1. Bravery for The New World: Criticism of Spanish Conquest and the Native American
Voice in The Plays of Lope de Vega and Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz
April 20 2014
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2. 1
Bravery for The New World: Criticism of Spanish Conquest and the Native American
Voice in The Plays of Lope de Vega and Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz
Spain’s Golden Age, initiated by Spanish exploration and colonization of the New
World, brought the country a surge of prosperity in which the arts thrived. Of all the arts
to reap the benefits of Spain’s Golden Age, theatre saw, by far, the most growth. This
flourishing artistic scene facilitated New World exploration of an entirely new kind to
begin on the stages of Spanish theaters. The Spanish playwrights of the Golden Age, like
ambitious explorers, boldly delved into the mysterious New World, creating for Spanish
audiences a glimpse of the strange land across the sea, its inhabitants, and its conquest.
The New World plays, the product of this exploration, are of crucial importance when
one ventures to understand the way in which the issues of conquest and colonization were
treated by the Spanish playwrights of the Golden Age. They grant the modern reader a
look at how these playwrights and their audience understood their relationship to the New
World and its inhabitants. What the modern reader may glean from these plays, however,
is perplexing. The majority of Spanish New World plays create a stark contrast between
the Spanish and the native people of the Americas, placing the Spanish on a moral
pedestal and characterizing the Native people as unintelligent and base, if characterizing
them at all. This representation of Spain’s conquest of the New World has nationalistic
and even propagandistic tones. Upon delving further into this collection of plays,
however, one will find that there is more to the genre of New World plays than the
elevation of Spanish culture. Lope de Vega’s The Discovery of the New World by
Christopher Columbus and Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz’s Loa to Divine Narcissus offer to

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the genre an uncommonly critical view of Spanish conquest by dignifying Native
American characters and granting them an intelligent voice. The characterization of the
Native American people in the plays of Lope de Vega and Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz
challenges the Spanish theatre’s widely held support of Spanish conquest by humanizing
and dignifying its victims. By examining the context of the New World plays, how that
context informed the representation of the Native American in these plays, and how “The
Discovery of the New World…” and Loa to Divine Narcissus depart from the usual
representation of the Native American, one will find that Sor Juana De la Cruz and Lope
de Vega go beyond simple patriotic entertainment and present unique perspective and
even controversy to the theatre of Spain’s Golden Age.
The New World plays were a product of a newly prosperous and vastly popular
theatre. As Spain was ushered into a glorious Golden Age by its conquest of the
Americas, the Spanish theatre experienced a golden age all its own. Public theatres began
to appear in every major city, granting citizens of all walks of life access to this
increasingly popular entertainment. The theatre in Spain was, by no means, exclusive.
Audiences for all plays produced during this time were unlike any other found in Europe,
as no plays were reserved specifically for any particular class, but royalty and peasants
alike were able to enjoy its performances. In order to meet the growing audience of
Spain’s theatres, the output of plays during this period shot into the thousands, creating a
body of works unmatched by any other European country1
. Spain’s massive collection of
1
Jonathan Thacker, in his introduction to his book, A Companion to Golden Age Theatre, estimates that the
number of plays produced in this period nears 10,000. (xiii)

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plays during this period also offered an incredibly wide variety of genres to its audience.
Spain even created and developed its own signature genres and types of theatre which
include but are not limited to autos sacramentales, religious plays pertaining to the
Catholic sacrament of the Eucharist; capa y espada (cape and sword) plays, which dealt
mostly with themes of honor, love, and nobility; and comedias, three-act plays which
appropriated both the comedic and the dramatic in its material. The wide variety of
material produced by the theatre of Spain’s Golden Age treats nearly all facets of Golden
Age Spanish society. From brash, gaudy courtiers to rebellious peasants, all members of
Spanish society found representation within the crowded corrales (an open, courtyard
theatre, typically found in urban Spain). The most fascinating and important theme to be
broached on the corral stage was one which was, at the time in which these plays were
written, the most recent addition to Spanish society. The New World and its inhabitants,
though obscure and mysterious to the typical Spanish audience, was taken on by Spanish
playwrights in yet another, entirely Spanish genre of play; the New World drama.
The New World plays, like many other plays of the Golden Age, were met with
what Henry Ziomek, author of A History of Spanish Golden Age Drama, argues to have
been theatre’s role as a “channel for information and a means of arousing patriotism”
(64)2
. With an entirely new world to control and evangelize, it became increasingly
important that Spain’s Catholic faith and sense of superiority as a civilized society was
shared by all Spanish citizens. Ilia Mariel Cuesta, author of Dramatizing the Indian:
Representations of the "Other" in Lope de Vega's El Nuevo Mundo Descubierto por
2
Ziomek supports this claim by citing several works of Lope de Vega’s which were targeted at patriotic
and historical themes. (63-64)

