Fuenteovejuna

ORTUÑO

He’s surrounded by advisors

Saying, ‘Go on, keep him waiting.’

COMMANDER

He’ll win few friends playing that game.

When you treat a man with respect

You build a bridge into his heart

When you treat a man with contempt

You make an enemy for life.

The Commander is ostensibly referring to people in power, commenting on the Grand Master’s naiveté in dealing with people of rank. He believes he is someone to whom the Grand Master should be deferring to as a man of respect. He unwittingly summarizes the themes and ultimate outcome of the play. However, he does not treat the people of Fuenteovejuna with respect, instead making enemies of them.

LAURENCIA

And what’s all this pursuit about,

What do men actually want from us?

To lay us naked on a sheet

And when they’re done to run away

With exactly the same haste

With which they tried to seduce us.

Laurencia and Pascuala are the first two characters we meet from Fuenteovejuna; therefore, we are first introduced to the town through the eyes of women. In particular, we are introduced through the eyes of women who are speaking on women’s issues and complaining about the brutality of the man who in only the last scene presented himself as honorable.

FRONDOSO

I’m following the city fashion.

In the city everything’s upside down:

Important people are never rude,

They’re just overworked or busy,

Their arrogance is confidence,

They’re cynicism is gritty,

They’re bald heads are distinguished and

Their big feed are firm foundations.

They tell lies and it’s pragmatic,

And when they’re vain, it’s rather charming.

Here, the juxtaposition between the rural people and the city people is introduced, with city people viewed unfavorably. Frondoso and Laurencia trade jabs, mocking the ways of the city—Laurencia, perhaps, a bit more harshly than Frondoso, who merely thinks things are backwards.