“… y se acabó la comedia”: Francisco de Villegas Redirects Guillén de Castro ( On Lo que puede la crianza and La fuerza de la costumbre )

Abstract: Francisco de Villegas’s mid-seventeenth-century comedia Lo que puede la crianza , like its source, Guillén de Castro’s La fuerza de la costumbre , involves female and male siblings raised contrary to their genders assigned at birth. Although Castro (1569– 1631) was a successful associate and follower of Lope de Vega, we know very little about Villegas, whose name was signed to plays later in the century. Here, as deeply indebted as is Villegas to Castro’s premise and many plot points, he mounts a searing (and highly entertaining) critique of the earlier comedia’s governing ethos. Lo que puede la crianza is unique for its treatment of the charismatic female protagonist. Unlike Castro’s Hipólita and other varonil females on the early modern Spanish stage, Juana retains to the end her power over her father, her beau, and her destiny. Villegas also diverges from Castro in this play’s unusually respectful treatment of other less socially advantaged characters.