than stain his honor. The king refuses to come to Don Sancho’s aid when the citizens of Seville demand the killer’s execution, so Sancho nearly loses his life for a deed he committed as a matter of honor.

The king and his confidant Don Arias possess a different notion of honor. For the king, the blind allegiance of his subjects to this code of behavior permits him to use them for his personal pleasure. Don Arias, ever present with words of advice, urges the king on in his plot to satisfy his passion for Estrella by taking advantage of the high-minded notions of men such as Don Bustos and Don Sancho. One of the great ironies of the drama is that the king makes glib promises, often in writing, to a number of people who fail to benefit from them because the king is unwilling to admit his evildoing when these individuals face punishment and death. For the king, as it is for William Shakespeare’s Falstaff, honor is but a word.

In The Star of Seville, the concept of honor is saved by the citizens of Seville, who force the king to admit publicly his role in the murder of Don Bustos, thereby halting the execution of Don Sancho. Through the heroic stance of the mayor and city elders, who defy the king’s efforts to bribe them to set Sancho free, the king is made to act in accordance with the principles that should govern the behavior of rulers and admit his role in the murder. It is not clear that the king is actually changed by his actions, but at least Sancho is spared and the citizenry reassured that social justice is still possible in their city.

Modern audiences may have difficulty with the way in which women are portrayed in The Star of Seville. Estrella is little more than an object to be bargained for. She enters into the action of the play only rarely, most notably in the scene in which she pardons Don Sancho for killing her brother. As a symbol of constancy and an object for evoking sympathy, she is well drawn. She remains, however, little more than an appendage to the central moral action, which involves the male figures only.

At the time of the play’s writing, Spain was the most powerful nation on earth. Despite this power, the country was still under the influence of medieval superstitions and customs. The Spanish Inquisition had purged the land of heretics and infidels. Silver was pouring into the king’s coffers. The war with the Moors was still fresh in the memory of the people. Duels were fought every day. The Star of Seville is a reflection of the ethical and moral concerns of the time. Abstractions such as honor and corruption presented themselves to the people of the time with an immediacy like that seen in the play.

The theme of fatalism is also central to the play. The thinking of the time was, in comparison to modern times, very religious. It was widely accepted that God is supreme and the ultimate reality. God allows evil and mischance to enter one’s life, but nothing is hopeless because God is the rewarder of the faithful. Miraculous and accidental events govern people’s lives and circumstances. Given this condition, one must be resigned to fate.

In The Star of Seville, stars are an important metaphor for fate. The play refers to the stars many times and dramatically portrays the intervention of the stars in people’s lives. Estrella (whose name is Spanish for “star”) denies the influence of the stars in her life as long as things appear to be going in the direction that she desires. As soon as her wishes are thwarted, by the killing of her brother by her lover, she gives vent to her grief and declares that her star is on the decline. Estrella, known as the Star of Seville, is so beautiful and bright that her influence is enough to change the lives of all the men who love or desire her—her brother, her lover, and even the king.

The king further portrays the belief that ultimately all things are in God’s hands. Monarchs are appointed by God and are accountable only to God. The duty and responsibility of any loyal subject is to obey the king. One of the king’s men reminds him that the staves of his office point to God and signify the king’s accountability to God, but if the staves are bent, they point to humanity. Herein lies the king’s dilemma: He cannot be true to God and also achieve his heart’s desire.

In the character of Don Sancho Ortiz the audience sees the terrible consequences of loyalty and obedience to the king. Don Sancho knows he must kill his friend or disobey his monarch. He struggles with his conscience until he finally rationalizes that the king is accountable to God alone and he, Don Sancho, is accountable to the king. In this way he resolves the conflict and does the king’s bidding.

The people of Seville believe they are like pawns in a giant chess game, with outside forces moving them to and fro, without malice, wreaking havoc in their lives. Morbid humor is displayed in several scenes, notably in the third act, in which the disguised king tries to break into Estrella and Don Bustos’s house and is caught. Another humorous scene occurs when Don Sancho and Clarindo debate upon hell, or “the other world,” where all professions are represented except lawyers. Don Sancho asks why there are no lawyers and is told it is because they would bring lawsuits if they were there. He then says, “If there are no lawsuits . . . hell’s not so bad.”