Harlan: Moreto’s “El desden” 
7 
tending to make love to her, he says that if he were merely 
pretending, his tongue would be looser, and he proceeds to 
declare his real love very vehemently, asking her pity on him. 
This gives Diana the chance she wants to exercise her powers 
of abuse on him. He realizes that he has thrown himself 
headlong and must retrieve himself, which he does most com- 
pletely, telling her that he cannot change his nature, which is 
not to love, and assuring her that he is only trying to fulfill 
his duty toward her as his partner. Diana’s vanity is 
wounded, and she is sb taken back that she has nothing to say. 
¥/hen she has control over herself again, once more repeating 
to herself “he de enamorar a este hombre, si toda el alma me 
cuesta” 9 , she asks him if it would really be so distasteful to 
him to be loved, whereupon he catches her again, quoting her 
own words on the danger of agradecer becoming the same as 
querer. She then leaves him in great anger and confusion 
and takes it all to Polilla, who sees things coming along very 
well now. Polilla tells her that Carlos is fond of singing, and 
they arrange for him to bring Carlos to the garden where she 
and her damas will be singing. Polilla’s instructions to Carlos 
are to wander about in the garden paying absolutely no atten- 
tion to Diana and pretending not to know she is there. Polilla 
threatens him with a dagger by way of making him see the 
necessity of keeping up his pretense. It is most difficult for 
Carlos to do this, but with Polilla’s forceful help, he first 
tells Laura, whom Diana sends to inform him of her presence, 
that she has a wonderful garden ; then, when Fenisa is sent to 
tell him that Diana has seen him — courtesy demanding his 
recognition of her presence — he sends word that he is sorry 
to have intruded and is leaving at once ; then, when Diana her- 
self calls to him and rebukes him for having entered the 
garden, which he says he did, attracted by the beauty of the 
place, and asks him if he did not hear the singing, he says 
“no”, and promising not to repeat the offense, departs. Diana 
asks Polilla (Caniqui) whether Carlos came in order to hear 
her sing and he says “yes”, but that, because it sounded like 
school children singing, he did not care to listen to it. He 
calls Carlos a hobo and barbaro. Cintia says he is an unfeel- 
ing person, and Laura says that if Diana is not already in 
love with Carlos, she is well on the way to becoming so. Diana 
0 El desden, Act II, scene iv. 
