In the end, the two lovers overcome numerous trials, arising from miscommunication and misunderstanding, and are finally married.
[1] The basis of The Steel of Madrid came from early 17th century habits involving the ingestion of clay.
The way Lope de Vega intended his audience to view his works was by reading them at home.
[2][3] In 1995, at the Comedy Theatre, Madrid Spain, the play was performed by Yolanda Arestegui, Héctor Colomé, Manúel Navarro, Arturo Querejeta, Pilar Massa and Ana María Barbany.
[4] At some point in the play, Belisa drinks steel water to leave Octavio and meets Lisardio.
In Madrid, women would pretend to faint to get rid of suitors and ingest the steel water to ‘wake up’.