At the market, Esopo (Aesop) is sold to a new master: the philosopher Xanto. Xanto’s daughter, Filena, is in love with one of her father’s followers, Periandro: Esopo is bought as a matchmaker. Xanto confides in him: he is in love with his wife’s lady-in-waiting, Geringonça. The latter becomes infatuated with Esopo, who rejects her. During a symposium, Xanto bets that he can empty the sea: Esopo helps him untangle himself from this bet, in exchange for freedom. Esopo, drunk, tells Geringonça that his master loves her; his wife Eurípedes hears this too: upset, she leaves the house. Disguised as another woman, Filena is courted by Periandro: she accuses him of being unfaithful and leaves him. Esopo has been sent to prison. He is freed by Xanto, who thus settles his promise; he now promises to free Esopo on condition that he bring Eurípedes back. While Temístocles (Themistocles) and Cresso are waging war against Athens, one of Jupiter’s eagles lands on Esopo, who becomes commander of the armies. Esopo manages to make Eurípedes so jealous that she decides to go back to her husband. As Cresso’s army is standing outside Athens, Esopo begins to tell a fable about love, punctuated with macaronic Latin. The two couples (Xanto and Eurípedes, Periandro and Filena) reconcile. Esopo, who is in love with Filena, recites a sonnet to her, and makes her write an ambiguous letter intended for him. Called to duty, Esopo triumphs over Temístocles, through betrayal and plays on words. During a night scene, Eurípedes goes to the court where Xanto is meeting Geringonça. Xanto meets his daughter there, waiting for her lover. Eurípedes pretends to be Geringonça, to expose her husband’s infidelity. Esopo is fooled, and Geringonça shouts that she has been robbed. After the defeat of the town has been announced, Esopo dresses as a woman and draws Temístocles’ attention: he has fallen in love with the beautiful young woman. Esopo is imprisoned and Cresso tasks him with building a tower in the air. After another turnaround, the King pardons him and he goes back to Athens, where his fellow citizens make peace with him as he narrates a fable to them.

Not specified

António José Da Silva (António José da Silva, aka O Judeu)

Portugal

Lisbon

Printed

Slave

Philosophy

Love

Unfaithfulness

Enfranchisement

Parodistic

Comical

Burlesque

Philosophical tale

Esopaida, title page and summary of the play (1759)

Portuguese

ou Vida de Esopo

Croesus

King

Xeno

Philosopher

Slave master

Lover (man)

