Personajes y argumentos de Tirso

The principal purpose of this site is to make available to students of Tirso everywhere the work of Jean S. Chittenden in her 1964 doctoral dissertation, «Los nombres de personajes en las comedias de Tirso de Molina.» Working under the direction of Richard Tyler at the University of Texas at Austin, Chittenden produced an invaluable tool for studying Tirso’s characters, the variety of the names he used, and the distribution among varying categories such as noble, criado, italiano, traidor, and gracioso. The original dissertation included the lists of characters by first name, last name or title, and category, that is, the information found on this site under the heading «Lists of Characters.» In addition, however, Chittenden has provided plot summaries for the 61 authentic works of Gabriel Téllez, or Tirso de Molina, found here. In typescript, this site is almost 600 pages long, and it requires one to go back and forth between sections. In other words, this type of study is perfect for the hypertextual environment of the World Wide Web. Now, when one looks up a character by first name, one can instantly click on the category and see what other characters in other plays share similar characteristics. Or one can click on the link to the play and see the entire reparto as well as the plot summary. For those plays that have online text at the comedia website maintained by the Association for Hispanic Classical Theater, Inc., there is also a link to the complete text of the play. Of course, not everything is cross-linked, but there are well over 10,000 internal links in the 100 or so pages contained in this site.

While in general the organization of the site is relatively easy to understand (though necessarily bilingual in English and Spanish), some indications need more explanation, and one should read the list of abbreviations and codes in order to realize that characters whose names appear in italics are those who are mentioned but do not appear on stage, for example. Of course, there will be those who might quibble with the editions used or some other aspect of the site. Overall, however, one hopes that this site will provide easier access to the works of Tirso de Molina. In the inevitable event that you find an error, please send the appropriate information to Matthew Stroud at Trinity University. Likewise, if you know of other sites that should be linked to this one, that information would also be greatly appreciated.

Character names have always been of interest to the scholar, since the author’s choice of names for his personages may often reveal a great deal about the character himself or about his role in the literary work in which he appears. The work which Professors Morley and Tyler[l] have done in analyzing the names-used by Lope de Vega in his comedias has served to point out the need for a similar study of the names in the comedias of Tirso de Molina.

This study has as its purpose the investigation of the character names in the sixty-one plays known to have been written by Tirso de Molina. Not only will it consider the correlation of name with social status, but it will compare the names used by Tirso with those used by Lope de Vega, and insofar as possible with those in vogue during the time when Tirso was writing.

The plays used are those listed by Professor Morley in an article in Hispanic Review[2], with the addition of two other plays which seem unquestionably to be Tirso’s—La firmeza en la hermosura and Quien da luego, da dos veces.[3] Although Esto sí que es negociar and El melancólico are different versions of the same play, both have been included, since the character names are not the same in every instance. Likewise, the three plays of the Santa Juana trilogy have been counted separately, for they have different characters, in spite of the fact that several of the main personages are the same.

The list of characters includes all those who appear or are mentioned in the comedias studied, although historical figures who are merely mentioned are excluded, since Tirso would not have invented their names. In case of doubt as to whether a name is historical, the name is listed. The names of historical figures who actually appear on stage in the plays appear on the lists.

This paper is divided into (1) an alphabetical list of all the names of characters, separated into three groups: (A) names of men, (B) names of women, (C) last names and titles; (2) a complete analytical cast for each play, indicating relationships between the characters; and (3) an alphabetical list of all the categories (of noble rank, profession, nationality, etc.) together with the names of all the characters who fall into each category.

In determining the categories to be included I have followed the procedure of Professors Morley and Tyler, omitting such general categories as galán and cortesano. Madre is the only category of family relationship; it has been included because the relative lack of madres in the comedia makes this category of interest. Only madres whose role as a mother plays a part in the development of the drama are listed. Certain categories overlap–a lacayo, an escudero or a a e is also a criado; a pastor can be at the same time a rústico, a serrano, a labrador, and/or an aldeano, all of whom in fact could be subsumed under the category villano. Separate cate­gories have been set up for these classifications, following the terms used by the author. Often the same charac­ter appears in several of these categories. The designations caballero-criado and dama-criada apply to persons of the caballero or dama station who serve a king or other high-ranking nobleman.

Occasionally it has been impossible to determine the category of a certain name. In this case the name is listed under categoría dudosa o desconocida. The personajes anónimos are enumerated following the reparto of each play; their categories are also indicated.

