La originalidad de Moreto en su uso de comedias anteriores: un estudio de las fuentes de El mejor amigo el rey e Industrias contra finezas

Agustín Moreto (1618-1669) one of the six outstanding dramatists of Spain's Golden Age, has been repeatedly accused of plagiarism by critics because of his use of earlier plays. The dramas examined in this thesis reveal the constant striving for perfection, rather than originality, by dramatists throughout the Golden Age. Moreto's creative ability in fusing diverse elements from various sources into unified dramas of superior merit is shotm by comparing two of his plays, El mejor amigo el rey and Industrias contra finezas, with their sources. An examination of the relationship between the source of El meior amigo el rey. Cautela contra cautela, attributed to Tirso de Molina, and the play from which it derives, El amor y el amistad, by Tirso de Molina, aids in placing Moreto‘s play in proper perspective. While retaining the basic plot of Cautela. Moreto eliminated much of the confusing and complicated action of his source which was typical of dramas of the first cycle of Golden Age drama. This permitted a more concise and logical development of the dramatic action in meior amigo el rev through rearranging and transforming events in Cautela. Much more profound characterization in Moreto's play also contributed to a more complete exposition of the theme. El amor y el amistad and Palabras y pítimas appear to offer sources for divergencies from Cautela in incidents and characterization which made meior amigo a more unified and effective drama than its source, A more coherent dramatic structure was achieved by improving its separate aspects through Moreto's superior dramatic technique. He failed, however to make this play a unified whole through achieving unity of theme, the principal aim of dramatists in the Golden Age. A study of the changes in plot and characterization made by Tirso in Lope de Vega's S halcón de Federico to create his own drama, Palabras y Pltnnas. aids in understanding the transformation of the later play by Moreto in Industrias contra finezas. Moreto recognized the restrictions imposed by the type of play which narrates the rise and fall of a royal favorite and by the long tradition of a test of friendship. He was able to overcome these obstacles to an aesthetically satisfying drama in his recasting of melor amigo el rev by developing the possibilities inherent in the theme of Palabras y plumas. The perfection of the dramatic structure of Industrias contra finezas contrasts strikingly with his sources and reveals his true creativity. Only by a detailed comparison of Moreto's plays with the dramas which inspired them can the great divergencies be seen, even when Moreto made only subtle changes, as in the case of meior amigo el rev. This dramatist cannot be found guilty of plagiarism when judged by the conception of artistic originality of his age