Usually, the objective of fiery romantic passion is to spend as much time as possible with one’s lover. In Lope de Vega’s 17th century play The Knight from Olmedo, lovers Don Alonso and Doña Inés repeatedly describe each other within the context of their blazing passion. At one point, Don Alonso even exclaims about his feverish feelings toward his beloved: “My love does not grow cool. It burns!” (2.15). Given their burning passion, it would be expected that the two would strive to marry at once, or at least shun any opportunity to be without the other. Puzzlingly, a pattern emerges throughout the play which points to a more complicated reality: the pair, despite consistently voicing their love and passion for each other, are surprisingly inactive in their pursuit of marriage, or any physical union. Over time, the play comes to serve partly as a meditation on how people undermine their outspoken desires. Though evidently in love with each other, Don Alonso and Doña Inés deceive themselves about their relationship and chronically sabotage their success as a couple by imposing unnecessary obstacles to their own union.
Nothing proves so detrimental to objective reasoning as a fall into the depths of passion, and Don Alonso and Doña Inés evidently experience such a fall. The two are entangled in a deep love for one another, beginning with Don Alonso’s falling for Doña Inés at a festival at first sight and evolving onwards. The deep romantic passion experienced by both parties in the relationship helps to explain the pair’s later irrationality and deceptive actions. Regarding her unwanted suitor Don Rodrigo, Doña Inés says “His looks and flattering words turn me / To ice” (1.183-184). This is the direct opposite of the heated, passionate feelings she exhibits towards Don Alonso, including when she refers to her heart as “ablaze” when she thinks of him (1.599-600). Doña Inés’ choice of the word “ablaze” mirrors Don Alonso’s own speech at the beginning of Act One, when he says, “Those eyes that gazed on me has [sic] set / My soul on fire, ablaze with love” (1.11-12). Through these personal admissions of their passion, it becomes clear that their overwhelming emotions may cloud judgement. Doña Inés examines the possibility of this lowered faculty of sense in Act One, saying: “First love is irresistible. / When Nature rules, how can a girl / Be sensible?” (1.439-441). In other words, she is pointing out that the power of natural emotion can cloud objective reasoning. Yet, her own recognition of such a phenomenon also points to the fact that her later actions may not only be a result of muddied reason, but also driven by some unknown personal intention. A clear contrast develops between the examples of passion for each other and the puzzling choices both Don Alonso and Doña Inés make to construct obstacles to their union.
Doña Inés imposes numerous obstacles to her relationship with Don Alonso, both by striving unnecessarily to adhere perfectly to social expectations and by deceiving others about her love. At the outset of the play, Doña Inés’ father informs her that he cannot think of a better husband for her than Don Rodrigo (2.251-254). While her father’s wishes are important, especially given the patent authority of men in 17th century Spain, it appears that Doña Inés takes his wishes too seriously at her own expense. Doña Inés’ dilemma is grounded in her need to bow to her father’s wishes regarding her marriage, so his desire for her to marry Don Rodrigo is reason enough to insist to herself that she is out of options. Even after hearing about Don Alonso’s sizeable wealth and reputation from Fabia, Doña Inés says, “Oh, how can I become his wife / If father offers me to Don Rodrigo?” (1.711-714). Fabia objects to Doña Inés’ blind deference to social convention, responding: “You and your young man [Don Alonso] / Will overturn the sentence” (1.715-716). And Fabia proves to be somewhat correct. While social obligations are key, especially in the deeply structured society of the play, passion, and love for one’s partner can bend the rules more than Doña Inés allows. In the subsequent example, it becomes evident that the social conventions on which Doña Inés places so much emphasis exist more as obstacles in her mind than impermeable barriers.
Doña Inés decides her only way out of her dilemma is through deception. So, she falsely confesses to her father “I am / Already married,” implying a decision to become a nun (2.262-263). Her father’s response, however, speaks volumes to his willingness to waver on his earlier opinion: he exclaims that he wants grandchildren, and his surprised tone suggests he is generally taken aback by his daughter’s rash decision. The possibility of his willingness to waver on his view of Rodrigo is only strengthened when Doña Inés’ father implores her: “Daughter, you wish / To poison me? There is still time” (2.440-441). At this point, it becomes evident that Doña Inés could tell her father with relative ease about her love for Don Alonso. In doing so, she would satisfy his professed desire for her to marry instead of devoting herself and their family bloodline to Christ. She consciously chooses, however, to take a circuitous route, masking her love for Don Alonso through deception. Perhaps it is the pervasive presence of social constraints in their society which Doña Inés has internalized, such that young women have little agency over their romantic choices. Yet, despite the confidence of those around her, including her sister, who later tells Don Alonso of the high possibility of their father’s favor for him, Doña Inés lacks sense in her approach to the situation. She deceives herself and her father instead of striving to be with her beloved, imposing unnecessary obstacles to her marriage to Don Alonso which are only compounded by his actions, or more precisely, inaction.