Disciple

Themistocles

General

Daughter

Wife

Maid

Aesop

Soldier

Choir

Music

Philosophical dialogue

Love story

Thwarted love

Dinner scene

Statue coming to life

Change of social status

Allusion to theatrical events of the time

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Macaronic Latin

Fight

Oracle

Battlefield scene

Cross-dressing

Esopaida

Aesop’s Life

The King Ponto is planning the weddings of his sons: Proteu (Proteus) will marry Dórida, the princess of Egnido, and Nereu (Nereus) will marry Cirene (Cyrene), whose father Políbio has introduced as the Princess of Beócia (Boeotia). Proteu is lamenting his fate because he is in love with Cirene. He tries to convince his father to let him marry her instead of Dórida. Meanwhile, Nereu is happy to be marrying a princess of royal blood; but he cannot appreciate Cirene’s beauty, and she reproaches him for it. Caranguejo introduces himself as a minister of Venus and tries persuading Maresia to marry him; having made a vow of chastity to Diana, she refuses. During a royal hunt, Cirene demands that the King cancel her marriage; as for Dórida, she thinks that Proteu is not eager enough to marry her. A wild boar attacks Maresia; it is in fact Caranguejo, who transforms back into his human form to kiss her. Cirene falls asleep on a mountain covered with flowers, which is in fact one of Proteus’s forms: when the young prince transforms back into himself, Cirene is in his arms. The King decides to bring the two weddings forward to pacify the two princesses. Cirene asks Nereu to love her for herself and not for her lineage, but he cannot do so. As for Proteu, he wishes that Cirene were not a princess so that he could be free to love her. Cirene confesses to her father Políbio that Proteu loves her, and she explains that her marriage with Nereu will be unhappy because she is pretending to be someone she is not. Políbio refuses to change his plans. Sitting on a chair which is in fact Caranguejo, Maresia ends up in the servant’s arms. Cirene is watching the clock into which Proteu has transformed to confess his love to her. While she is about to reveal that she is not a princess, her father interrupts her. Proteu and Políbio fight. Cirene intervenes; Proteu wounds her and, hopeless, tries to kill himself. Políbio confiscates his dagger and is then accused of attempted murder. Cirene demands that Políbio be freed, but the King says that he will only free her if Nereu agrees. Proteu, who transformed into a vase of flowers, decides to die to give Cirene satisfaction. Despite the latter’s pleading, Nereu refuses to agree to Políbio’s release. Maresia is arranging flowers; they are in fact Caranguejo, who begs her to marry him. As Nereu has Políbio taken to the temple of Astraea to put him to death, Proteu arrives with arms to free the prisoner. The brothers duel. Proteu is captured on orders of the King, but he then transforms into the King himself. At the temple, where the sacrifices are to be made, Cirene reveals her true identity. Nereu cancels their marriage, and Proteu proposes to her. The play ends with three weddings: Nereu marries Dórida; Proteu marries Cirene; and Caranguejo marries Maresia.

Metamorphosis

Impossible love

Hunting

Usurpation

Wedding

Seduction

Fantasy

Pastoral

Lyrical

As Variedades de Proteu (1737)

Princess

Proteus

Nereus

Neptune

Father

Servant

Disguised character (false identity)

