Esteban Character Analysis

COMMANDER: I’m talking to you, my pretty creature,
And to your friend. You belong to me,
Do you not?

PASCUALA: We do, my lord, but not
In the way you mean.

COMMANDER: Step inside. My men are there. Don’t be afraid.

LAURENCIA: I shall if the magistrates come too. One of them’s my father, but otherwise…

COMMANDER: Flores!

FLORES. Yes, sir?

COMMANDER: Why aren’t they doing what
I say?

FLORES: Get in there!

LAURENCIA: Get your hands
Off us!

FLORES: Come on, you stupid girls!

PASCUALA: Whoa now! For you to lock the stable-door?

FLORES: Inside! He wants to show you all
The spoils of war.

I cannot stand these forecasters
Who, knowing nothing, claim that they
Can tell the future, making us
Believe that they alone have access to
God’s secrets. They carry on like theologians,
Debating what has and will occur,
But, as for the present, which is
What matters most to us, the one who seems
The wisest is the greatest fool.

BARRILDO: There’s such
A lot of books these days, everyone thinks
He’s an expert.

LEONELO, Which is why I think
They know far less. It’s not condensed
Enough, you see. Instead of summaries,
It’s all long-winded stuff, all froth
That only leads to more confusion.
[…]
As well as this,
There are those so-called experts who
Have published pure rubbish in
The guise of wisdom, and those who,
Driven by envy, publish in the name
Of someone else they hate, merely to harm
His reputation.

ALDERMAN: You speak
Unjustly. To speak of us like that
Is to deny us honour.

COMMANDER: You believe
You have honour? You’ll be claiming next
You are knights of Calatrava!

ALDERMAN. There are doubtless some who wear the Cross
You place upon their breast whose blood
Is far less pure than ours.

COMMANDER: You think
My blood makes yours more impure?

ALDERMAN: Bad deeds have never cleansed, my lord.
They merely stain.

There are new rulers in
Castile who’ll introduce such laws
And orders as will put an end
To all disorder. When they have ceased
To be engaged in war, they would
Do well to rid their villages
And towns of men whose power comes
From wearing crosses. The King alone
Should be allowed to wear the cross.

What honourable rites indeed,
If there is not a single one
Of us whose life that criminal
Has not dishonoured? Tell me now if there
Is someone here whose honour is
Unscathed. You are as one, I think,
In your complaints. And so I say
To you: if you have common cause,
What are you waiting for?

JUAN ROJO: So what do you think
The town should do?

ALDERMAN. The town should die,
Or kill these tyrants. We are many, they
Are few.

BARRILDO: Take arms against our overlord?

ESTEBAN. In the eyes of God the King alone
Is our lord, not men like these,
No better than wild animals.
If God is on our side, why should we be
Afraid?

When Fernán Gómez took
Me off, you let him do it, just
As shepherds stand and watch the wolf
Which steals their sheep! They threatened me
With knives, abused me with their words,
Did everything they could to force
My chastity to their foul desires!
You see my hair? You see these marks,
These cuts and bruises? These stains of blood?
Do you believe thot you are men
Of honour? Do you believe you are
True fathers? How can you see me here
And not feel all the pain I feel pierce
Your very souls?

ESTEBAN: Your Majesty, we wish
To be your loyal vassals. You are
Our rightful King, and so we have displayed
Your coat of arms in our town,
We pray you will be merciful,
Accepting our innocence as our defence.

KING: There is no written evidence
As proof of your guilt, and so,
Although this was a serious crime,
You must be pardoned.

COMMANDER: I’m talking to you, my pretty creature,
And to your friend. You belong to me,
Do you not?

PASCUALA: We do, my lord, but not
In the way you mean.

COMMANDER: Step inside. My men are there. Don’t be afraid.

LAURENCIA: I shall if the magistrates come too. One of them’s my father, but otherwise…

COMMANDER: Flores!

FLORES. Yes, sir?

COMMANDER: Why aren’t they doing what
I say?

FLORES: Get in there!

LAURENCIA: Get your hands
Off us!

FLORES: Come on, you stupid girls!

PASCUALA: Whoa now! For you to lock the stable-door?

FLORES: Inside! He wants to show you all
The spoils of war.

I cannot stand these forecasters
Who, knowing nothing, claim that they
Can tell the future, making us
Believe that they alone have access to
God’s secrets. They carry on like theologians,
Debating what has and will occur,
But, as for the present, which is
What matters most to us, the one who seems
The wisest is the greatest fool.

BARRILDO: There’s such
A lot of books these days, everyone thinks
He’s an expert.

LEONELO, Which is why I think
They know far less. It’s not condensed
Enough, you see. Instead of summaries,
It’s all long-winded stuff, all froth
That only leads to more confusion.
[…]
As well as this,
There are those so-called experts who
Have published pure rubbish in
The guise of wisdom, and those who,
Driven by envy, publish in the name
Of someone else they hate, merely to harm
His reputation.

ALDERMAN: You speak
Unjustly. To speak of us like that
Is to deny us honour.

COMMANDER: You believe
You have honour? You’ll be claiming next
You are knights of Calatrava!

ALDERMAN. There are doubtless some who wear the Cross
You place upon their breast whose blood
Is far less pure than ours.

COMMANDER: You think
My blood makes yours more impure?

ALDERMAN: Bad deeds have never cleansed, my lord.
They merely stain.

There are new rulers in
Castile who’ll introduce such laws
And orders as will put an end
To all disorder. When they have ceased
To be engaged in war, they would
Do well to rid their villages
And towns of men whose power comes
From wearing crosses. The King alone
Should be allowed to wear the cross.

What honourable rites indeed,
If there is not a single one
Of us whose life that criminal
Has not dishonoured? Tell me now if there
Is someone here whose honour is
Unscathed. You are as one, I think,
In your complaints. And so I say
To you: if you have common cause,
What are you waiting for?

JUAN ROJO: So what do you think
The town should do?

ALDERMAN. The town should die,
Or kill these tyrants. We are many, they
Are few.

BARRILDO: Take arms against our overlord?

ESTEBAN. In the eyes of God the King alone
Is our lord, not men like these,
No better than wild animals.
If God is on our side, why should we be
Afraid?

When Fernán Gómez took
Me off, you let him do it, just
As shepherds stand and watch the wolf
Which steals their sheep! They threatened me
With knives, abused me with their words,
Did everything they could to force
My chastity to their foul desires!
You see my hair? You see these marks,
These cuts and bruises? These stains of blood?
Do you believe thot you are men
Of honour? Do you believe you are
True fathers? How can you see me here
And not feel all the pain I feel pierce
Your very souls?

ESTEBAN: Your Majesty, we wish
To be your loyal vassals. You are
Our rightful King, and so we have displayed
Your coat of arms in our town,
We pray you will be merciful,
Accepting our innocence as our defence.

KING: There is no written evidence
As proof of your guilt, and so,
Although this was a serious crime,
You must be pardoned.