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An alderman is a member of the city council, who represents the city’s interests. In Fuente Ovejuna, Juan Rojo is an alderman.
Alderman Quotes in Fuente Ovejuna
The Fuente Ovejuna quotes below are all either spoken by Alderman or refer to Alderman. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 2
Quotes
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.
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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.
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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.
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Act 3
Quotes
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?
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Alderman Term Timeline in Fuente Ovejuna
The timeline below shows where the term Alderman appears in Fuente Ovejuna. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1
...King Alonso’s army—if they can control Castile, their victory will be assured. Just then, two aldermen from Ciudad Real enter. The first man explains that they’ve come humbly to talk to...
(full context)
Act 2
Esteban and an alderman are discussing what to do about their stocks of grain, noting that the weather seems...
(full context)
Juan Rojo, another alderman, and a peasant enter discussing the Commander. Juan Rojo is shocked at how the Commander...
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...speaking so vulgarly to them. The Commander remarks that they don’t have honor, but the alderman responds that there are many who wear the Order’s Cross whose blood is far less...
(full context)
Act 3
Esteban, Alonso, Barrildo, Juan Rojo, Mengo and another alderman meet in secret to discuss what to do about Frondoso and Laurencia’s capture. Esteban is...
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...that Isabel and Fernando are bringing peace to Castile, and the town should send two aldermen to ask them for help. But Barrildo doubts that Fernando will have time for their...
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When Juan Rojo asks what they should do, the alderman declares that the townspeople should die or kill the tyrant, saying, “we are many, they...
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Mengo, Barrildo, and an alderman enter, and everyone praises Mengo and gives him lemon curd and wine for his bravery....
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