The names of personages who are mentioned but do not appear on stage are underlined. Names of characters which are not listed in the reparto of the edition of the play utilized are indicated by an asterisk. In some cases the first name may appear in the reparto with the last name given during the course of the play; thus only the last name has an asterisk. For names which are not in the repartos, the page numbers following the name indicate the page on which the name is first found. The numbers follow­ing the various categories in Part I show on which page we are told that the character belongs to that category. The first page number given is that of the volume of the Biblioteca de autores españoles or of the Nueva biblioteca de autores españoles in which the play is found. The num­bers preceded by R I, R II, or R III are the page numbers of the edition of Doña Blanca de los Ríos de Lampérez with the volume number being indicated by the Roman numeral. In regard to Volume I of the Ríos edition, there are two different printings, both published in Madrid by Aguilar, both dated 1946; however in one printing the introduction is numbered with Roman numerals, while in the other it is numbered with Arabic numbers. The earlier printing (with the Roman numerals) was done by Sánchez Leal; the later printing by Gráficas Halar. Since these two printings have different paginations, two numbers always follow R I; the first of these numbers refers to the Gráficas Halar printing, the second to the Sánchez Leal printing. Whenever possible, critical editions of Tirso’s plays have been used. Information regarding the texts is to be found in the list of plays following this introduction.

Before summarizing the results of the investigation, I should like to comment on certain names. Of particular interest are Tirso and Tarso, the names of graciosos, and the apellido Girón.

The name Tirso or Tarso, which is always re­served for villanos, often refers to the playwright himself. Students of Tirso’s theater have observed this autobiographical aspect of his writings. Doña Blanca de los Ríos discusses these two names and notes that in La república al revés it is the shepherd, Tarso, who saves the life of the Empress Irene by taking her place when Andronio comes to kill her.[4] D. Emilio Cotarelo y Mori states in his edition of the same play that often a char­acter named Tirso or Tarso is a sacristán;[5] Tirso’s re­ligious affiliation makes the autobiographical element obvious. Several personages of this name are also poets or singers who compose songs appropriate to the drama. In El pretendiente al revés the pastor, Tirso, is a ver­sifier of this type, as is the Tirso of La venganza de Tamar. Occasionally, as D. Juan Eugenio Hartzenbusch points out,[6] a character named Tirso receives praises from one of the other characters. The example which Hartzenbusch cites is from La ventura con e1 nombre, when Ventura says of Tirso, «en fin tiene discreción.»[7] In like manner, Lucrecia, in La fingida Arcadia, calls Felipe (whose pastoral name is Tirso) «discreto.»[8] A complete list of the characters named Tirso or Tarso and of their classifications is found in Part I.

Unlike Lope, Tirso often chose humorous names for his graciosos or made up names for them. Among the names which Lope employed most frequently for his gra ciosos are Bato, Beltrán, Carillo, Crispan, Fabio, Marín, Martín, Roberto, Tello, and Tristán.[9] Whereas Tirso has some graciosos with names such as Alberto, Mingo or Tello, at the same time we find Balón, Caramanchel, Chinchilla, Chirimía, Garbón, Gargueros, Gulin, Marción, Santarén, Tabaco and Trigueros. The significance of these names is sometimes mentioned in the play. For example, in Tanto es lo de más como lo de menos, Gulín says:

(Nineucio) me preguntó: «¿quién sois vos?» Díjele yo: «lacayo pródigo fui, y Gulín es mi apellido.»— «Si de gula se deriva, dijo, justo es que os reciba; en gracia me habéis caído: de la gula esclavo soy, y en fe dello honraros quiero; mi mayordomo y quintero habéis de ser desde hoy.» Dióme de vestir, y, en fin, su quintero me intitula, que siendo su dios la gula, fuerza es que medre Gulín. –Acto III, Escena I

Other names such as Tabaco, Cristal, Mercado, Serafina, Carballo, Calvo, and many more often serve Tirso as the subject for a pun. Tamayo, in Cómo han de ser los amigos, gives this explanation of how he happened to be named:

D. Gastón.	¿Cómo te llamas?
Tamayo.	………………………Tamayo; porque Mayo enamorado, a lo que dicen, de mí, el mismo mes que nací estuvo determinado de robarme; y para aquesto, sin advertir que lo vía mi padre, me metió un día entre las flores de un cesto; mas llegando como un rayo mi airado padre, le dijo: ¡ta: ¡Mayo! dejad mi hijo. Y así me llamo Tamayo. –Jornada I, Escena II

The apellido Girón is of interest in Tirso’s writings because of his supposed relationship to the Girón family. The characters Girón in the comedias of Tirso are D. Pedro Girón, who appears in Doña Beatriz de Silva, and D. Rodrigo Girdn, who figures in El castigo del penséque and Quien calla otorga. From the point of view of the frequency of occurrence, there seems to be no particular significance in Tirso’s use of the name Girón. Further discussion as to the application of this name, especially in El castigo del penséque and Quien calla otorga, can be found in the writings of Doña Blanca[10] and in an article by William E. Wilson.[11]

