"The Little Woman," by Leandro Fernández de Moratín, translated by Edward H. Friedman.

The Little Woman, by Leandro Fernández de Moratín, translated by Edward H. Friedman.

The Little Woman is a liberal translation of Leandro Fernández de Moratín’s El sí de las niñas (1806), the quintessential Spanish neoclassic comedy. Influenced by the Enlightenment and by dramatic conventions in France, Moratín designs a vehicle aimed at entertaining and illuminating his public and at commenting on a number of social issues, including the education of women and arranged marriages. Conflict is inevitable in life and in the theater, but the trials and tribulations of the characters are resolved through patience and clear thinking. The dramatist and his protagonists play by the rules of order and decorum; one could say that they have faith in reason and in their fellow men and women. The play is a variation on the theme of the elderly gentleman who sets his sights on a much younger woman. Here, the love object has a gallant admirer closer to her own age and an exaggeratedly meddlesome mother. Misunderstandings abound, but good sense and good will prevail. Edward Friedman’s translation captures the spirit of the original text in a performable script.

ISBN: 978-1-58871-180-9 (PB, 126 pp.) $25