Fuente Ovejuna Themes

Fuente Ovejuna’s plot centers on the Commander, a tyrannical leader of the titular Spanish town Fuente Ovejuna. While the villagers are kind and loyal, the Commander and his servants, Flores and Ortuño, abuse the townspeople—namely, by sexually assaulting the women in the town and by beating or threatening any man who tries to protect the women. Gradually, however, the townspeople realize how much the Commander has mistreated them, and they collectively rise…

The two primary romantic couples in Fuente Ovejuna are the villagers Laurencia and Frondoso and King Fernando and Queen Isabel. Both of these relationships are based in deep mutual respect: Frondoso protects Laurencia from the Commander and always considers what she wants in their relationship, while Fernando and Isabel value each other’s wise counsel and are openly affectionate toward each other. Outside of romantic love, the townspeople’s love for each other is also based…

While the primary plot of Fuente Ovejuna focuses on the villagers’ rebellion against the Commander, a secondary subplot focuses on national political conflict across Spain. The Master of Calatrava, prompted by the Commander, attacks the key stronghold of Ciudad Real in the name of King Alonso of Portugal. Meanwhile, Queen Isabel of Castile and her husband King Fernando of Aragon (known together throughout Spain as “the Catholic Kings”) work to recapture that city for…

In several short scenes, the townspeople in Fuente Ovejuna discuss various forms of language, including poetry, prophecy, academic books, or even everyday euphemisms. In each instance, one of the townspeople criticizes these forms of language, noting that flowery, overly sweet, or convoluted language can be intentionally misleading and make others think that someone is knowledgeable even if what they are saying is baseless or empty. Through these short discussions, the play emphasizes that praiseworthy, complex…