Tirso himself was certainly aware of the power of a name, the magic involved in the shaping of reality, both animate and inanimate, by the mere act of naming. The variegated relationship not only between a character’s name and his position in society, but also between a man’s name and his fate, between his name and his own expectations and those he shares with others—these are questions with which Tirso himself was preoccupied in his plays. I shall cite a few representative samples:The relationship between a character’s name and his station in life is well illustrated in a scene from Tirso’s El vergonzoso en palacio. The shepherds, Mireno and Tarso, have just traded clothes with Ruy Lorenzo and his lackey, Vasco, and the following conversation takes place:

Tarso.	Mas, pues eres ya otro hombre, por si acaso adonde fueres caballero hacerte quieres ¿no es bien que mudes el nombre? Que el de Mireno no es bueno para nombre de señor.
Mireno.	Dices bien: no soy pastor, ni he de llamarme Mireno. Don Dionís en Portugal es nombre ilustre y de fama; don Dionís desde hoy me llama.
Tarso.	No le has escogido mal; que los reyes que ha tenido de ese nombre esta nación, eterna veneración ganaron a su apellido. Estremado es el ensayo; pero, ya que así te ensalzas, dame un nombre que a estas calzas les venga bien, de lacayo; que ya el de Tarso me quito.
Mireno.	Escógele tú.
Tarso.	………………Yo escojo, si no lo tienes a enojo…. ¿No es bueno…?
Mireno.	…………………….¿Cuál?
Tarso.	……………………………..Gómez Brito. ¿Qué te parece?
Mireno.	……………………Estremado. –Acto I, vv. 706-730

Upon many occasions the characters comment upon the suitability of their names. In the following passage from La elección por la virtud, Sixto (Felix Pereto) comments about his name:

Félix, dijo, las obras corresponden con el nombre, de modo que tu dicha tres coronas ofrece a tu cabeza; si tomas una, con que serán cuatro. –Jornada I, Escena V

In La celosa de sí misma, Ventura feels that his name is not appropriate to his fate:

Da. Angela.	¿Cómo os llamáis?
Ventura.	Yo, Ventura.
Da. Angela.	Buen nombre.
Ventura.	Es de calidad, que soy muy cálido y franco; Pero aunque el nombre me alegra, Es por ser mi dicha negra, Llamar al negro, Juan Blanco. –Acto II, Escena VII

Certain names carry with them connotations of good or evil. For example, in La firmeza en la hermosura, Juan says to Elena:

¡Ah Elena! a ser yo agorero, temiera el ver que te nombras como la que, por mudable, llevó tragedias a Troya. No en vano advierten presagios que las estrellas apropian los nombres a las costumbres, porque tal vez se conforman. –Acto II, Escena II

That certain apellidos are in themselves the sign of nobility is apparent in this quotation from El amor medico:

Gaspar.

El apellido es blasón que califica linajes, que diferencia sujetos, que autoriza antigüedades; que le oculta es porque teme que por él a luz no saque sambenitos del honor la bajeza de sus padres. vv. 601-608

An analysis of the names found in Tirso’s plays reveals that he employed certain names to refer only to caballeros or nobles, whereas others might refer either to caballeros or criados, or even to villanos. Some names he reserved for criados or villanos, and yet another group was used only for villanos. The names are separated below into these various categories.

Names most frequently used for caballeros or nobles:

Alejandro Alfonso (l villano VilVal)[12] Alonso Álvaro Antonio Carlos César Diego (I paje PeñaFr) Enrico Enrique Fernando

Filipo García (1 criado DesTol; 1 villano GallMH) Gonzalo Jaime Juan (4 villanos AntGar, PruMuj; Lagos, SJuanaI) Luis Marco Antonio Pedro (1 criado HuerJF) Ricardo (1 criado Melanc) Rodrigo

Names used for both caballeros (nobles) and criados, and even for villanos:

Acuña (never villano) Aguilar (never villano) Alberto (never villano) Andrés Andronio Celio (never villano) Decio (never villano) Fabio (never villano) Feliciano (never criado) Gómez (never villano

Horacio (never villano) Jabel Julio (never villano) Ludovico (never villano) Martín (never criado) Melchor (never villano) Nisiro (never criado) Roberto Sancho (never criado) Tello (never villano) Valdivieso (never villano)

Names that are never (or very infrequently)used for caballeros (nobles):

Agudo (always criado) Antón (usually villano) Bato (always villano) Bras (always villano) Carlín (always villano) Damón (always villano) Fabricio (always criado) Gallardo (always criado) Garbón (always villano) Gascón (always criado) Gil (except for DGilCV) Gilote (always villano) Lariso (always villano) Lillo (always criado) Llorente Mengo (always villano)

