Harlan: Moreto’s “El desden” 
83 
he is going to be able to live up to all her qualifications as well 
as he starts out. She perhaps does push her test a bit too far, 
but she has absolutely convinced herself that Fadrique is the 
one for her, and she says, near the end of the play, when he 
is engaging the others outside her window : 
Es un rayo don Fadrique, 
Dueno mis ojos le llaman, 
Ya mi desden se acabo, 
La corriente de mis ansias 
Se ha desatado ; i Ay de ml ! 
El es dueno de mi alma. (Act III, scene 10.) 
The disdain she mentions here has nothing whatever in com- 
mon with the disdain which Diana professes, nor is it over- 
come at all in the same way. Serafina is jealous of Porcia 
when Fadrique talks to the latter, just as Diana is jealous of 
Cintia. But, Diana does not think of being jealous until Car- 
los tells her that he has decided to marry Cintia. With 
Serafina, the case is different, for she already knows that 
Fadrique loves her. Serafina does not at all have the idea 
that Diana has of making Fadrique fall in love with her, only 
to scorn him afterwards. The only point the two have in 
common is their initial conviction that they do not want to be 
married. Diana expresses herself in more vigorous terms 
than Serafina, who, even in this conviction realizes — altho she 
laments the fact — that she must marry. 
As Schaeffer says, Flores reminds us of Polilla. He gains 
access to Serafina, is engaged by her to distract her, and she 
does not know of his connection with Fadrique just as is the 
case in El desden con el desden. Serafina calls him Roque, 
because of his propensities at chess. In Moreto’s play, Polilla 
is known to Diana as Caniqui. Flores helps Fadrique out by 
simply knowing Serafina’s requirements, telling them to his 
master, and thus giving him the advantage over his rivals, 
even to the extent of knowing of the exchange of roles between 
Porcia and the duchess. Thus far, he plays the same part as 
Polilla, but Polilla goes much farther for the simple fact that 
Diana is much harder to overcome than Serafina. His part 
is much more important. In the end, Flores admits being 
cuerdo , after having played the part of the loco during the 
play, just as Polilla tells us that he is not Caniqui, but plain 
Polilla. 
