Mechanisms of Secrets and Secrecy in «El secretario confuso» by Jacinto Cordeiro

Abstract

This article studies the mechanism of secrets and secrecy in El secretario confuso (1634), comedy by Jacinto Cordeiro; he is a playwright that belongs to the group of lusitan authors that write in Spanish during the Dual Monarchy period (1580-1640). This work, that can be included in the secretario subtype of comedia palatina genre —based on the infatuation between a noble lady and her secretary— shows thematic and structural coincidences with the main comedies of this moda­lity —El perro del hortelano by Lope de Vega and El vergonzoso en palacio by Tirso de Molina—, but providing new variations to this corpus focussed on the communicational dynamics of remaining silent, concealing and declaring love between the different characters.