Moreto Y Cabana, Agustin

Moreto Y Cabaña, Agustín 

Born in March 1618, in Madrid; died Oct. 26 or 27, 1669, in Toledo. Spanish playwright.

In 1642, Moreto y Cabana became a priest. He wrote more than 100 plays, which were published in three separate editions (1654, 1676, 1681). Moreto y Cabana’s historical plays, including The Persecuted Sovereign (1651; about the time of troubles in Russia; written with L. Belmonte and A. Martinez de Meneses), probe the problems of royal power and gentlemanly honor. His comedies of intrigue, including A Double in the Capital (1665; translated into Russian as The Living Portrait in 1950), have complicated plots. His comedies of manners, such as Contempt With Contempt (1654; Russian translations, 1887, 1946) and The Handsome Don Diego (1662), criticize the vices of the gentry. Moreto y Cabana’s work was the culmination of Spanish Renaissance drama.

WORKS

Teatro. Madrid, 1922.
Comedias escogidas. Madrid, 1930.

REFERENCES

Balashov, N. I. “Novye aspekty istorii ispanskoi dramy pozdnego Vozrozhdeniia.” In Literatura epokhi Vozrozhdeniia i problemy vsemirnoi literatury. Moscow, 1967.
Caldera, E. Il Teatro di Moreto. Pisa, 1960.
Casa, F. P. The Dramatic Craftsmanship of Moreto. Cambridge (Mass.), 1966.
Cotarelo y Morí, E. La bibliografia de Moreto. Madrid, 1927.

N. I. BALASHOV and Z. I. PLAVSKIN