It bears the subtitle "An erotic lace-paper valentine in a prologue and three scenes" (Aleluya erotica en un prologo y tres escenas).
The play tells the story of an elderly bachelor, Don Perlimplín, who is persuaded by his servant Marcolfa that he should marry on the grounds that she is getting too old and won't always be there to look after him.
The red-caped man staggers in mortally wounded, and when Belisa rushes to him she discovers that her mystery admirer has all along been Don Perlimplín, whose love letters Marcolfa delivered.
The stylized construction of the piece has proved attractive as an operatic subject to numerous composers, among them Rieti (1949), Elston (1958), Maderna (1961), Fortner (1962), Olsen (1966), Goeyvaerts (1972), Belamarić (1974), Dreznin (1981), Susa (1984), Hoyer (1987), Morrill (1988), Vietri (1991), Coria (1992), Shapiro (1997), Edward Lambert (2018) and Biales (2002).
There is also a ballet by Mompou and Montsalvatge (1956), and incidental music for the play by Billy Strayhorn (1953), Doyle (1988) as well as a chamber opera by the South African composer Phillip Vietri (1991).