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Indiana University Studies 
para las mujeres locas 
como un parche de mal trato. (Act III, scene 12.) 
and 
Senor, buena va la danza. (Act I, scene 8.) 
But, we also find Hernando, in Los milagros del desprecio of 
Lope de Vega, saying: 
La purga ha empezado a obrar. (Act I, scene 16.) 
and 
Linda va la cazolada. (Act III, scene 16.) 
If the date of Lope’s play were between the two of Moreto, 
it might be said that Moclln, Hernando, and Polilla formed a 
sequence, Hernando being as superior to Moclin as Polilla is 
to Hernando. But, Lope’s play preceded Moreto’s plays and 
the question is whether Polilla — if El desden con el desden fol- 
lowed El poder de la arrdstad — is more like Moclin or Her- 
nando. Bearing in mind that Hernando serves one definite 
purpose in Los milagros del desprecio, namely, to act as abso- 
lute master of ceremonies in bringing Juana around to find 
out that she is in love with Pedro and making her admit it, 
and that neither Moclin nor Polilla takes entire control of the 
situation, these latter two have more in common than Her- 
nando and Polilla. However, both Hernando and Polilla “have 
the inside track” with both the lovers and loved ones, which 
brings them close together. Were it not for El poder de la 
amistad, we should say without hesitation that Hernando of 
Los milagros del desprecio was the suggestion for Polilla, but 
since there is this other play by Moreto, which seems to be of 
earlier composition than El desden con el desden, there is at 
least a chance that the Lope play did not have the influence 
granted it in the comparison between it and El desden con el 
desden. If El poder de la amistad followed El desden con el 
desden, Polilla seems to have been inspired by Hernando. 
To disagree with Schaeffer, quoted above (cf. note 181) to 
the effect that no significance as to the sequence of plays may 
be put to the fact that one by the same author is better worked 
out than another, it appears that precisely in the case of 
Moreto, a play which he wrote, having it suggested by others, 
was invariably an improvement over the ones giving him sug- 
gestions. If this is granted in the case of plays by other 
writers, it may hold for two plays by the same writer. The 