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Cristobal Colon and Shakespeare's The Tempest, argues, “Spain…could only establish an
overseas empire if these ideas were fully recognized and embraced by its subjects, for
they would spread these ideas to conquered cultures” (14). Cuesta also argues that, in
order to achieve these aims, theatre acted as an important social tool:
The plays both entertained and helped to relay important contemporary themes
and ideas. By imitating human relationships and conflicts on stage, the theatrical
representations in many ways reaffirmed established notions of “civility” and
“civilization. (30)
The notions of civility and civilization were vitally important when it came to conquest in
the New World. A sense of superiority over the natives of the Americas was integral to
the Spanish cause in the Americas. This sense of superiority and the justification of the
Spanish conquest can be found at their highest concentration in the New World drama. In
New World plays, the affirmation of Spanish social ideas through theatre is exemplified
The full cannon of Spanish New World plays is an immense one which continues
to grow as plays continue to be unearthed. However, one need only study a handful of
these plays to see the Spanish theatre’s strong promotion of Spanish conquest and its
view of the conquest as one made over an inferior people. A. Robert Lauer, author of The
Iberian Encounter of America in the Spanish Theater of the Golden Age, in which he
closely examines the depiction of the New World in several works of Golden Age drama,
describes the collection of New World plays as being nationalistic and condescending to
the point of being offensive to the contemporary audience:

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Most of them appear to be blatantly nationalistic and perhaps offensive to
culturally sensitive audiences. Most of them, likewise, seem self- righteous in
their justification of the Conquest…Finally, some if not all…appear to be simply
politically incorrect for this generation and perhaps for all times (33)
The nationalistic and culturally offensive nature of these plays manifests itself most
strongly when it comes to the representation of the native inhabitants of the New World.
Highly fanaticized aspects of Native American culture, such as cannibalism, are
highlighted by these Spanish playwrights. Fernando Zarate’s La Conquista de Mexico
(The Conquest of México), for instance, includes a description of human sacrifice and
cannibalism given to the audience by Aguilar, a Spaniard. In Aguilar’s account, a Native
American chief sacrifices a Spanish captain, Valdivia, roasts and eats him, while serving
others in “a treat he gave to his wife” (40)3
. Lauer explains that the depiction and
discussion of such grizzly practices were used to demonstrate Spain’s superiority over the
conquered peoples:
Of the fourteen plays studied, twelve mention cannibalism, human sacrifices, and
the drinking of blood. Cannibalism, of course, was a detestable custom …which
in effect justified…the Spanish conquest and dominion of the barbarous nations.
(34)4
Placing focus on the aspects of Native American culture which were perceived as
barbaric appealed to the to the imagination of a European audience, casting in their sight
an image of the Native Americans as an inherently uncivilized people. This image,
placing the Native American culture at a largely inferior position when compared to that
3
I have translated this quotation from its original Spanish into English.The original text reads thus: “…un
convito que hizo a su esposa…” ( Zarate 40)
4
According to Lauer, of the thousands of plays which were produced during the Golden Age, that only
“…about sixteen deal exclusively with the actual conquest of America, and from this group, only fourteen
seem to be extant” (32).

