Harlan: Moreto’s “El desden” 
41 
Angela, and it is arranged that a double wedding shall take 
place that night at Juan's house, he to marry Angela and 
Celia, Anastasio. Fernando finds Lisarda writing a note of 
abuse to him for neglect of her due to his friendship for Juan. 
He tears up the note and leaves, saying that he wants her to 
be as jealous as she has made him be. They soon make up 
and Fernando asks her to represent Angela in the wedding 
that evening, which she agrees to do. She and Juan decide 
to be in love whether the marriage is pretended or not and 
are about to join hands when Celia, almost dying of jealousy, 
interrupts, saying that she has done everything simply to 
pique Juan; he admits the same and accepts the heart offered 
without the ducats. Fernando and Lisarda marry, and Mendo 
and Fabio marry Xnes and Elisa respectively. 
The real point of contact between El desden con el desden 
and De cosario a cosario is in the fact that, in both plays, the 
courted ladies are worsted “at their own game". Both Diana 
and Celia are scornful of men, but Celia is a coquette and un- 
scrupulous, with an eye to the value of money. In this latter 
characteristic Don Juan is a match for her. She is attracted 
to Juan at first sight, and her vanity being wounded by his 
being on his guard, she decides on using jealousy as her 
method of conquering him. In this, she and Moreto’s Diana 
are alike. When she chooses Teodoro to make Juan jealous, 
she says “Rendirle, Teodoro, deseo ” 109 which strongly reminds 
one of her counterpart’s repeated vow. Whereas in El desden 
con el desden , Diana is brought around to fall in love with 
Carlos by a gradual, persistent, unrelenting campaign, in De 
cosario a cosario Celia is already in love, tho not admittedly 
so, and when she gets Juan where she wants him, starts over 
again to make him jealous. Juan, who is up to the same trick 
as Celia is, falls in love in spite of himself, unable to “play 
with fire without being burned’’. He is tricked at his own 
game, but in the end tricks Celia by her own methods. In 
Moreto’s play, Carlos from the first is in love with Diana, 
campaigns for her love, is only once almost tricked by her, 
but retrieves himself most effectively and never allows us to 
lose our respect for him as Juan does when he decides, with 
Lisarda, to be in love with her. This seems contrary to his 
avowed friendship for Fernando. Juan has a little assist- 
109 De cosario. Act II, scene vi. 
