SOURCE: Lott, Robert E. “Scandinavian Reminiscences in Antonio Buero Vallejo's Theater.” Romance Notes VII, no. 1 (autumn 1965): 113-16.

In the following essay, Lott finds similarities between Buero Vallejo's and Henrik Ibsen's treatment of family tension and bickering in their work.

When Antonio Buero Vallejo's Las cartas boca abajo was first performed in Madrid in 1957, Felipe Bernardos correctly pointed out that the most obvious precedent for the role of Anita, the supposedly mute sister of Adela, was Miss Y (Amelie) of Strindberg's The Stronger.¹ Both Miss Y and Anita are silent throughout, relying solely on action and gesture, and at dramatic moments both seem to be on the verge of breaking their silence. Miss Y chooses not to talk, and thus conceals her spitefulness and viciousness behind the appearance of strength and disdain. Anita's case is ambiguous: one is never certain that she is truly mute, though it does become...