Act I

23-52

sangriento tumulto

Catalina and her friends have just returned from hearing St. Dominic preach at the Sacred Palace before a large crowd. (1)

74

pulido y peinado

The agreement is, of course, with 'uno de éstos', in the previous line.

77

palomina

This must, presumably, be some kind of rouge for the lips made from the palomina grape (as distinct from the modern usage of palomina meaning ‘pigeon dung’), but I have been unable to find other examples of its use in a similar context.

93

Argensola

Almost certainly a reference to the elder of the Argensola brothers, the poet Lupercio Leonardo Argensola (1559-1613), who spent his later years in Italy. It is of note that both Christian names have been used for characters in the play. The name Lupercio is a fairly unusual one, and may have suggested itself to the author by its overtones of lupus (Lat. ‘wolf’) or even lupa (Lat. ‘prostitute’), the word used to describe Catherine ('De lupa Catharina Romana prodigium') in the collection of tales attributed to Alanus de Rupe. (2)

94

Garcilaso

Garcilaso de la Vega (1503-1536), writer of sonnets in the 'Italian' style on the theme of unrequited love.

95-100

empleo ... parecer

The puns on 'empleo' (use/love) and 'parecer' (legal opinion/looks) are part of the amor/pleito metaphor which follows from Catalina's initial pun on 'letrados'. D.R.A.: ' Empleo:... Se llama entre los Galanes la dama a quien uno sirve y galantea'. Catalina uses the word in a corresponding sense.

161

hombres de punto

D.R.A.: 'Se dice de las personas principales y de distinción'.

166-82

padre de las parcas

The meaning of this passage is clear if we keep in mind the respective functions of the three Fates: to spin, to wind and to cut the thread of human existence.

172

huso de seis palmos

D.R.A. gives the length of the bobbin as 'un palmo o poco más'. Like tijera below, huso is being used as a humorous synonym for sword.

175

tijera la de Hortuño

See previous note. The Hortuños de Aguirre were a well-known family of sword-makers in Toledo. (3) Cf. this dialogue in Diamante's El Hércules de Ocaña, (4) between the Emperor and Ortuño, the gracioso:

179-80

pepitoria ... gansos

Apart from ganso's figurative meaning of 'bumpkin' in the singular, gansos in the plural can also, of course, mean 'goose's giblets'.

182

Golondrino

D.R.A.: 'Se llama también el que se anda de una parte a otra mudando estaciones, como la Golondrina: y assí tambien a los soldados desertores suelen llamar Golondrinos.' This puts Golondrino's boasting in an amusing light.

214

memorias

The plural here is archaic, but used for elegant effect.

221

San Juan

The día de San Juan, 24th June, was a quarter day, and as such a recognized time for moving house, etc.

239

dos gritos de faroles

Golondrino appears to mean the cry of the farolero. D.R.A.: 'Farolero: El que tiene cuidado de encender los faroles en los Palacios y casas de señores, u el que le lleva por la calle para alumbrar. Y también se llama assí el mozo de faroles'.

254-5

templo sin acabar

The church of St. Xystus in Rome on the Via Ardeatina, given to the Order by Pope Honorius III, is being rebuilt to accommodate nuns instead of Dominic's friars, who will transfer to the church of St. Sabine. (5)

275

acento de Cristo

'Acento' seems to be used here in the sense of 'echo' referring to the rime, 'Sixto / Cristo'.

280

tus limpios cristales

Domingo is now addressing the Virgin.

285-90

aventure cristiano ...

'Cristiano' is the subject of all three jussive verbs, 'aventure', 'logre', and 'mire'; 'el oro' and 'el mayor tesoro' refer to the Rosary.

309-10

rosario de cuentas grandes, etc.

The rosary consists of 150 small beads which represent the Avemarias and 15 larger beads to represent the Paternosters. Traditionally, the former were referred to as 'white roses' and the latter as 'red roses'. Here they are represented by large silver beads and clusters of red roses. (6)

355-6

Soleta ... plantilla

These are, of course, synonyms. Soleta's name also has humorous associations with picar de soleta: D.R.A.: 'Phrase, que vale andar aprissa, u correr huyendo. Dicese también apretar de soleta'.

363

bermejo

Spanish literature and folk-lore is full of sayings and proverbs directed against the red-haired: e.g. 'Bermejo o cordobés, o diente ahelgado, dalo al diablo': 'De perro bermejo, nunca buen pellejo' (both from Hernan Nuñez's Refranes o proverbios en castellano, 1555). (7) See also note following.

364

narices

Nariz was the term used for the tube of the older type of still, the alembic. Soleta's association of the bermejo with the word narices shows the popular identification of the former with Judas Iscariot, traditionally represented as red-haired (without Biblical justification), and long-nosed (the caricatured type of the Jew). (8)

373

canelones

This seems to be a pun on canelones meaning 'cat-o'-nine-tails' and 'gutters' (at the side of a house).

384

Esquivias

The wine of Esquivias, famous for its quality, was praised by (among others) Cervantes, e.g. at the opening of the Prologue to the Persiles:

403

del griego un garrafón

'El griego' is presumably some kind of drink, perhaps by a corruption of agrio. The phrase is reminiscent of the term guindo griego, which produces cherries called 'garrafales'. Perhaps some joke is intended along these lines.

404

la Torrecilla

This will be the Torrecilla del Prado, in Madrid.

413

moscón

D.R.A.: 'Mosca... Por analogía llaman al hombre molesto, impertinente y pesado.'

445

Torote

Covarrubias: 'Río no lexos de Madrid: llamóse assí porque con él dividieron algunos términos, y quedó por ley y establecimiento a los señores de los pagos confines. Es nombre hebreo de... tora, lex, y en plural... toroth, leges. Ay un proverbio que dize: "Si passares por Torote, echa una piedra en el capote:" lleva muchos guijarros muy pelados y lisos, propios para aguçaderas de cuchillos'. (9)

449

descalzan

There seems to be a pun on descalzar in the sense one associates with soleta, and the secondary meaning, 'to undermine', to balance 'trastejan' in the following line.

509-10

No buscara...

The idea, 'if this happened to me', is understood.

523

Rosendo

I emend the name Francisco to that which appears in all versions among the list of characters, where 'Rosendo' is placed together with the 'Peones de albañil'. His name, like Rosaura's, is clearly intended to suggest a link to the cult of the Rosary, and indeed he owes his life to the fact that he is a devotee of Mary and her Psalter.

588-9

pelotilla

D.R.A.: 'Darse con la pelotilla: Phrase que además del sentido recto de abrirse la llaga los disciplinantes con ella: en estilo festivo vale beber vino en abundancia y con frequencia.'

672

"Narciso y Eco"

This may be an allusion to Calderón's Eco y Narciso, first performed in 1661.

675

"Venus y Adonis"

There may be an allusion here to a contemporary play but none that is immediately obvious,

752

azucenas...jazmines

These are the white beads which represent the Avemarias. See above, note to vv. 309-10.

754

encarnado clavel

The red bead which represents each Paternoster. See above, note to vv. 309-10.

Act II

858

María

The anonymous woman in St. Luke (7:38) who washed the feet of Christ with her tears at the table of Simon is traditionally identified in Catholic devotion with Mary Magdalene, 'from whom seven demons had gone out' (Lk. 8:2).

860

Pie

D.R.A.: 'Entre los Comediantes, es la última palabra que le toca decir a uno, para dexar que entre otro a hablar'.

861

ambrosía

No doubt used erroneously for a humorous effect.

876

Magdalena

This is confusing. If this 'Magdalena' is the same character in the play being rehearsed as María (v. 858), she appears to be talking about herself (v. 889 makes it clear that hey are in fact the same person). The rime-scheme Magdalena/buena makes it unlikely a mistake has been made in the text. Perhaps, then, what is being rehearsed is a loa to the play proper, in which 'Magdalena' refers to the part she will play.

879

Marta

This is Martha the sister of Lazarus (John 11), and of the woman known to Protestants as Mary of Bethany. She is here treated as the sister of Mary Magdalene in accordance with Catholic tradition.

897

Escamilla la bella

There were two actresses in Madrid called Escamilla at the time La Magdalena was written. One was Manuela, daughter of Antonio de Escamilla and Francisca Díaz, and the other was María, the daughter of Francisca Díaz and her former husband Juan de la Cruz. Of these, Manuela was by far the better-known, playing primeras damas in her father's company from at least 1677; from 1679-81 she played opposite the lead of Alonso Olmedo (10). It is at least possible that the play was written with the intention that Manuela should play the role of Catalina, to which her fine voice would be eminently suited (11), and that Olmedo likewise had a leading role.

903

camandulera

In view of its derivation (from the rosary of one or three decades - D.R.A.: 'Camandulero: El embustero bellaco, e hypócrita. Llámase assí, porque regularmente suelen [sic] estar con el Rosario en la mano, dando a entender que rezan mucho'), this term of abuse is wittily apposite in Rosaura's case, since it is her sincere devotion to the Rosary which has estranged her from her friends.

985

haciendas

D.R.A.: 'Hacienda... Se toma algunas veces por negocio que se trata entre algunas personas, o que hai que hacer', adding that it is more frequently used in the plural. Golondrino is, of course, using the word in a humorous rather than exact sense.

998-9

lleno el barrio de cruces ...

Cf. Robert d'Alcide de Bonnecase, Relation de Madrid, ou Remarques sur les Moeurs de ses Habitants (Cologne, 1665), p. 21 (speaking of the nobility):

1022

en el que da

There are several examples of this unusual construction in the play: vv. 1147, 1149, 1253-4 and 2766. Cf. also vv. 1934-5.

1074

Sin ejercicio

D.R.A.: 'Capona: Adjectivo usado en terminación femenina, que equivale a sin exercicio, y se dice de la llave honoraria de Gentilhombre de Cámara del Rey, a quien se concede este honor sin exercicio: la qual se llama por este motivo Llave capona'.

1082

Hermanito ...

Golondrino takes Soleta aside here to ask him (as we discover later - v. 1431 seq.) to intercede with Domingo on his behalf for admittance to the Order as a lay brother. (From the dramatist's point of view, this will give Golondrino an opportunity to remain in the play when his master, Lupercio, is killed (v. 1443 seq.).

1127

Eugenia

'Eugenia' never actually appears in the play. Her 'absence' is merely a device to make possible the situation which follows.

1204

Ginés representante

St. Genesius, converted during a performance of a mock baptism before the Emperor Diocletian, and martyred for his Faith, events which Lope immortalized in Lo fingido verdadero. (12)

1243

lo dicho, dicho

Soleta and Golondrino have been conversing apart (see above, note to v. 1082).

1418

no tocara

A pun on two senses of tocar ('si no tocara el arpa, no nos tocara la limosna'.) The same pun reappears in v. 1428.

1571-94

Subir, por afuera, etc.

These directions refer, of course, to steps in the dance.

1701

demostraciones

D.R.A.: 'Demonstración: ...Vale también muestra, señal de agrado u de indignación, según el semblante con que se executa...'

1710

¿qué más ansiosa?

This is perhaps a slightly archaic usage. The interrogative qué, frequently used before the seventeenth century for por qué, para qué is still found in the early seventeenth century in, for instance, the plays of Lope. But it would seem to have been little used at the time La Magdalena was written.

Act III

1831-2

Antorcha... estrellas

Antorcha would seem to refer (via the sense of Sun, perhaps), to the Deity: estrellas to the fallen angels.

1837-41

perfiles de nácar

Catalina has been scourging herself as a penitent, thus colouring her white skin with blood. Cf. notes to vv. 752 and 754.

1885

sin concierto

This has the sense here of 'unintentionally'. D.R.A.: 'Concierto: ... Vale también buena orden, disposición y méthodo en el modo de hacer y executar alguna cosa'.

1991

tronco

Catalina seems to be referring to the skull, which is somewhat contradictory. Perhaps she means her own 'lifeless' body, subdued by penances.

2412

los cinco

No doubt dedos is understood.

2417

el tiñoso

D.R.A.: 'En el estilo familiar se usa como apodo al Diablo, para hacer desprecio de él'.

2418

me apeldo

Apeldarlas is the more usual construction. D.R.A. gives apeldar as an intransitive verb, meaning to flee or escape, and adds: 'Es voz antigua, y que tiene uso en lo jocoso'. Apeldarse is perhaps used here by analogy with escaparse and similar verbs, or by dissimilation from Golondrino's 'las lío' in the same line.

2455

pensión humana

Pensión in the sense of weakness, frailty, is not given in D.R.A. but one meets with it in the literature of the period, e.g. the Academia que celebraron los Ingenios de Madrid el día 11. de Enero de 1682 (in honour of Cardinal Savo Melini), p. 75: 'Assumpto Onze. Como es pensión vinculada a nuestra naturaleza, que las alegrías sean vísperas de los pesares... etc.'

2617

mañoso

This adjective is given a masculine agreement in spite of the fact that Domingo is addressing 'Rosaura', because he is thinking of her as a devil - 'demonio', 'espíritu infernal', etc.

2623

Mal año ...

Mal año ... is a curse which would seem to be a corruption of 'mal ánimo': the Devil is traditionally presented on the Spanish stage as evil-smelling.

2696

hilo a hilo

There is perhaps a pun here on hilo meaning a thin stream of liquid, i.e. tears.

Notes

1. See Castillo, Chapter 34, fol. 66v.   back
2. See my discussion of sources for the legend of Catherine of Rome.   back
3. Hilario González, La Fábrica de armas de Toledo (Madrid, 1889), cited in the Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada under the article Espada. I have not been able to consult this work.   back
4. Comedias, I, p. 73b (see my Towards a Bibliography of Juan Bautista Diamante: Comedias I & II.)   back
5. See Castillo, Chapter 31   back
6. Cf. the untitled book by the Dominican Jacob Sprenger (printed at Cologne in 1476) on the statutes of the Rosary Confraternity (it begins 'IN SPIRITU PENSES...'), fol. 2 v°.:
   
   Das ist nach zehen weissen rosen setzt er ein rote rosen [sic] entzwieschen, welche in dem pater noster bedeuttet wirt: in dem ein mensch betrachtet das rosen plut Cristi jhesu das da von unser wegen unser vater got hat wollen vergossen lassen werden.   back
   Quoted by H.A. Thurston, article on the Rosary in The Month, (Dec., 1900) XCVI, p. 624 who adds: '... the fifteen Paters are to be said to the wounds and to the blood and to the pains of Christ...and the Ave Marias to the stainlessness of Mary'.   back
7. Cf. Tirso de Molina El vergonzoso en palacio - (Clas. Cast, ed. Americo Castro) I, 249-50:
   Tarso. tenéis el cabello rubio, / no hay que fiar dese pelo   back
8. On this subject see Joseph E. Gillet. Traces of the Judas-legend in Spain, Revue Hispanique, LXV (1925), 316.   back
9. Covarrubias Horozco, Sebastián de. Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española. Madrid, 1673-4   back
10. Emilio Cotarelo y Mori, Appendix to his edition of Migajas del Ingenio (Madrid, 1908), and Pérez Pastor, Documentos para la biografía de Calderón (Madrid, 1905), I, Docs. 169-72, 175-8, 180-2, 184, 186-7. Cotarelo mentions Olmedo's notorious love affair 'con la célebre y graciosa Manuela de Escamilla', from which was born another Alonso de Olmedo, destined to be a famous gracioso. According to Cotarelo, Manuela died in Valencia, 1720. Actually it was May 2nd, 1721.   back
11. Narciso Díaz de Escovar and Francisco de P. Lasso de la Vega, Historia del Teatro Español, Barcelona, 1924, I, 228 (basing themselves on Casiano Pellicer, Tratado histórico sobre el ... histrionismo en España which I have been unable to consult), have this to say with regard to Manuela:
    
    'No sólo era famosa en la representación de primeras damas, sino que en el sainete no tenía por entonces rival. Sin embargo, su habilidad mas aplaudida fue la de la música. Tenía una voz hermosísima y cantaba con mucho gusto. Una larga temporada permaneció lejos de la escena con harto dolor del público. Se murmuraba de unos misteriosos amores, y, efectivamente, no falta cronista que los señale, indicando como favorecido a un notable poeta de los que más comedias dieron a los corrales y más brillo a la historia de la escena española. Los amores terminaron en casamiento, que se celebró en secreto.'   back
    Juan Hurtado and Angel González Palencia, Historia de la literature española (Madrid, 1925), p. 739, say that Francisco Antonio de Monteser, author of the burlesque El caballero de Olmedo, was married to Manuela, and died a violent death in Madrid in 1668. Their source is the anonymous author of the Genealogía (B.N.M. MS. 12917-12918). It is tempting to speculate that the murder of Lupercio in La Magdalena (v. 1443) may have been an allusion to the violent death of Monteser in 1668.   back
12. See also my discussion of sources for the 'play within the play'.   back