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of Spain, offered confirmation of Spain’s superiority and justification for the furthering
of conquest.
The religious differences between the Spanish and Native American people were
also called upon by Spanish playwrights when asserting Spain’s preeminence over its
conquered cultures. The Catholic faith upheld by Spanish conquistadores is repeatedly
placed in comparison to the Native American religions. Even supernatural entities from
both Catholicism and the Native American religions are used to demonstrate Spain’s
religious authority:
If the heavenly forces guide the Spaniards to victory in the form of Saint
James…the Virgin Mary…God…and Heaven, the opposite forces are perhaps
more numerous, albeit less effective: these constitute idols…and former chieftains
or "magos"… (Lauer 37)
The Catholic ‘heavenly forces’ depicted in the New World plays are powerful and
extremely faithful while the forces called upon by the Native Americans often appear to
have abandoned their devotees. In Tirso de Molina’s La Lealtad contra la Envidia
(Loyalty against Envy), the Spanish win a victory over the Native Americans with the aid
of the Virgin Mary. In response to this victory, a Native American leader, El Inca,
laments the lack of aid given to him by his gods: “Ah, cruel Sun! This is the good
payment which your child receives?” (75)5
. Between the Catholic and Native American
religions there is no relationship depicted beyond that between a conqueror and the
conquered. Rather than there being discourse between the two religions, evangelization is
reduced to a question of victory and defeat. The New World plays present a nationalistic
5
This is also my translation from Spanish. The original text reads thus: “¡Ah, Sol cruel! ¿Este pago es bien
que to hijo reciba?” ( de Molina 75)

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and unquestioning view of the Spanish conquerors by constantly demonstrating their
authority over the Native American people in terms of civilization and religion. In
Lauer’s descriptions of New World plays, as well as the works of Tirso de Molina, there
is rarely any connection made or parallel drawn between the two cultures, as one is held
constantly above the other, claiming its superiority as the basis for its dominion.
While many of the New World plays uphold a nationalistic view of Spanish
Conquest, The Discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus by Lope de Vega
and Loa to Divine Narcissus by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz offer evidence that the
nationalistic mentality did not completely pervade the way in which the New World was
presented by Spanish playwrights. Two of Spain’s most brilliant and well-known writers,
Lope de Vega and Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, present another side to the story of Spanish
conquest by humanizing and dignifying their Native American characters and allowing
parallels to exist between them and their Spanish conquerors. Lope De Vega and Sor
Juana Ines de la Cruz, in their respective works, The Discovery of the New World by
Christopher Columbus and Loa to Divine Narcissus, give the Native American as
depicted on the Spanish stage a logical, dignified voice and in doing so challenge the
justification of Spanish conquest.
Born in Madrid in 1562, Lope de Vega led a dynamic and diverse career as a
soldier, priest, and, most famously, as a playwright. Lope de Vega, during his time,
would become Spain’s most prolific and celebrated playwright, with around 1,800 plays
credited to his name, spanning every genre and style. Lope’s works are known for their

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beautiful rhetoric and critical insight into the human condition, a quality which was not
spared when the young playwright set to compose The Discovery of the New World by
Christopher Columbus. Published in 1614, “The Discovery of the New World…” was one
of Lope’s first productions and is also speculated to be one of the first New World plays
to be produced. As such, it contains some of the first and only murmurs of the native
voice to be heard on the Spanish stage.
Lope begins his representation of the Native American by drawing a curious
parallel between the Native American people and their Spanish conquerors. This parallel
is seen in the second scene of Act 2, in a conversation between Dulcan, a chief of
Guanahami, and his captured bride, Tacuana:
Dulcan. Do not let yourself be sad if it seems to you I have stolen you from your
own country, for in this just war unjust blood was shed… I am a husband whom
you would prize if you knew me well…Who outside the sun in its sphere is as
powerful as I am?..
Tacuana. By the sun which you worship, Dulcan, accord me a delay so that I
might learn to love you that we might be happy with a mutual love… to satisfy
your caprice do not lose the infinite happiness to be found in love that is shared
equally…
Dulcan. … so that you will not consider me a complete barbarian, Tacuana, I
promise to treat you according to your desires. I shall wait a month, a year, longer
if necessary, for this conquest… (De Vega 25-27)
In this small scene, Dulcan is granted the position of a conquistador as he seeks to justify
his conquest with his authority and power.6
Dulcan is given the usually Spanish role of
the authoritative but understanding and benevolent conqueror. This subtle reversal of
6
Robert M. Shannon, author of Visions of the New World in the Drama of Lope de Vega, argues that
Dulcan is, by no means, meant to be compared to the Spanish characters of the New World drama and that,
in fact, the opposite is true. (73-76)

