La malquerida

Summary

In *La malquerida*, Jacinto Benavente dramatizes how a secret murder, committed to prevent a marriage, unravels a family and brands an innocent woman with a public nickname that becomes a curse. The central conflict emerges when Raimunda learns that El Rubio killed Faustino to stop him from marrying her daughter Acacia, and that Norberto, who also loved Acacia, stopped speaking to her out of fear. The town’s mocking copla—“El que quiera a la del Soto / tie pena de la vida”—labels Acacia “la Malquerida,” the ill-loved one, and forces Raimunda to confront the truth. The play’s main themes are the weight of concealed guilt, the public shaming of a woman through rumor and song, and a mother’s desperate determination to protect her daughter from further harm. A reader takes away a stark portrait of how violence and jealousy poison a rural community, and how a single epithet can destroy a person’s honor.

Key concepts

• La Malquerida (the ill-loved one) — The nickname given to Acacia in a town copla, signifying she is loved in a way that brings harm or death.
• The copla as public judgment — A sung verse that circulates in the village, turning Acacia’s private situation into a public mark of shame.
• El Rubio’s murder of Faustino — The killing committed to prevent Faustino from marrying Acacia, which sets the plot’s secret in motion.
• Norberto’s self-silencing — Norberto stops speaking to Acacia out of fear that he too will be killed, revealing how the murder controls behavior.
• Raimunda’s protective vow — Raimunda declares that anyone who wants to kill Norberto must kill her first, asserting maternal authority against assassins.
• The Soto family name — The label “los del Soto” identifies Raimunda’s household, making Acacia’s dishonor a family-wide stigma.

From the book

Dichas, la ACACIA, MILAGROS, ESTEBAN, el TÍO EUSEBIO y FAUSTINO. ESTEBAN. Raimunda, aquí el tío Eusebio y Faustino, que se despiden. EUSEBIO. Ya es hora de volvernos pa casa, antes que se haga noche, que con las

ESTEBAN. Sí, que hay ranchos muy malos. ISABEL. ¿Qué dice el novio? Ya no se acuerda de mí. Verdad que bien irá para

EUSEBIO. ¿No conoces a doña Isabel? FAUSTINO. Sí, señor; pa servirla. Creí que no se recordaba de mí. ISABEL. Sí, hombre; cuando mi marido era alcalde, va para cinco años. Buen

Popular questions readers ask

• The transcription notes detail choices like modernizing orthography but preserving popular expressions. If you were presenting this play to a modern audience, how might these specific editorial decisions influence their interpretation of the characters' voices or the play's historical context, and what arguments could be made for a completely unmodernized transcription instead?
• The text presents publication information including a 1913 premiere, the author's 1922 Nobel Prize, and a "QUINTA EDICIÓN" in 1927, alongside extensive copyright details. How do these historical markers collectively illuminate the play's journey from initial reception to its lasting legacy, and what can be inferred about the author's changing stature and the commercial life of a successful play in early 20th-century Spain?
• The play is dedicated to María Guerrero, who also appears as "LA RAIMUNDA" in the cast list. How might this close relationship between author, dedicatee, and lead actress have shaped the play's initial staging and audience reception, and what does it reveal about the collaborative dynamics and celebrity culture within the theatre world of that period?
• With the genre specified as "DRAMA EN TRES ACTOS Y EN PROSA" and the setting immediately established as "En un pueblo de Castilla" in a "Sala en casa de unos labradores ricos," what initial expectations are immediately set for the play's central conflicts, social commentary, and character archetypes, and how might these elements predispose a reader to certain themes before any dialogue has even occurred?
• Consider the extensive prefatory material—transcription notes, copyright, publication history, dedication, and cast list—that precedes the actual drama. Beyond simply providing information, how does this "front matter" prepare or frame the reader's encounter with the play itself, and what unique insights might a thorough understanding of these details offer that a purely plot-focused reading would miss?