48 
Indiana University Studies 
Astolfo and Carlos come in, the latter relieving Astolfo of a 
gun. Aurora calls Leonor, who is with Clavela and Fadrique. 
Everything must now be explained, and after reviling Clavela 
for the part she has played, Aurora is content to accept Carlos 
for his “fineza", leaving no further obstacles in the way of 
Fadrique and Clavela. 
The role of disdain in this play is practically synonymous 
with indifference. The disdain of Fadrique for Aurora's love 
is a passive sort, into which no positive effort enters. The 
same may be said of the other example of disdain, that of 
Aurora toward Carlos. This is but a minor, if not almost 
negligible, feeling in Aurora, overshadowed by her love for 
Fadrique. Then, too, her resentment, which is almost grief at 
lack of reciprocation, and her jealousy are much more ve- 
hement than any feeling of disdain which she has for Carlos. 
He wins her in the end, not so much by any effort he has been 
exhorted to make, as by simply being the “next best" when 
she finds that she cannot have her choice. 
The point of the play seems to be shown in these words of 
Aurora's : 
; Que desden! (Aparte) 
Argos he de ser segundo 
por incurrir, y saber 
este prodigio escondido, 
hombre, demonio o muger . . . 
Porque advierta en su escarmiento 
a lo que obliga el desden . 125 
When she would vent her fury on Clavela because of jeal- 
ousy, she calls our attention to her desire to go to any length 
to avenge Fadrique’s disdain, not on Fadrique himself, but on 
the one who stands in her way. 
The situations found in A lo que obliga el desden and El 
desden con el desden are not initially the same, nor does their 
development bring them any closer together. Neither are the 
characters, in any sense, counterparts. It would, perhaps, be 
possible to conceive of a play by the title given this one by 
Salado Garces which might have a great deal in common with 
the Moreto play. Examination of the play itself reveals noth- 
ing to be suspected as influencing El desden con el desden. 
125 A lo que obliga, Act II, p. 222. 
