- A critical, annotated edition by Debra Collins Ames

Description:
Despite the centuries that have passed since Lope’s death, scholarship on his prodigious legacy of plays remains hampered by a lack of reliable critical editions. Some plays have warranted the attentions of numerous editors, yet others of comparable literary value have been largely ignored because of a long-standing reluctance to edit works for which the original manuscript has been lost. La quinta de Florencia stands out as a play most undeserving of such neglect. The quality of its verse, the simplicity of its uncluttered plot lines and their metatheatrical interplay with classical tales evoked by artwork have caught the attention of many, as has its status as the possible precursor of Fuenteovejuna and El mejor alcalde, yet such interest has sadly not garnered it a full-length study or a rigorously-executed edition in a singleplay volume.

My intent has been to make available a text as close as possible to what Lope may have written, faithfully but not blindly reproducing the Madrid 1609 printing of the Segunda parte. While the term ‘critical’ has come to have varied meanings, I use it here to refer to the level of scrutiny given the relationships between the surviving versions of the play. The present edition seeks to foster interest in the work through an introduction thorough enough to help readers understand the complexities of the play, yet not so comprehensive as to obviate the need for future scholarship devoted to the piece. I have sought to produce a work accessible and helpful to younger scholars of Lope, yet still with much to offer senior colleagues.
- FROM FOREWORD


TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Forward......ix

Abbreviations......xi

Date of composition......1
History of the text......3
Transcription of the text......9
Transcription of the variants......10
Historical setting of the play......11
Plot summary......14
Sources of the play22
Analysis of the characters in the play and its prose sources
- Laura......27
- Cesar......30
- Alejandro......37

Analysis of the play......41
Versification......51

II. Works Cited......56

III. Text of La quinta de Florencia......67

Primera Jornada......69
Segunda Jornada......107
Tercera Jornada......137

Errata......175

IV. Notes......177

V. Index to the Notes......219