DOÑA BEATRIZ DE SILVA

DBeatS

REPARTO

I

In Lisbon there are festivities to celebrate the upcoming marriages of two Portuguese princesses: that of Isabel, who is to wed Juan II of Castilla, and that of her cousin Leonor. sister of Alfonso V, who will marry the Emperor Federico III of Germany. Isabel is to be accompanied on her trip to Castile by the beautiful Doña Beatriz de Silva, who is the object of the affections of Don Pedro Girón, a Spaniard, and Don Pedro Pereira, a Portuguese nobleman. Since both of her suitors wish to go to Castile with Beatriz, she decides to permit them to do so. Beatriz's brother, Don Juan de Meneses, is in love with Leonor and is overjoyed when she asks him to travel with her to Germany.

Meanwhile Juan II awaits the arrival of Isabel in Badajoz. He is marrying her on the advice of the Condestable de Castilla, Don Alvaro de Luna; the King has not even so much as seen a picture. The Princes of Aragón, Don Enrique and Don Pedro, and Don Alvaro de Estúñiga counsel Juan against Alvaro de Luna, but Juan is weak and takes the Condestable's word for everything. When Pedro Girón arrives in advance of Isabel, the King asks what his future wife is like. Pedro Girón has two portraits -- one of Isabel and one of Beatriz -- and he accidentally shows the King the wrong one. The latter immediately falls in love with the lady of the portrait (Beatriz), and before Pedro Girón can rectify the error Isabel and her entourage arrive. The King greets Beatriz, referring to her as Isabel; Pedro Girón explains the confusion of the portraits; the King apologizes to Isabel, who takes it all very well. The King, however, has already fallen for Beatriz. Both Pedro Girón and Pereira are jealous of the King's obvious attraction to Beatriz, and Isabel says that she has entered Castile "por la puerta de los celos" (through the door of jealousy).

II

In Castile, Beatriz tells Inés that she has favored several men. She has given a glove to Pereira and another to Diego Sarmiento (although later Luis de Velasco says she has given him the second glove) and a flower to Luis de Velasco. Beatriz agrees not to give a token to Pedro Girón because Inés is in love with him. At this point Pedro Girón arrives, and Inés excuses herself on the pretext that she must go talk to Alvaro de Luna, but in reality she hides in order to spy on Beatriz and Pedro Girón. When Beatriz refuses to give a favor to Pedro Girón, he says he won't take part in the bullfight that afternoon. She then gives him a toothpick since she doesn't want the palace to be sad because there will be no fiesta. On seeing this, Inés becomes both angry and jealous and swears revenge.

The King tells Inés that he is in love with Beatriz and gives her a letter to deliver to Beatriz. Pereira and Diego Sarmiento are arguing over Beatriz when Isabel comes with Pedro Girón and Luis. One by one they all make a claim for Beatriz's love, after which Isabel says that Beatriz must choose the one she wishes to marry. Pedro Girón vows to exile himself if she refuses him, Pereira and Luis swear vengeance if they are denied, and Diego is counting on aid from the King.

Isabel wants desperately to get Beatriz married so that she (Isabel) will no longer have to be jealous of Beatriz and the King. To this end she asks the King to give Beatriz in marriage to one of her four suitors. The King, however, finds some impediment in each of the four: Pereira is Beatriz's cousin, and thus they might have no children; the King has promised Pedro Girón to an Aragonese noblewoman; he plans to make Luis Gran Prior of Castile; and Diego is too young. The King's refusal angers Isabel, who, as a jealous Portuguese lady should, swears to avenge herself on Beatriz.

Inés shows Isabel the letter that the King gave her to deliver to Beatriz. Isabel then informs Beatriz that she is to be sent back to Portugal because she has bestowed favors on four gentlemen and has caused a fifth, the King, to fall in love with her.

At this point Isabel takes out the letter that the King wrote to Beatriz and tears it up. Beatriz responds that she simply wanted to favor (be kind to) them all and that she cannot help it if the King has fallen in love with her. This reply makes Isabel even angrier and she shuts Beatriz up in a wardrobe and leaves her to die with no food or water.

Meanwhile Leonor and Juan de Meneses are in Rome, where Leonor's wedding to the Emperor and their coronation are to take place. She has fallen madly in love with the Emperor, which causes him to be sad and to complain that he has lost his love since coming to Rome. She professes to know who his lost love is and warns him to forget her or it may cost him dearly. As she passes by him later she stumbles and he takes her hand to steady her and then tries to kiss it, whereupon she slaps him. Disconsolate, he decides to leave Rome and seek solace in divine, not worldly things.

III

The Virgin, as a girl, appears to Beatriz in the wardrobe in which she is locked and promises her that she will be free and will serve the Virgin from now on, forming a new order, the order of the Immaculate Conception, in Toledo. The Virgin also tells her that Juan de Meneses has become a Franciscan because of his rejection by Leonor. Meanwhile the King is looking for Beatriz and demands that Isabel tell him where she is. Isabel announces that she has condemned Beatriz to death and that she has been locked in a wardrobe for three days. Upon opening the wardrobe however, they are surprised to find Beatriz alive and well. The King then informs Beatriz's suitors that they are all going to Granada to fight the Moors and that the greatest hero can have Beatriz; however Beatriz, disguised as a peasant, manages to escape with Melgar to Toledo. When they are unable to find Beatriz in the palace, the King and Queen Isabel accuse each other of having hidden her away. Inés then finds a letter in which Beatriz writes that she is going to Toledo to become a nun. The King decides to stop on the way to Granada to be her sponsor (padrino).

As Beatriz and Melgar are fleeing they hear voices. At first they are afraid, thinking that Isabel's people are pursuing them, but the voice turns out to be that of San Antonio de Padua, who is there to help them so that Beatriz can found the Order of the Immaculate Conception in Toledo. Still frightened, Melgar runs away, but Beatriz sees San Antonio de Padua, Pope Sixto IV, Pope Paulo V, King Jaime I of Aragon, and King Juan I of Castile. After this vision, Melgar returns to inform Beatriz that the King and Queen and their entourage are arriving. They all appear and give Beatriz their blessing. Then Isabel is no longer jealous, and Pedro Girón ends the play by promising a second play that will tell the story of the founding of the Order of the Immaculate Conception and the rest of Beatriz's life.