Synopsis
The Knight of Olmedo, based on a historical event that was the subject of multiple artistic recreations - the death of Don Juan de Vivero, Knight of Olmedo, at the hands of his neighbor Miguel Ruiz in 1521 - is one of Lope de Vega, with a poetic and theatrical mechanism that reaches extreme perfection. Love and death are the axes of this "comedy", whose ending leaves a halo of skepticism at the vainness of existence. For its elaborate construction, Lope displayed all his ingenuity, wisely combining the elements of dramatic art typical of the time and condensing in it all the forms and poetic models in use. Nothing in the work is superfluous; everything, even the initial cheerful and spring tone, is at the service of the tragedy that, from the beginning, is advanced with great subtlety: «That at night they killed / the knight, / the Medina gala, / the flower of Olmedo. » Ignacio Arellano and Juan Manuel Escudero, from the University of Navarra, offer a clear analysis of the work.