The Widow from Valencia

The play was written circa 1600 as a result of Lope's visit to the city with his new patron, the future Count of Lemos.

[1] However, the play was not published until 1620 in the fifteenth part of his Comedias, where it is dedicated to Marcia Leonarda, that is to say, to Lope’s beloved Marta de Nevares.

Although at first she wishes to remain at home, mourning her dead husband, reading pious texts, and contemplating sacred images, one of them painted by Francisco Ribalta, she soon changes her mind on seeing a handsome young man.

For some, it deals with honor but leads the spectator to become aware of the immorality of the action;[3] for others the work hides a mythological mystery;[4] while for others it is a way to provoke a response in character, audience and reader;[5] A particularly interesting feature of this play is that three different suitors come to Leonarda’s home disguised as merchants.

[6] Otón, a second suitor disguised as merchant, is also of interest since he comes with books of love, such as the Miguel de Cervantes novel La Galatea.