SOURCE: “Love, Matrimony and Desire in the Theatre of Tirso de Molina,” in Bulletin of the Comediantes, Vol. 37, No. 1, Summer, 1985, pp. 83-99.

In the following essay, Sullivan concludes that the totality of de Molina's true views on love cannot be determined from his plays.

Tirso studies have been historically bedevilled by a range of problems so various and intransigent that scholars have been understandably reluctant to address large aspects of his drama (such as the theme of love) with any confidence. I am referring to the almost total absence of firm dates of composition for the comedias (despite Ruth Lee Kennedy's lifelong efforts) and the consequent lack of any reliable chronology. The authorship of a large number of his plays has also been challenged (most sweepingly by Margaret Wilson), including many major ones: El burlador de Sevilla; El condenado por desconfiado; El rey don Pedro en Madrid; Los...