El Médico de su Honra (The Doctor of his Own Honor) by Calderón de la Barca: The Honor as a Cause of Exemption of the Penal Responsibility in the Baroque Spain

<p>The notion of honor or reputation is at the very core of the Spanish theatre in the baroque period. This fact could not be correctly understood without taking into consideration the obsession about purity of blood, having got a relevant influence in the Spanish society daily life since the expulsion of the Jewish population and the taking over of Grenade in 1492, as well as the first rank role played by the clerical and political power against the reform movement into the Church. One additional element that should be included into this general frame of reference is the structural inability of the Spanish economy to take off, after the end of the middle-age, in a process leading to a beginning of industrial revolution, with the subsequent assumption of modern values that necessarily would come out of that process. The most telling example of the importance of the idea of honor in the Spanish baroque theatre is, with no doubt, The Doctor of his own honor (El medico de su honra), by Calder&oacute;n de la Barca, which plot turns around the announced death of an innocent lady suspicioned of adultery, just because of an unhappy sets of events. In the play the jealousy is less determinant for the purpose of the plot that the need for the husband to eliminate any element of uncertainty, as far as his reputation is concerned. The King understands the husband&rsquo;s motivation and forgives him. Such a conception of honor has left, till very recent times, a major mark in the evolution of the Spanish society, even at a legislative level.</p> <hr /><p>El concepto de honor o reputaci&oacute;n es un elemento fundamental en el teatro barroco espa&ntilde;ol. Este hecho no se puede entender correctamente sin tener en cuenta la obsesi&oacute;n por la pureza de sangre, concepto con una influencia relevante en la vida cotidiana de la sociedad espa&ntilde;ola desde la expulsi&oacute;n de la poblaci&oacute;n jud&iacute;a y la conquista de Granada en 1492, as&iacute; como por el papel fundamental desempe&ntilde;ado por el poder clerical y pol&iacute;tico contra los movimientos de reforma en la Iglesia. Un elemento adicional que debe incluirse en este marco de referencia es la incapacidad estructural de la econom&iacute;a espa&ntilde;ola para iniciar, al t&eacute;rmino de la Edad Media, un proceso capaz de establecer las bases de una revoluci&oacute;n industrial, con la consiguiente asunci&oacute;n de los valores modernos que necesariamente traer&iacute;a consigo ese proceso. El ejemplo m&aacute;s elocuente de la importancia de la idea de honor en el teatro barroco espa&ntilde;ol es, sin duda, la obra de Calder&oacute;n de la Barca El m&eacute;dico de su honra, cuya trama gira en torno a la muerte anunciada de una dama sobre la que, a pesar de su inocencia, recae la sospecha de adulterio, &uacute;nicamente por una serie de hechos desafortunados. En la trama general de la obra los celos juegan un papel menos determinante que la necesidad del marido de eliminar cualquier elemento de duda, en lo que respecta a su reputaci&oacute;n. El rey entiende la motivaci&oacute;n del marido y lo perdona. Semejante concepci&oacute;n del honor ha dejado, hasta tiempos muy recientes, una marca importante en la evoluci&oacute;n de la sociedad espa&ntilde;ola, incluso a nivel legislativo.</p> <p><strong>DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN</strong>: <a href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=2522871" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/abstract=2522871</a>