Students and scholars alike will welcome this carefully prepared edition of one of Calderon's most impassioned plays. Professor Valbuena's edition offers a biography of Calderon, a study of the psychological behavior of the principal characters, the versification and style of the text, a background of earlier editions of the tragedy, a selected bibliography, and the three jornadas of the play. Five hundred footnotes show variants, rhetorical devices, and historical and literary allusions. The text is followed by an index of names, themes, phrases, titles, and stylistic techniques that include valuable definitions for students. This is the authoritative edition by the master of the Spanish Golden Age whose themes of love, jealousy, possessiveness, and murder are timeless. The text is based on the princeps edition, authorized by Calderon, and published in the Second Part of the Comedias. This book should be on the list of every advanced-level class dealing with the 17th-century comedia. The book is written in Spanish. Do you know what el mayor monstruo refers to?"