Power relationships and conflicts between families and individuals: Lope de Vega’s Los enemigos en casa

Abstract

Los enemigos en casa is a comedy written by Lope de Vega that has been scarcely studied. The plot focuses on the enmity among two sevillian families and the serious problems it causes to a couple of lovers belonging to the rival fa­milies. The article examines how Lope dramatizes intergenerational discord, showing paternal authoritarism’s excess, and most of all, the way it states the improper idea of familiar honor that’s displayed by paternal uncles, along the same lines of the arcaical role of patruus.