Harlan: Moreto’s “El desden” 
85 
CHAPTER XIX 
DESPRECIAR LO QUE SE QUIERE, Montalvan 
Despreciar lo que se quiere (or Despreciarse por quererse ) , 
by Juan Perez de Montalvan, is found in the Segundo tomo de 
las comedias del doctor Juan de Montalvan, Madrid, 1638. 166 
The play is mentioned by Alonso Cortes 167 among those which 
he rejects as having nothing to do with Moreto’s El desden con 
el desden . The play being inaccessible, recourse has been 
made to the synopsis of Mr. G. W. Bacon. 168 
Leonor, daughter of Rodrigo de Mendoza, the comfort of her 
father in the loss of his wife, has had no idea of marriage, 
but as Rodrigo becomes old, he realizes that she ought to marry 
and arranges a match with a Zaragozan, whom he has not 
seen. One day, while with her friend, Ana, Leonor is rescued 
from a bull by a stranger, who says he is Juan de Guzman, of 
Seville. She does not reveal her name and gives him the ad- 
dress of Ana as her own. They admire each other, and Leonor 
hopes that her fiance will be like Juan, while he, being be- 
trothed by a relative, the Duke Alberto, to a person he has 
never seen, has a similar wish about his fiancee. A few days 
later, with his friend, Diego, he calls at the address given him 
and finds Leonor and Ana, the latter waiting for her lover, 
Lisardo, whom Diego knows. Juan and Lisardo engage in a 
fencing match in which Juan is pricked. Lisardo departs 
jealous of Juan because he thinks Ana has given him a band- 
age, which, however, was dropped purposely by Leonor. Ines, 
Leonor’s servant, tells Juan that her mistress is the lady he 
rescued, and he is so delighted to know it that he gives Ines a 
ring. 
In the second act, Leonor and Juan, Ana and Lisardo clear 
up their misunderstanding, and at this point Rodrigo sends 
for Leonor to come home. Juan’s servant then comes to tell 
him that Alberto is very angry because Juan has not been to 
call on his future wife. Rodrigo tells Leonor that she is to 
186 Barrera, op. cit., p. 267. 
167 op. cit., p. 21. 
188 The life and dramatic works of Juan Perez de Montalvan, Revue Hispanique, 
1912, pp. 223-228. 
