“Pious Martha”: a summary of Molina’s comedy // Briefs * Spanish literature

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Doña Marta and doña Lucia, the daughter of don Gomez, mourn the brother killed by don Felipe. But both girls are secretly in love with don Felipe and in fact are more worried about his fate than they grieve over his dead brother. Martha realizes Lucia’s love for Felipe. To convict her sister of pretense, she tells Lucia that Felipe was captured in Seville and will be put on trial. Lucia, who had demanded death a minute before for her brother’s killer, could not hold back her tears. Seeing the sorrow of the sister. Martha realizes that her instinct did not deceive her and Lucia is really in love with Felipe.

Don Gomez receives a letter from an old friend of captain Urbin. Urbina returned from the West Indies, where he made a huge fortune, and now wants to marry Martha. Don Gomez reflects:

He is my peer.
I'm old and gray.
But he has one hundred thousand pesos!
A pile of gold coins
Adds weight to a man
He removes the burden of years.

Urbina invites Gomez and his daughters to Illescas, where he has a manor: soon a celebration will begin in Illescas and bullfighting will take place, so guests will not be bored. Gomez and his daughters are about to leave tomorrow. He decides not to tell Martha about the matchmaking of Urbina for now. Marta receives a note from Felipe that he is in Illescas. The girl is afraid that, staying there before the holiday, he will fall into the hands of the Algvasil. Lucia congratulates his father that the killer was captured. Gomez, who first hears about it, rejoices at the news. Lucia no longer hides her feelings from Martha and reproaches herself for being jealous of Felipe.

Felipe and his friend Pastrana in Illescas. Pastrana persuades Felipe to flee and advises him to join the troops of Admiral Fajardo - no one will find him there. But Felipe wants to see Martha first, who is about to arrive in Illescas. Felipe knows that both Marta and Lucia are in love with him. He himself loves Martha and would be happy to get rid of Lucia.

Urbina and Gomez meet after a long separation. The lieutenant, Urbina's nephew, at first sight falls in love with Lucia.

In Illescas Square, Porucík is fighting a bull. Among the audience are Marta and Lucia. The bull knocks the Lieutenant out of the saddle, and if not for Felipe, who stabs the bull, the Lieutenant would die. Felipe and Lieutenant are old friends. The lieutenant rejoices at the unexpected meeting and thanks Felipe for his salvation. The lieutenant says that his uncle wants to marry Martha, and he wants to marry Lucia. The lieutenant invites Felipe to go up to the balcony, where Marta and Lucia congratulate him on the victory, but Felipe refuses: he killed their brother in a duel and is now hiding from justice.

Gomez cautiously talks to Martha about marriage. Praising Urbin, he mentions his nephew all the time, and Martha decides that her father wants to marry her as Lieutenant. The lieutenant, having caught Martha’s look on himself, thinks that she fell in love with him, but his heart belongs to Lucia, and he willingly gives in to Marta's uncle. Urbina proposes to Martha, and her delusion is dispelled. She laments:

Really to the grave
Are we vulnerable to love arrows?
Oh, how sad is our human destiny!

Urbina is waiting for an answer from Martha. Felipe, imperceptibly heaving himself among the guests, approaches Martha and for a moment throws back his cloak, which hides his face. Martha refuses Urbina: she took a vow of chastity and cannot break it. Gomez is furious: how dare a daughter disobey him! Martha explains that so far the vow has not prevented her from being a submissive daughter, and she was silent, but now the time has come to announce him publicly. Felipe is at a loss. Martha, in a whisper, promises to explain everything to him later.

Captain Urbina arrives in Madrid, hoping to persuade Martha to marry. But Gomez tells him that Martha leads a monastic lifestyle and even stopped dressing up. Urbina is not averse to marrying her nephew on Lucia, and Gomez hopes that the example of his sister will have a beneficial effect on Martha:

And happiness sisterly look
Make Martha throw nonsense:
Where persuasions are useless
There envy vividly sobering.

The lieutenant is now far away: he went on a campaign with the Duke of Makeda. When he returns, he will declare his love to Lucia and lead her to the crown.