Carrasco Corbato (always villano) Crespo (always villano) Chacón (always criado) Chirimía Mingo (always villano) Niso (usually villano) Pacheco (usually criado) Padilla (usually criado) Peinado (usually villano) Peloro Pero (usually villano) Tarso (always villano) Tirso (always villano) Tomé Torbisco (always villano

Names used exclusively for villanos (some very rarely used):

Aliso Ardelio Ardenio Balón Bartolo Bato Benito Berrocal Berrueco Bertol Blas Bras Braulio Brito Cabello Cardencho Carlín Carmenio Carrizo

Celauro Cerezo Claricio Corbato Corbín Coriolín Crenudo Crespo Chamoso Damón Denio Dinampo Dorbán Doringo Doristo Florilo Fulgencio Garbón Garrote

Gilote Gomor Lariso Maroto Mengo Mingo Montano Otero Pachón Payo Pereto Silvio Tabaco Tarso Tirso Torbisco Toribio

Although Juan and Pedro are generally reserved for caballeros or nobles, Professor Morley points out[13] that both Lope and Tirso have villanos with names such as Juan Pascual, Juan de Monroy, Juan Rojo, Pero Alonso, or Peribáñez. Gil, usually a villano name, plays an interesting role in Don Gil de las calzas verdes, since it is the nombre fingido of several of the characters, although in reality there is no Don Gil.

The female names can be classified according to the same criteria as were the male names. The following groups of names show the distinctions which Tirso observed in regard to feminine names:

Names most frequently used for damas or nobles:

Beatriz Catalina Clemencia Diana (1 pastora FinArc) Dorotea Elena Elvira ¿1 pastora? SJuanaI) Inés (L2 criadas? DGilCV, SanSas)

Isabel (1 criada CautCC) Juana Laura Leonor ¿1 criada? DGiICV) Leonora Margarita Sirena

Names used for both damas (nobles) and criadas and for villanas:

Ángela (never villana) Carola (never villana) Celia (never villana) Fabia (never villana) Laurencia (never criada) Laureta Leonela (never villana)

Lucrecia (never villana) Madalena (never villana) Marcela (never villana) María (never criada) Rosela (never villana) Sabina (never criada) Teresa

Names that are never (or very rarely) used for damas (nobles):

Aldonza (always villana)
Camila
Co(n)stanza (always villana)
Cristina
Dominga
Fenisa (always villana)
Firela (always villana)
Gila (always villana
Leonisa (always villana; 2 noble later EstoSí, Melanc)
Mari-
Marina (always villana)
Melisa (always villana)
Menga (always villana
Olalla
Polonia (always criada)
Tomasa (always villana)
Torilda (always villana)

Names used exclusively for villanas (some infrequently used):

Aldonza Angélica Antona Clora Clori Co(n)stanza Fenisa Firela Gila Larisa

Leonisa (2 noble later; EstoSí, Melanc) Lisarina Lisis Marina Melisa Menga Nise Pulida Tomasa Torilda

Professors Morley and Tyler observe that Lope did not use the title don or doña with certain names, although the characters involved were clearly of caballero or dama rank.[14] It is interesting to note that Tirso seems to have followed the same procedure, for he does not use don with Alberto, Andronio, Carlos, Casimiro, Celio, César, Césaro, Criselio, Fabio, Decio, Felicio, Filipo, Grimaldo, Julio, Lilio, Leonelo, Liberio, Liseno, Ludovico, Marcelo, Marco Antonio, Octavio, Otón, Pinabel, Pinardo, Pompeyo, Próspero, Ricardo, Roberto, Roselio, Rugero, Teodoro, and Valerio. Many of these coincide with the names used without don by Lope. Among the feminine names which are not found with doña are Alejandra, Armesinda, Arminda, Aurora, Carola, Celia, Clavela, Clemencia, Diana, Estela, Fabia, Isabela, Laura, Leonora, Lorena, Lucrecia, Marcela, Matilde, Narcisa, Octavia, Rosela, Sabina, Sirena, Teresa—many of the same ones which appear without doña in Lope’s writings. The reason for the playwrights’ failing to use don or doña with these names is not clearly evident. The only factor that might be of importance in the case of Tirso is that many of these names are used in referring to caballeros or damas of countries other than Spain or Portugal. A great many of these personages are italianos, franceses, flamencos, etc.

The names which appear most frequently in Tirso’s comedias are names which were common in his time and in many cases names which are very common among Spaniards today.[15] The Golden Age playwrights in Spain, who created a genuinely popular theater, employed such names to good advantage. The most common Spanish names are Carlos, Diego, Domingo, Felipe, Fernando, Francisco, Jorge, José, Juan, Manuel, Pablo, Pedro and Rodrigo.[16] Tirso used all of them, although certain ones do not appear often. The fact that Tirso wrote during the reigns of Felipe II, Felipe III, and Felipe IV, as did Lope, probably accounts for the scarceness of characters of that name in both of their works. There are not very many personages named Francisco, except for those who are historical figures. Tirso, like Lope, tends to avoid the name José, probably for religious reasons.

The following are the most frequently used names in Tirso’s comedias:

Masculine	Characters	Mentions	Total
Juan	29	11	40
Pedro	16	4	20
Diego	13	3	16
Carlos	12	1	13
Gil	7	6	13
Luis	11	2	13
Enrique	11	1	12
Gonzalo	9	1	10
Francisco	6	3	9
Alfonso	6	2	8
Alonso	8	0	8
Antonio	6	2	8
Fernando	7	1	8
García	7	1	8
Martín	6	2	8
Julio	4	3	7
Pero	2	5	7
Rodrigo	5	2	7
Alberto	4	2	6
Alejandro	2	4	6
Álvaro	6	0	6
Fabio	4	2	6
Filipo	4	2	6
Jaime	3	3	6
Ludovico	6	0	6
Marco Antonio	5	1	6
Tirso	6	0	6

Feminine	Characters	Mentions	Total
Inés	8	8	16
Maria	12	1	13
Mari-	5	5	10
Isabel	6	3	9
Elvira	5	3	8
Juana	6	2	8
Leonor	4	4	8
Beatriz	4	2	6
Elena	5	1	6
Gila	1	5	6
Laura	3	3	6
Leonora	5	1	6
Teresa	1	5	6
Catalina	3	2	5
Diana	3	2	5
Dorotea	2	3	5
Lucrecia	3	2	5
Margarita	5	0	5
Olalla	0	5	5
Sirena	5	0	5
Clemencia	4	0	4
Melisa	4	0	4

A comparison of the names used by Tirso with those used by Lope reveals that many names are used freely by both dramatists.[17\ Juan, Pedro, Diego, Carlos, Luis, Enrique, Gonzalo, Alfonso, Alonso, Antonio, Fernando, García, Julio, Rodrigo, Alberto, Alejandro, Álvaro and Fabio are among the names used by both authors. Women’s names which are favorites of both are Inés, Isabel, Elvira, Juana, Leonor, Beatriz, Laura, Leonora, Diana, Lucrecia, María and Dorotea.[18] It is interesting that María appears in second place on Tirso’s frequency list, while it is toward the botton on Lope’s,[19] although both playwrights employed it rarely except for historical personages and for the Virgin Mary. Tirso used Maria six times (from a total of thirteen) for the Virgin Mary and two times for historical figures. There are several villanas and criadas bearing names such as Mari-Pablos, Mari-Ramirez or Mari-Hernández in Tirso’s works, however.

Certain names which are seldom used by Lope are encountered with relative frequency in Tirso’s plays. Marco Antonio appears only once in Lope, and Jaime only three times. Martin, Filipo, Ludovico and Gil are also more favored by Tirso than by Lope. Feminine names which are employed more by Tirso are Clemencia, Melisa, Mari-, Olalla, Menga, Sirena, Elena, Teresa, Gila and Catalina.

Three names which are found often in Lope’s comedias—Belardo, Lucinda, and Belisa—are completely lacking in Tirso. Since these names had a special signifycance for Lope, the failure of Tirso to use them is easily understood. Other names which are common in Lope but lacking in Tirso are Albano, Arnaldo, Leonardo, Camilo, Bernardo, Fineo, Lucindo, Leonido, Tristán, Rufino and Tancredo, for men; Leonarda, Julia and Teodora, for women.

Since Helen Parish has compiled a list of names which supposedly wer e popular in Tirso’s time,[20] a comparison between the names of Tirso’s characters and those on this list reveals some significant facts. For example, the following masculine names appear often in Tirso but are lacking on the Parish list; Gil, Fabio, Filipo, Ludovico, Marco Antonio, Tirso. Scarce on the list, but used frequently by Tirso, are Alberto, Alejandro, Julio. Among the names common in his time but rarely (or never) used by Tirso are the following: Agustín, Baltasar, Bartolomé, Bernardino, Bernardo, Cristóbal, Gabriel, Gaspar, Gregorio, Jacinto, José, Lorenzo, Matías, Nicolás, Pablo, Salvador, Simón, Sebastián, Tomás and Vicente. High in frequency on both lists are Alfonso, Alonso, Álvaro, Antonio, Carlos, Diego, Enrique, Fernando, Francisco, García, Gonzalo, Jaime, Juan, Luis, Martín, Pedro and Rodrigo.

Feminine names that are common in Tirso but lacking on the Parish list are Gila, Leonora, Diana, Olalla, Sirena, Clavela, Clemencia, Melisa; scarce on the Parish list are Elena, Laura, Dorotea, Lucrecia. Of frequent appearance on the Parish list but scarce or lacking in Tirso are Ana-María, Ángela, Antonia, Bernarda, Francisca, Jacinta, Jerónima, Josefa (Jusepa), Luisa, Manuela, Mariana, Mencía, Micaela. Common on both lists are Inés, María, Isabel, Elvira, Juana, Leonor, Beatriz, Teresa, Catalina and Margarita.

For the most part there are not a great many unintentional variants in the names found in the comedias of Tirso. Perhaps the most obvious case of the author’s having forgotten the name he designated for a particular character is that noted by Professor Gerald E. Wade in Don Gil de las calzas verdes.[21] Doña Juana (as Doña Elvira) says that her father’s name is Don Rodrigo de Cisneros and that her lover’s name is Don Miguel de Ribera. Later Doña Inés (after having repeated the name as it originally was given) refers to the lover as Don Miguel de Cisneros. Later, Don Pedro also refers to him as Don Miguel de Cisneros. In No hay peor sordo, Don Diego is first called Don Diego Ortiz de Fonseca, and later Don Diego de Acebedo. In the same play, Don García is referred to as Don García de Silva and as Don García Ponce, Silva y Solís.

Another case which is impossible to explain is that of a character whose name is abbreviated «Mur.» and who speaks in La fingida Arcadia, Jornada I, Escena III. This is the only reference to this personage in the entire play.

Printer’s errors apparently account for some of the variations in names; however it is difficult in such cases to know for certain whether the mistake is Tirso’s or the printer’s. The following list shows some of the differences noted:

Antonio de Barcelo-Antonio de Barcelos, VerPal
Cañizares-Gañizares, LealE
Cecilia (reparto)-Celia, SJuanaI
Diaguito-Dieguito, EscPCu
Domingo (reparto)-Domingo, PeñaFr
Enrique (reparto)-Enrico, PreRev
Florilo-Florino, RepRev
Garci-Hernández-Garci-Fernández, GallMH
Ifacio (reparto)-Isacio, ArbMF
Isabel-Isabela, CautCC
Leoncio-Leocio, RepRev
Mari-Pascuala-María Pascual, SJuanaII
Nájara-Nájera, AmarPS
Segismundo-Sigismundo, VentCN

As is evident from the following pages, there is a great variety of names in the comedias of Tirso. For the most part, both he and Lope used names which were common during the period in which they were writing, and a comparison shows that many of the same names were popular with both. Some of the differences in their choice of character names are interesting because of what they reveal about the author. Just as Tirso used the name Tirso (or Tarso) to refer to himself, so Lope used Belardo for himself, and Lucinda and Belisa for two of his loves. Further study of the names used by other playwrights will tell us more about the whole problem of character names in the Spanish Golden Age drama.

Notes

1. S. Griswold Morley and Richard W. Tyler, Los nombres de personajes en las comedias de Lope de Vega, Editorial Castalia, Valencia, Spain, 1961.

2. «Character Names in Tirso de Molina,» XXVII, Number 2; April, 1959; pp. 222-227.

3. The problem of authorship in regard to the plays attributed to Tirso has been considered by Professor Morley in two articles in the Bulletin Hispanique: «The Use of Verse-Forms (Strophes) by Tirso de Molina,» VII; 1905; pp. 387-408; «El uso de las combinaciones métricas en las comedias de Tirso de Molina,» XVI; 1914; pp. 177-208.

4. Obras dramáticas completas de Tirso de Molina, M. Aguilar, Madrid, 1946, Vol. I, p. 1566, p. 1452a.

5. Nueva biblioteca de autores españoles, Bailly­Baillière e Hijos, Madrid, 1907, Vol. 9, p. 90b.

6. Biblioteca de autores españoles, Ediciones Atlas, Madrid, 1944, Vol. 5, p. 533c.

7. Acto III, Escena III.

8. Jornada I, Escena II.

9. Morley and Tyler, op. cat., Vol. I, p. 23.

10. El enigma biográfico de Tirso de Molina, Tipografía de Alberto Fontana, Madrid, 1928, pp. 22-26.

11. «Did Tirso Hate the Girones?», Modern Language Quarterly, V, 1944, pp. 27-32.

12. A list of the abbreviations of play titles follows this introduction.

13. «Character Names in Tirso de Molina,» pp. 226-227.

14. Op. cit., Vol. I, p. 24.

15. More details concerning names popular in Tirso’s time appear in the discussion of the Parish list on pages xxv-xxvi.

16. Morley and Tyler, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 17.

17. In the following statistics the reader should bear in mind that the results of the Morley-Tyler study are based upon 316 plays, as opposed to 61 of Tirso in my study.

18. The fact that Celia appears near the top among Lope’s feminine names (Morley and Tyler, op. cit. Vol. I, p. 25) but is not on Tirso’s frequency list may strengthen the theory that, for Lope, Celia is related to Micaela Luján.

19. Morley and Tyler, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 26.

20. This study appears as an appendix to Morley and Tyler, op cit., Vol. II, pp. 706-709.

21. “On Tirso’s Don Gil,» Modern Language Notes; Vol. LXXIV; 1959, pp. 609-610.

Home

List of Plays

Lists of Characters

Abbreviations

acot.	acotación
ant.	antes
BAE	Biblioteca de autores españoles.
NBAE	Nueva biblioteca de autores españoles
p.	página
p. anón.	personajes anónimos
rep.	reparto
R.	Tirso de Molina, Obras dramáticas completas, edited by Doña Blanca de los Ríos; M. Aguilar; Madrid; 1946-1958 (Three Volumes).
SS.	siguientes
v.	verso
VV.	versos

Codes

italics	names of characters who are mentioned but do not appear on stage
asterisk	names of characters not listed in the reparto of the editions of the plays utilized
page numbers	references to characters or category type; the first number refers to the BAE or NBAE edition; numbers following «R» refer to the edition by Blanca de los Ríos

Comedias
Titles of comedias, abbreviations used in this study, and the edition utilized.
This list includes only the editions of the comedias which were used in the preparation of this study.

AmarAM	Amar por arte mayor, BAE V, R III.
AmarRE	Amar por razón de estado, BAE V,R II.
AmarPS	Amar por señas, BAE V, R I.
AmazIn	Amazonas en las Indias, NBAE IV, R III.
AmMéd	El amor médico, edited by Alonso Zamora Vicente María Josefa Canellada de Zamora; Clásicos castellanos, Vol. 131 (Tirso de Molina, Vol. II), Madrid, 1947.
AmCel	Amor y celos hacen discretos, BAE V, R I.
AmAmis	El amor y el amistad, BAE V, R III.
AntGar	Antona García, edited by Margaret Wilson; Manchester University Press, Manchester, England, 1957.
Aquil	El Aquiles, NBAE IX, R I.
ArbMF	El árbol del mejor fruto, NBAE IV, R III.
AvVar	Averígüelo Vargas, edited by Alonso Zamora Vicente and Maria Josefa Canellada de Zamora; Clásicos castellanos, Vol. 131 (Tirso de Molina, Vol. II), Madrid, 1947.
CastPe	El castigo del penséque, BAE V, R I.
CautCC	Cautela contra cautela, BAE V, R II.
CelCSC	Celos con celos se curan, BAE V, R II.
CelSíM	La celosa de sí misma, BAE V, R II.
CelPru	El celoso prudente, BAE V, R I.
CómoHS	Como han de ser los amigos, NBAE IV, R I.
DamaOl	La dama del olivar, NBAE IX, R I.
DelEne	Del enemigo el primer consejo, BAE V, R II.
DesTol	Desde Toledo a Madrid, BAE V, R III.
DGilCV	Don Gil de las calzas verdes, edited by Benjamín Parsons Bourland, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1901.
DBeatS	Doña Beatriz de Silva, NBAE IV, R II.
ElecPV	La elección por la virtud, NBAE IV, R I.
EscPCu	Escarmientos para el cuerdo, NBAE IX, R III.
EstoSi	Esto sí que es negociar, BAE V, R II.
FinArc	La fingida Arcadia, NBAE IV, R II.
FirHer	La firmeza en la hermosura, NBAE IX, R III.
GallMH	La gallega Mari-Hernández, BAE V, R II.
HuerJF	La huerta de Juan Fernández, BAE V, R III.
Lagos	Los lagos de San Vicente, NBAE IX, R II.
LealCE	La lealtad contra la envidia, NBAE IV, R III.
MartPi	Marta la piadosa, BAE V, R II.
Maybes	El mayor desengaño, NBAE IV, R II.
MejEsp	La mejor espigadera, NBAE IV, R I.
Melanc	El melancólico, NBAE IV, R I.
MujQMC	La mujer que manda en casa, NDAE IV, R I.
NHayPS	No hay peor sordo, BAE V, R III.
PalPlu	Palabras y plumas, BAE V, R I.
PeñaFr	La Peña de Francia, NBAE IV, R I.
PorSót	Por el sótano.y el torno, edited by Alonso Zamora Vicente; Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Filología, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1949.
PreRev	El pretendiente al revés, BAE V, R II.
PrivCG	Privar contra su gusto, BAE V, R III.
PruMuj	La prudencia en la mujer, edited by Alice Huntington Bushee and Lorna Lavery Stafford, Mexico City College Press, México, D. F., México, 1948.
QuCaOt	Quien calla otorga, BAE V, R I.
QuDaL	Quien da luego, da dos veces, NBAE IX, R II.
QuNoC	Quien no cae no se levanta, NBAE IX, R III.
QuieP	Las quinas de Portugal, NBAE IX, R III.
RepRev	La república al revés, NBAE IX, R I.
SJuanaI	La Santa Juana, primera parte, NBAE IX, R I.
SJuanaII	La Santa Juana, segunda parte, NBAE IX, R I.
SJuanaIII	La Santa Juana, tercera parte, NBAE IX, R I.
SanSas	Santo y sastre, NBAE IX, R III.
TanMás	Tanto es o e más como lo de menos, NBAE IV, R I.
TodoEs	Todo es dar en una cosa, NBAE IV, R III.
VenTam	La venganza de amar, NBAE IV, R III.
VentCN	La ventura con el nombre, BAE V, R III.
VentTD	Ventura te dé Dios, hijo, NBAE IV, R I.
VerPal	El vergonzoso en palacio, edited by Américo Castro; Clásicos castellanos, Vol. 2 (Tirso de Molina, Vol. I), Third Edition, Madrid, 1932.
VidaHe	La vida de Herodes, NBAE IX, R I.
VilSag	La villana de la Sagra, BAE V, R II.
VilVal	La villana de Vallecas, edited by Sherman W. Brown, D. C. Heath and Company, Boston, Massachusetts, 1948.

Works by Tirso de Molina

Molina, Tirso de; Antona García, edited by Margaret Wilson; Manchester University Press; Manchester, England; 1957.

—. Comedias escogidas de Tirso de Molina, edited by Juan Eugenio Hartzenbusch; Rivadeneyra; Madrid; 1944. (Volume V of the Biblioteca de autores españoles).

—. Comedias de Tirso de Molina, Colección ordenada e ilustrada por don Emilio Cotarelo y Mori; Bailly-Baillière e Hijos; Madrid; 1906­1907; II volumes. (Volumes IV and IX of the Nueva Biblioteca de autores españoles).

—. Don Gil de las calzas verdes, edited by Benjamin Parsons Bourland; Henry Holt and Company; New York; 1901.

—. Obras dramáticas completas, edited by Blanca de los Ríos; M. Aguilar; Madrid, 1946­1958; 111 volumes.

—. Por el sótano y el torno, edited by Alonso Zamora Vicente; Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Filología; Buenos Aires, Argentina; 1949.

—. La prudencia en la mujer, edited by Alice Huntington Bushee and Lorna Lavery Stafford; Mexico City College Press; México D.F., México; 1948.

—. Tirso de Molina, Vol. I, edited by Américo Castro; Espasa-Calpe, S.A.; Madrid; 1932 (Third Edition). (Volume II of the Clásicos. castellanos).

—. Tirso de Molina Vol. II, edited by Alonso Zamora Vicente and Maria Josefa Canellada de Zamora; Espasa-Calpe, S.A.; Madrid, 1947. Volume 131 of the Clásicos castellanos).

—. La villana de Vallecas, edited by Sherman W. Brown; D. C. Heath and Company, Boston, Massachusetts; 1948.

Other Works

Morley, S. Griswold, «Character Names in Tirso de Molina,» Hispanic Review; XXVII, Number 2 (April 1959:, pp. 222-227.

—. «The Use of Verse-Forms (Strophes) by Tirso de Molina,» Bulletin Hispanique, VII (1905), pp.387-408.

—. «El uso de las combinaciones métricas en las comedias de Tirso de Molina,» Bulletin Hispanique, XVI (1914), pp. 177-208.

—, and Tyler, Richard W., Los nombres de personajes en las comedias de Lope de Vega; Editorial Castalia, Valencia, Spain, 1961.

Ríos de Lampérez, Blanca de los, El enigma biográfico de Tirso de Molina, Tipografía de Alberto Fontana; Madrid, 1928.

Wade, Gerald E., «On Tirso’s Don Gil,» Modern Language Notes, LXXIV;1959), pp. 609-612.

Wilson, William E., «Did Tirso Hate the Girones?» Modern Language Quarterly, V (1944), pp. 27-32.