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roles, the changing of the conquered into the conqueror, humanizes Dulcan and places
him on the same plane as his Spanish foes. When given a voice by Lope de Vega, Dulcan
speaks using the rhetoric of a Spanish conquistador and allows the audience to view him
as more of an equal than an inferior.
Beyond raising the Native American people to the level of their conquerors in the
eyes of the Spanish audience, Lope de Vega also takes on a sympathetic view of their
forced conversion to Christianity. Dulcan, when confronted with the idea of abandoning
his original faith for the sake of Christianity, asks the Spanish explorers and the audience
to consider the difficulty of such a conversion in the face of longstanding tradition:
… I respect your God and your reasons. However, you must realize that this law
and faith we profess, we practice as we received it. Our fathers who here taught it
to us, earned it from our ancestors, and they from their elders, so that its
originators are innumerable. (De Vega 53)
Through Dulcan, Lope rationalizes the reluctance of the Native American people to
convert to the Christian faith and shows that reluctance to be a product of their own
intellect and logic, rather than just a demonic influence. Lope even goes as far as to use
the Native American voice to question the Spanish methods of conversion, as Dulcan
argues that a forced conversion is not conducive to true faith:
“Should I leave Ongol for this foreign Christ, God-Man and Spanish God? ... But
I must not fail the Spaniards, for if I do not comply with their pleasure I fear they
will kill me. But why look for God through fear if He is to be found through love?
(De Vega 56)
Lope appeals to the religious sensibilities of his audience by gently asking them, through
Dulcan, whether or not a conversion made in response to a physical threat is a true

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conversion and thereby mildly questions the methods of Spanish evangelization as a
whole.7
By placing Dulcan, a Native American character in a role comparable to that of a
Spanish conquistador, grants the Native American a more dignified position in the New
World play. From this position, Lope, by granting Dulcan a logical and emotionally
appealing voice, calls into question the ethics and effectiveness of the evangelization of
the New World8
. In granting the Native American a voice in The New World Discovered
by Christopher Columbus, Lope de Vega takes the rhetoric of the New World play
beyond mere propaganda and smoothly introduces a challenging argument to the stage of
the New World drama.
As the years passed after the publication of “The Discovery of the New World…”
very few other plays posed the same challenges as Lope de Vega posed in his New World
play. As evidenced by the number of extant New World plays, very few more were
produced, most of which maintained a staunchly Spanish view of the conquest in the
Americas. It would not be until nearly 80 years after its publication that Lope’s The
Discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus would meet its match in Sor Juana
Ines de la Cruz’s Loa to Divine Narcissus. Sor Juana9
, unlike Lope de Vega, held a
unique advantage with regards to her representation of the native people in her plays.
Though she, like Lope, is considered a writer of the Spanish Golden Age, her perspective
7
Ilia Mariel Cuesta, author of Dramatizing the Indian: Representations of the "Other" in Lope de Vega's El
Nuevo Mundo descubierto por Cristobal Colon and Shakespeare's The Tempest, proposes that Lope’s
humanization of the Native people actually supports an argument for conquest, rather than poses a
challenge. (63)
9
Sor Juana de la Cruz is not listed among Lauer’s authors of New World playwrights (33), but, for the
purpose of this essay focus will be put on the fact that she was considered to be a writer of Spain’s Golden
age and that Loa to Divine Narcissus was intended to be performed for a Spanish audience.

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as a woman born and raised in Mexico provided her with an extremely rare angle from
which she could approach Spanish issues like conquest. According to Pamela Kirk, the
author of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz: Religion, Art, and Feminism, Sor Juana, though she
was very much a Spanish writer, was still considered to be Mexican by her readers and
represented an appropriation of the cultures of both Old and New Spain:
“Part of the fascination that Sor Juana exercised over her Spanish readers was due
to the fact that they regarded her as ‘Mexican, from the ‘New World’, even as
‘Indian’. The engraving of her portrait in the volume of her posthumous works
configures her as a bridge between a Spanish conquistador and an Indian
warrior.” (27)
Half Spanish, half Creole, proficient in the Aztec language of Nahuatl, a Carmelite nun,
and a brilliant mind10
, Sor Juan Ines de la Cruz entered onto the stage of New World
drama from a completely unique position, making her Loa to Divine Narcissus one of the
most fascinating theatrical works to ever treat the subject of colonization. From her
perspective, Sor Juana, in Loa to Divine Narcissus gives a voice to the native people of
America by presenting them as highly dignified characters. Sor Juana takes the challenge
posed by Lope de Vega a few steps further and goes so far as to dignify Native American
religious beliefs by emphasizing the compatibility of the Christian and Aztec religions.
As a playwright from the New World itself, Sor Juana provides a representation of the
Native American people which could not be achieved by purely Spanish playwrights like
Lope de Vega and gives a new, louder voice to the Native American of the New World
play.
10
In the prologue to his Sor Juana, Octavio Paz compares the poetic, theological, and dramatic works of
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz to those of modern writers. He claims her to be a poet beyond her own time. He
also commends the complexity and variety of her work. (1-3)

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Loa to Divine Narcissus, a short prelude (loa) to a larger work, offers an
allegorical rendition of the tale of Spanish conquest. Its main characters, symbolic figures
under the names of America, Occident, Religion, and Zeal, hold a debate over the
conversion of America and Occident to the Christian religion. In this debate, Sor Juana
provides the audience with a highly dignified representation of the Native American
people. Upon their entrance, Occident and America, depicted as a “handsome Indian
man, with a crown” and a “gorgeously attired Indian woman” (Cruz 69), already possess
a regality and sophistication uncommon to the usual depiction of Native American
peoples. This dignity is maintained in the face of an attack by the brash Zeal, as America
asserts that she cannot, like a common animal, be conquered with brute force:
If your request for my life
And display of compassion,
Is because you expect
to conquer me, proud one,
as once with physical,
now with intellectual arms,
you deceive yourself.
As a captive, I mourn
My lost freedom, yet my free will
With still greater liberty
Will adore my gods! (Cruz 78)
The native people of America, as depicted by this single character, are here shown to be a
dignified, strong-willed people who hold their intellect and integrity at high value.

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America asserts that she cannot be defeated with ‘physical’ or ‘intellectual arms’, and
that her integrity, though tried by captivity, will not be compromised as her will
experiences ‘still greater liberty’. America, in Loa to Divine Narcissus, is presented to the
audience as a force to be reckoned with, not a sheep to be guided. Through this, Sor
Juana gives a voice to the intellect of the Native American people, their sense of pride
and integrity. This voice makes it very clear that, unlike any other conquistadores of the
Spanish New World Drama, Religion and Zeal are dealing with equals who must be
convinced, not forced, to consider another religion.
The acknowledgment of equality between the conquerors and the conquered, in
the case of Loa to Divine Narcissus, leads the play into a fascinating discourse in which
the similarities of the Aztec and Christian religions are highlighted 11
. This comparison
between the two religions, something entirely out of the question for the typical New
World play, vastly broadens the discussion of conquest for the Spanish theatre by
granting a degree of legitimacy to the Aztec religion. Loa to Divine Narcissus, as a loa to
an auto sacramental (a Spanish brand of morality play written to celebrate the Catholic
feast of Corpus Christi, usually pertaining to the sacrament of the Eucharist), uses the
sacrament of the Eucharist as a focal point from which members of both religions draw
meaning. When asked to describe his god, Occident tells Religion of a god who “cleanses
our sins, to then/become the food he offers us” (Cruz 79) Cruz draws a direct correlation
between this god, who offers himself as food to his people, and the God believed to be
11
Viviana Dia Balsera, author of Cleansing Mexican Antiquity:Sor Juana Ins de la Cruz and the loa to the
Divine Narcissus, suggests that this connection springs from a popularly held Jesuit belief that the Aztec
religion had deeply ingrained Catholic roots. ( 292-296)

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present under the appearance of bread and wine in the Catholic Mass. Cruz then goes on
to bring to light a series of parallels between the Aztec and Christian religions. Reverence
toward the priesthood and the basic notion of baptism are both values which are revealed
to be shared by the two religions. It is only through the realization of the similarities
between the Aztec religion and Christianity that Religion and Zeal are able to bring about
Occident and America’s conversion. Loa to Divine Narcissus approaches Native
American culture and religion with understanding and respect. The legitimacy and
reverence with which the Aztec religion is viewed in Sor Juana’s play sets this loa
entirely apart from other depictions of the New World in Spanish theatre.
The style in which Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz represents the Native American
people and equates them to their Spanish opponents is, when compared to Lope de
Vega’s work, far from subtle. Unlike Lope’s Dulcan, Sor Juana’s Occident and America
are far more demanding than gently questioning. The similarities between the Spanish
and Native American cultures and religions have a much more prominent place in the
work of Sor Juana than in that of Lope. This may account for the different fates the two
plays met upon their being published. While Sor Juana’s loa was intended for a Spanish
audience12
, it is speculated that the play was never performed. Pamela Kirk, in her Christ
as Divine Narcissus: A Theological Analysis of "El Divino Narciso" by Sor Juana Ines de
la Cruz, offers an explanation as to why:
12
According to Pamela Kirk’s essay, Christ as Divine Narcissus: A Theological Analysis of "El Divino
Narciso" by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz,“Sor Juana wrote El Divino Narciso at the request of her friend and
patron, the Countess of Paredes, wife of the Viceroy of Mexico. The countess, who was returning to Spain,
intended the play to be performed at the court of the Spanish King, Charles II…” (151)

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Though the play was published in both Spain and Mexico… it was apparently
never performed for its designated audience. Considering the climate of the times,
it is hard not to speculate that it might have been considered offensive…It was…a
time of a general decline of the empire, a time in which the exploits of the
conquistadors were glorified. (151-152)
It is obvious that Sor Juana’s work, by loudly pointing out parallels between the Native
American and Spanish cultures and dignifying its Native American characters, presented
a view which stood in stark contrast with that of the more nationalistic, supportive New
World plays and made it too controversial for the Spanish stage. Conversely, there exists
no record of Lope de Vega’s play having been censored or in any way inhibited by any
authority13
. The subtlety of Lope’s representation of the Native American evidently did
not pose a clear threat to the staunch public opinion as Sor Juana’s did. The critiques of
Spanish conquest found in “The Discovery of the New World…” and Loa to Divine
Narcissus, though differing in intensity, are unified in their representation of the Native
Americans as a dignified, intelligent people. Of all the New World play written during
Spain’s Golden Age, the works of these two playwrights provide a rare perspective and
set of questions to the treatment of the New World in Spanish Golden Age Theatre.
The New World plays of Lope de Vega and Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz are crucial
to an understanding of Spanish Golden Age theatre. Through The Discovery of the New
World and Loa to Divine Narcissus one can fully grasp the scope with which the topic of
the New World was treated in the Spanish Golden Age. New World plays, though mostly
propagandistic in their support of the Spanish conquest, are challenged by the presence of
13
While the play may not have been censored or banned, it was critiqued. Lauer provides stylistic critiques
of Lope’s play from his contemporaries. (33)

17. 16
Lope de Vega and Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz in the genre. Lope de Vega’s introduction of
a dignified, humanized Native American character and subtle questioning of Spanish
tactics of evangelization present a new angle from which Spanish conquest can be
examined and questioned. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz expands that perspective to include a
view of Native American religion as being parallel to Christianity, strengthening the
presence of the Native American voice in Spanish Golden Age theatre. Thanks to The
Discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus and Loa to Divine Narcissus, the
modern reader can see the conversation concerning the New World in Spanish Golden
Age theatre as a diverse one in which both the conqueror and the conquered are
represented. The New World plays of Lope de Vega and Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz take
the genre of New World plays and all of Spanish Golden Age theatre beyond patriotic
entertainment and transform it into a mode of exploration in which significant cultural
values can be examined, questioned, and redefined.

18. 17
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