Lieutenant returns. He talks in detail about the struggle against the Moors and the capture of the Mamor fortress. Martha appears in monastic attire: she was in the hospital and helped the suffering. She intends to use her dowry for the construction of the hospital. Gomez, powerless to dissuade her, agrees to everything, hoping that soon she will quit her quirks. Under the name of don Juan Hurtado, Pastrana comes to Gomez. He says that he arrived on behalf of a Seville court to obtain a power of attorney from Gomez - then the criminal Felipe can’t avoid execution, Felipe wants to distract Gomez in this way and, taking advantage of the fact that Gomez does not know his face, appear in his house. Pastrana is afraid that Lucia will recognize him, but Marta promises to deceive her sister's vigilance. Gomez rejoices that the news of the arrest of Felipe was confirmed, and willingly gives Pastrana all the necessary papers. Gomez longs for revenge, but Martha insists on mercy and the need to forgive enemies. Felipe comes to Gomez’s house, dressed as a sick student. Martha pities the poor fellow and, contrary to her father’s will, wants to leave him in the house until the infirmary is built. She threatens that if Gomez drives the patient away, she will leave with him. Felipe, who identified himself as a licensor of Nibenimedo, says that he can give Latin lessons, and Martha immediately grabs hold of this idea: in order to better understand prayers, she needs to take Latin lessons. When everyone leaves the room and Marta and Felipe are left alone, they hug. Gomez accidentally enters, and Martha pretends to support the unconscious licensee.

Urbina, admiring Martha's piety, donates eight thousand gold for the construction of the hospital. Gomez wants to know what Marta’s successes in learning Latin are. Felipe asks Martha to decline the word “dura”, but Marta plays the grudge, and although Felipe explains to her that “dura” means “severe” in Latin, she does not want to incline anything. Left alone, Martha and Felipe kiss. Lucia enters, who still has not betrayed Felipe, hoping that he entered the house for her. She is tormented by jealousy and wants to expose the deceivers. Lucia tells Martha that her father calls her, and when her sister leaves, reproaches Felipe for treason. Fedipe assures Lucia that he loves her alone. When he entered the house to see her. Martha recognized him and wanted to betray her father: in order to save his life, he pretended to be in love with Martha. Lucia rushes to Felipe's neck. The incoming Martha catches them together and, after listening to Felipe's love confessions, decides that he is deceiving her. When Lucia leaves, giving Felipe the word to become his wife, Marta arranges a scene of jealousy for Felipe and calls Gomez, Poruchik and Urbin to capture the villain. All run to the call of Martha. Gomez is astonished to hear the words from his daughter’s lips: “God will destroy me.” Martha, having thought better of it, pretends to scold the licensee who said this phrase and remembered the name of the Lord in vain. She repeats this phrase, which he allegedly said and which she cannot forgive him: “Say“ God will torment me ”! .. / Get down or out of the house!” - and hits Felipe. Gomez reproaches Martha with excessive severity, Urbina calls her a saint, offended Felipe wants to leave, but Martha, pretending to be concerned about the fate of the poor patient, allows him to stay and even apologizes to him. The lieutenant, left alone with Felipe, asks him about the reason for the masquerade. He guessed that Felipe was in love with Martha, and was ready to help him in every way. Felipe is thinking about how to position Lucia to the Lieutenant. Felipe tells Lucia in secret that he is afraid of the jealous Lieutenant in love with her. To knock him off the trail, he allegedly told Poruchik that he was in love with Martha, and advised Lucia to finally put to sleep the vigilance of Poruchik, to favorably accept his courtship. Lucia reluctantly agrees.

Marta, seeing her lover's longing, offers to arrange dinner by the river. Pastrana believes that it is better to have a feast in a secluded garden near the Prado park. He wants to remove two old men - Gomez and Urbina - from Madrid, then the lovers will be able to get married and no one will be able to separate them. A pastrana in the guise of don Juan Hurtado comes to Gomez with a message that a sentence has been announced in Seville for the murderer of his son and the offender will be beheaded in the square. His property should pass into the hands of Gomez. If Gomez wants to see the execution of the villain, he needs to rush to Seville. Urbina, it turns out, also has business in Seville, and old friends decide to go together. Martha, pretending to want to help Lucia get married with Felile, persuades her to avert eyes to give Poruchek consent to marry him. The ingenuous Lucia falls for this bait and promises his hand to Lieutenant. Gomez and Urbina return to Madrid. On the way to Seville, they were caught up by a friend of Gomez, to whom his relative, the ruler of the ducal castle in Prado, discovered all the intrigues of Martha. Enraged, Gomez wants to kill Felipe, but he has already managed to get married to Marta and, in addition, became the owner of a rich inheritance. Felipe asks Gomez to forgive him. Urbina encourages a friend to show nobility and not to think about revenge. He himself is so admired by Martha’s cunning that he gives her the dowry of the eight thousand gold that he donated for the construction of the hospital. Lucia realizes that she is deceived, but quickly consoled and decides to marry the Lieutenant. In parting, Gomez gives advice to the fathers: