1 h 40 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What can a village do when the man who rules it treats its people as possessions?
In Lope de Vega’s three-act play Fuente Ovejuna, the Comendador rules an Andalusian village by force. He wants Laurencia, the mayor’s proud, quick-tongued daughter, and treats her refusal as something to overcome. But Laurencia wants to choose for herself. Frondoso, a young farmer who loves her, dares to stand against the powerful knight when she is threatened.
Around them, private fears become a public question: who can protect ordinary people when power shields the person who harms them? The action moves through the village square, the fields, a battle camp and the royal court. With Esteban’s concern for his neighbors and Mengo’s sharp humor, Lope brings justice, honor and shared courage into a bold, public drama.
What you’ll discover
- A woman who refuses Meet Laurencia, who insists that neither gifts nor rank can decide whom she loves.
- Love under threat Follow Frondoso as his love for Laurencia brings him into conflict with the Comendador.
- Humor amid fear Hear Mengo’s jokes give way to plain words about the wrongs his neighbors suffer.
- A village under pressure Watch family loyalties and concern for neighbors meet the demands of an arrogant ruler.
- Justice without protection Face the question of what rights mean when no court will enforce them.
Who will love it
For readers who love drama built on a clear moral struggle, and for anyone curious about Spain's Golden Age theatre. It is also for those who care about justice, protest and a community finding its voice.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A village ruled by a violent commander
- Laurencia refuses a powerful suitor
- War abroad and wrongs at home
- A wedding that is broken apart
- The village must decide what to do
- Justice, honor and how Lope tells it
Who’s who
- LaurenciaThe proud, quick-tongued daughter of the village mayor, who refuses the Comendador and wants to marry on her own terms.
- FrondosoA young farmer in love with Laurencia, brave enough to stand up to the Comendador when he sees her threatened.
- The Comendador (Fernán Gómez de Guzmán)The arrogant knight of the Order of Calatrava who rules the village and takes whatever he desires by force.
- EstebanLaurencia's father and one of the village mayors, a respected elder who wants to protect his family and his neighbors.
- MengoA witty shepherd who jokes about everything, yet speaks plainly about the wrongs done to the village.
- PascualaLaurencia's friend, a village girl who shares her fears and her wish to live free from the Comendador's reach.
- Rodrigo Téllez GirónThe young Master of the Order of Calatrava, who is drawn into a struggle over the crown of Castile.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print hardcover
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Fuente Ovejuna in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Fuente Ovejuna
by Lope de Vega · 1619
A village faces a violent knight, and Laurencia speaks as her neighbors decide how far they can be pushed.
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In short
Fuente Ovejuna is a play in three acts by Lope de Vega, the Spanish dramatist who wrote hundreds of plays for the public theatres of Madrid. It was probably written in the early 1610s and printed in 1619.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A village ruled by a violent commander
The play opens with a meeting, where Fernán Gómez de Guzmán, the Comendador of the military Order of Calatrava, talks with the Master of the Order, a young man named Rodrigo Téllez Girón. The Comendador is proud, hot-tempered and used to getting what he wants. The talk soon turns to politics, because the Master is thinking of taking the side of the King of Portugal in a dispute over the Castilian crown.
Then the scene shifts to Fuente Ovejuna, a village the Order holds under the Comendador's control. Here we meet the people who matter most. Laurencia is the sharp-tongued daughter of Esteban, one of the village mayors. Pascuala is her friend. Frondoso is a young farmer who loves Laurencia, and Mengo is a farmer who likes to joke and say what he thinks.
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What is Fuente Ovejuna about?
It is a play about a Spanish village whose people suffer under a violent knight, the Comendador. It follows their fear, their love stories and their eventual decision to act together against abuse of power.
Is Fuente Ovejuna based on a true story?
Yes. Lope de Vega based it on a real event from 1476 in a village in Andalusia, where the people rose against the commander who ruled them. He wrote the play in the early 1610s.
What does the name Fuente Ovejuna mean?
It is the name of a real village in Spain and means sheep spring. In the play it also stands for a whole community that acts and speaks as one.
The author
Lope de Vega
1562–1635 · Spanish playwright and poet
Lope de Vega was a Spanish playwright and poet born in Madrid in 1562. He wrote plays, poems, and novels in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. His plays include Fuente Ovejuna, published in 1619. He lived mainly in Madrid and died there in 1635.
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