El Marte español, Guzmán de Juan de Benavides: un texto y un dramaturgo olvidados

Abstract

This article studies a forgotten comedy, El Marte español, Guzmán by Juan de Benavides, a playwright who wrote during the first half of the 17th century. His biography presents a very difficult conflict of overlapping identities, as the existence of several playwrights having the same surname has been proved. Regarding the comedy object of study here, Benavides used as his source some fragments from the Jerusalén conquistada by Lope de Vega, i. e. those dealing in the Third Crusade and blending history and fiction. I will emphasize the relevance given to the character of Ismenia, Queen of Cyprus. She is a woman who, out of love, disguises herself as a man, without losing her femininity, in a society such as the one typical of the 17th century, governed by man-made social conventions