Love rivalry

Love duet

Hunting scene

Transforming one character into another

Sleeping character

Sword fight

Sword thrust

Fight with an animal

Transforming scenery

Object coming to life

Unveiling

Final wedding

As Variedades de Proteu

Proteus’s Metamorphoses

Dom Gilvaz and Dom Fuas become enamoured with Dona Clóris and Dona Nise, the two nieces of the miser Dom Lanserote; Semicúpio, Dom Gilvaz’s servant, falls in love with their maid Sevadilha. Dona Nise gives her suitor a sprig of marjoram, Dona Clóris gives hers a sprig of rosemary and Sevadilha gifts hers a daisy; they encourage them to make these symbols triumph. The old Fagundes, Dom Lanserote’s maid, agrees to help the lovers. She reveals that one of the young women is promised to the foolish Dom Tibúrcio, and that the other will be sent to a convent. While Dom Tibúrcio is wooing Sevadilha, Semicúpio sneaks into the house; he is carrying a bundle of rosemary for Dom Gilvaz. When he faints, Fagundes sprays water on him and then leaves him with Sevadilha. The two servants bond; this ingenious couple will drive the action of the play. Dom Gilvaz catches Dom Fuas as he is climbing a ladder to break into the house: everyone enters the house and the two rivals, envying each other, engage in dialogues with their beloved. Dom Lanserote stops these outpourings. To escape this bad situation, Semicúpio claims that there is a fire and breaks down the door: the two lords, cornered, pretend to have come to put out the fire. Dom Fuas hides in a trunk to get into the house; he is carried by Semicúpio, who then hides his master Dom Gilvaz in it. While Dom Tibúrcio is courting Sevadilha, Dom Lanserote urges him to choose which of his nieces he will marry. They sit on the trunk. When it is knocked down, the candle goes out: the women arrive on stage for a night scene filled with much confusion. Dom Tibúrcio and Dom Lanserote want to open the trunk, but Dona Nise chases them away by talking about a ghost. Dom Gilvaz thanks Dona Nise, which arouses Dom Fuas’s jealousy. Then Dom Fuas speaks with Dona Clóris, arousing Dom Gilvaz’s jealousy. Semicúpio falls into the trunk. Dom Lanserote and Dom Tibúrcio arrive with light: they open the trunk, out of which comes Semicúpio; as he flees, he blows out the candle and shoves the other characters, who all believe that they are being pushed by their respective companion. The wedding is temporarily cancelled after this quarrel. Dom Gilvaz is waiting for Dona Clóris. He asks Dona Nise to hide him, but Dom Fuas and Dona Clóris find him: they both believe that their lovers have betrayed them. Dom Lanserote has reconciled with his nephew; he summons his nieces and, once again, asks Dom Tibúrcio to choose between them. Dom Fuas, Dom Gilvaz and Semicúpio, dressed as women, accuse Dom Tibúrcio of polygamy: he is forced to leave. In his misfortune, Dom Tibúrcio requires medical care: Dom Fuas, Dom Gilvaz and Semicúpio, dressed as doctors, tell him that he is pregnant; they also prescribe natural remedies to their beloved—marjoram, rosemary and daisy. Dom Gilvaz and his servant break into the garden using a rope. Dom Lanserote is there; he catches Semicúpio and locks him inside the henhouse. By mistake, Dom Fuas sits by the marjoram, and Dom Gilvaz by the rosemary: their lovers come to water the plants and find them: this is the beginning of another fit of jealousy from Dom Fuas and Dona Clóris. Dom Lansarote arrives: the lovers hide in the henhouse, as does Dom Tibúrcio. A judicial officer—Semicúpio in disguise—is with Dom Lanserote: he asks the hiding man to come out of the henhouse and arrests all the lords who walk out of it. In a parodical trial, Semicúpio finds the young women guilty of theft for having stolen the heart of the two lords, and sentences them to marriage; he requests that the costs be covered by Dom Lansarote and Dom Tibúrcio. The weddings put an end to the quarrel between rosemary and marjoram.

Rivalry in love

Suitors

Deception

Medicine

Justice

Dramatic

Satirical

António José da Silva, Guerras do Alecrim e Mangerona (1759)

Lord

Legal guardian

Niece

Old woman

Jack of all trades

Seduction scene

Fainting

Misunderstanding

Hidden character

Running away

Punching

Disguise

Night scene

Arrest scene

Confinement

Court scene

Guerras do Alecrim e Mangerona

Wars of the Rosemary and of the Marjoram

Ottavio worries about the health of his uncle Geronte: he is hoping to inherit from him and to marry the young Isabella. Geronte asks Ottavio if he knows Eugenia’s daughter, Isabella, but he only asks to let him know that he is planning on marrying her. Eugenia and her daughter arrive, but Isabella does not want to marry Geronte and have to bear his children. Ottavio asks Eugenia to honour the contract between them and to terminate the one with Geronte. They do so, provided that Ottavio is effectively designated as Geronte’s heir. Two doctors, Pantalone and Arlecchino, arrive to give their opinion on Geronte’s health, and to prescribe the best medicine. They both argue and accidentally drop Geronte. Meanwhile, Facanapa and Ottavio are waiting for the lawyers when Lisetta, the maid, rushes in to ask for help, and tell them that Geronte is dead. Facanapa wants to convince everyone that Geronte is still alive: he dresses up and replaces him to sign the will in front of the lawyers. As Geronte, he appoints Ottavio as his heir and leaves different bequests to Lisetta and Facanapa (himself). But Geronte regains consciousness. The lawyers come back and read the will, which is contested by Geronte. When faced with proof of the fraud, Facanapa and Ottavio ask for forgiveness. Geronte forgives them, confirms the will and agrees to Isabella and Ottavio’s wedding.

Esopaida

ou Vida de Esopo

As Variedades de Proteu

Guerras do Alecrim e Mangerona

Il testamento di Facanapa

Il morto risuscitato