Seventeenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

In Act I of Antonio Enríquez Gómez’s El Valiente Campuzano, the protagonist’s sister claims that her bigoted and rash brother “tiene más de valiente que de avisado y prudente” (he is braver than he is smart or prudent), which seems a folk saying and, indeed, echoes the biblical proverb that “el avisado ve el mal” or “the prudent man foreseeth evil” (22:3). Campuzano seethes with hatred for his sister’s suitor, whom he accuses of having Morisco blood (i.e., being descended from Spanish Muslims). This paper explored the limits of ethno-religiously inspired hatred in two plays from around 1660: El Valiente Campuzano and El Noble Siempre es Valiente. In both plays, patriotism and bravery are associated with old enmities among Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Hatred appears to have no bounds for some characters, but the Crypto-Jewish writer problematizes this hatred at every turn. How can religious difference, for example, be the basis for mutual hatred after conversion nominally erases that difference? At what point must perceived ethnic or racial differences give way to more practical (economic) considerations? Bravery is typically considered a positive attribute, but is it appropriate when predicated on patriotism, defined in ethnic or religious terms? The playwright clearly establishes some boundaries for hatred, perhaps indicating that it is never entirely beneficial, and that ethnic or religious hatreds in particular are counterproductive.