Harlan: Moreto’s “El desden” 
31 
hand, Lisardo, Alejandro, and Agusto, correspond to Carlos, 
Bearne, and Fox. Laura represents Diana, and Diana and 
Lucela represent Cintia and Laura, respectively. It may be 
said that Otavio and Julio, together, have some of the qualities 
of Polilla. 
Before taking up the comparison of the individual charac- 
ters of the two plays, the following episodes, common to both 
plays, should be noted. Both Diana and Laura are urged by 
their father and brother, respectively, to make a choice among 
their suitors. They resist the attentions of men as the result 
of much reading and the conviction that their sex is not treat- 
ed fairly in the world. Both Carlos and Lisardo, the latter 
only as a pretext, are brought to court by the fame of the 
ladies who refuse to marry. Alejandro and Agusto, just as 
Carlos, Bearne, and Fox, agree to let the one who can win the 
lady have her and to woo her without ill feelings toward each 
other. Both Carlos and Lisardo realize that in order to be 
successful they must resort to different means from those em- 
ployed by the other suitors. Carlos confides to Polilla in the 
third scene of the first act, as follows : 
He de seguir otro camino 
de veneer un desden tan desusado. 
Ven, y yo te dire lo que imagino, 
que tu me has de ayudar. 
Lisardo tells Otavio that his method in wooing Laura will 
be: 
Yo disfrazado, porque en Laura veo 
Ingenio que no puede ser vencido 
Sin amor, sin idustria y sin vestido. (Act I, vi.) 
The device of different colors, each with a special significance, 
is used in both plays. In El desden con el desden a game is 
played with colored ribbons, and in La vengadora de las mu- 
jeres the same idea is brought out in the description of the 
knights and their costumes in the tourney. Also, in both 
plays, the time for the decision of the ladies comes, and we 
are in suspense until the very end to know how each is to 
succeed in winning the husband she wants, admitting having 
previously been wrong in scorning men. 
After Lisardo and Carlos announce that their methods are 
to differ from those used by their co-suitors, the two cease to 
have much in common, aside from the fact that they are very 