Don Alonso’s inaction and lack of concrete plans for marriage create obstacles to his professed goal of a union with Doña Inés. In Act One, he mentions his “hopes of marriage” with Doña Inés, but such hopes for a real union with her seem to fade into a general indifference to such pursuits as the play progresses (1.145). In Act Two, Don Alonso recognizes a threat to his marriage prospects with Doña Inés, admitting, “… I should have a rival who / Has fallen for Inés and therefore seeks / To Marry her” (2.77-79). Yet, instead of proposing any concrete plan to unseat his romantic “rival” and resolve the proposed problem, Don Alonso chooses in subsequent lines to meditate on his “worship” of his beloved, as if she is an embodiment of the Divine (2.86). He says: “I worship her, I live / In her … I am / Her slave, I cannot live without her. / I come and go between Olmedo and Medina because Inés is mistress of / My soul, regardless of whether I live / Or die” (2.86-93). In this passage, his plans are vague: he does not care if he lives or dies, since Doña Inés remains the “mistress” of his soul. Especially notable is his claim that he lives “in her,” which furthers the notion that he is disregarding the importance of, say living with her, since he already views their relationship as something which surpasses the physical realm. Later in the play, he remains notably vague on the future of their marriage. He tells her at one point, “To be thought of as your husband is /For me the greatest happiness” (3.316-317). In this puzzling word choice on Lope’s part, Don Alonso tells his beloved that merely being “thought of” as her husband provides him overwhelming contentment, implicitly disregarding the importance of a physical union. Arguably, Don Alonso deceives himself by disregarding the importance of a physical connection to Inés, and his view of death in relation to their union furthers this notion.
To Don Alonso, death does not prove a plain obstacle to his love of Doña Inés. It becomes evident that Don Alonso sees their pairing as something which could stand the test of death, and thus remains immortal. He says in Act Three: “I go, then, to my death, although / To die, I know, is not to lose you. / For if you still possess my soul, / How can I then depart and be alive?” (3.331-334). Here, Don Alonso is constructing an obstacle to his union with Doña Inés by implicitly disregarding the importance of their earthly, physical connection. After all, Don Alonso does not see death as an impediment to his passion for Doña Inés, for he sees their souls as already intertwined. His statement requires a deep faith in the everlasting nature of their passion for one another, especially given how humans lose their physical connection with loved ones when they die. Thus, it suggests a sort of falsity and a blurred conception on Don Alonso’s part of the heavy impact death can take on two lovers. And, despite having claimed he wants marriage earlier in the play, it appears to be a self-deception of sorts, in reality Don Alonso does little which brings the two closer to marriage since he believes so wholeheartedly in the eternity of their relationship.
Another notable example of Don Alonso’s choice to construct obstacles to his union with Doña Inés is his decision to leave and see his parents in Olmedo at an inopportune point in the play. Notably, his departure from Medina comes directly after he is advised by Doña Inés’ sister that he will be welcomed with open arms by their father. The sister insists with earnest, “My father is full of praise for you, / And well disposed. When he’s informed / You Love Inés and she loves you / He’ll welcome you with open arms” (3.250-254). Despite this critical information, which opens the possibility of marrying Doña Inés (which was his professed hope in Act One), Don Alonso continues his self-deception, leaving to see his parents in Olmedo, on claims that they will worry about him should he not arrive. Given the intensity of Don Alonso’s passion for Doña Inés and the recent news of her possible freedom to marry, it is puzzling that he should remain so insistent on avoiding even a slight delay in leaving for his hometown. In a soulful speech, he laments parting from his lover, despite truly not having to do so. Doña Inés says only a few lines later that her father “longs that you [Don Alonso] / Should marry Leonor,” which the sister, Leonor, had just plainly negated in her statement (3.276-277). Yet, Don Alonso does not object to Doña Inés’ point, despite his knowledge of her father’s approval. Instead of jumping at the opportunity to marry Doña Inés, Don Alonso chooses a circuitous route instead of any direct path to marriage.
Don Alonso and Doña Inés deceive themselves of their reality by constructing and imposing false obstacles upon their marriage prospects. Despite their passion for each other, and evident sadness and distress at parting, they (especially Don Alonso) remain inactive in making their union exist in a tangible sense. Though the two lovers practice self-deception of facts, and through constructing false social obligations which police their actions from within, it remains unclear why they do so. Possibly, their reluctance to move forward with physical plans to join each other in marriage could be an implicit fear of losing the passion which is so well-sustained through distance and rules; maybe they are trying to maintain the more exciting nature of their burning love by pretending it violates numerous obstacles which must be surmounted to be together.
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