Fuenteovejuna

How does the play define honor? Throughout the play, the characters wrestle with definitions of honor: some are explicitly endorsed or rejected, but a cohesive picture is a little more muddied due to the way the plot unfolds. Define honor as a concept through a close reading of the play.

To what extent is this a feminist play? While there are certainly moments that argue for equal status, other points appear to reinforce subservience. Is Lope de Vega arguing for equality, or is he using the Commander’s brutalization of women as a plot device?

To what extent does the play question traditional gender roles? Building on the reading of the play as a feminist work (or, not as a feminist work), discuss the play’s message regarding traditional gender roles. Does it subvert them? Ultimately uphold them? Something in between?