her at night despite her asking him to leave. Finally, Mencía decides to write a letter to the Prince explaining that she is now wed and such communication or connection is impossible. Unfortunately for Mencía, Don Gutierre interrupts her and, having become increasingly suspicious of his wife, he finds the unfinished and now ambiguous letter and mistakes it as evidence of her infidelity. In a bid to apparently salvage his honour, he decides Mencía must die and to do so employs a blood-letter. Mencía thus dies on stage, a rarity for the period, in a scene that is laden with symbolism.
Calderón de la Barca
Pedro Calderón de la Barca, born in Madrid in 1600, belonged to what is now known as the second generation of comedia playwrights. That is to say, the generation that followed Lope de Vega. Born into an elevated social position, Calderón received a Jesuit education at the Colegio Imperial before attending two of Spain's best universities in Alcála and then Salamanca where he studied Canon Law. Calderón began writing poetry in his 20's and by the time he died in 1681 he had written around 120 plays and countless other theatrical works. In 1635 Calderón was appointed director of palace performances and two years later, in 1637, he obtained a knighthood in the Order of Santiago after a papal dispensation. It was during this period of time that Calderón's dramatic creativity reached new heights resulting in the penning of works including, La vida es sueño (Life is a Dream), El alcalde de Zalamea (The Mayor of Zalmea), and his infamous honour dramas, the group to which 'El médico de su honra' pertains.
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