La ambigua aceptación de la otredad, de su valor y dignidad, en la comedia de Lope de Vega y Carpio La pobreza estimada

Abstract

Within Lope de Vega’s vast theatrical repertoire, La pobreza estimada, composed between 1597 and 1600, has characteristics that make it impossible to place it within a single type of comedy genre, since it shares aspects belonging to urban comedy, but also to Moorish and/or captive comedy and Byzantine comedy. It is true that this hybrid nature of the play, well argued by critics, is also a consequence of the double geographical setting in which the intrigue takes place – Valencia and Algiers –, which, consequently, leads to the confrontation of two worlds, the Spanish and the Muslim, historically in contrast with each other, but constantly in contact. A very interesting aspect of the comedy that I intend to explore in depth is the attitude of Spanish society at the time – explained through the characterization of its characters – with respect to otherness, specifically, to converts and Muslims.