Trading Up takes its inspiration from the early seventeenth-century play Mudarse por mejorarse, by the Mexican-born Juan Ruiz de Alarcon, who practiced his dramatic craft in Spain. The handsome, wealthy, and noble Don Diego has been courting the lovely widow Dona Carmen for two years. When Dona Carmen's niece Dona Elena comes to Madrid for a visit, Don Diego sets his sights on the new arrival-a bit younger, a bit richer, and a bit more beautiful than her aunt-in an attempt to "trade up." He enlists the aid of a friend to serve as a distraction. Meanwhile, Dona Carmen's cousin, a marquis, also takes an interest in Dona Elena, and his shy chief of staff is smitten with Dona Carmen. The resulting courtship rituals become ever more complex, and three clever and goodhearted servants supply a running commentary. Edward Friedman is Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of Spanish, Professor of Comparative Literature, and director of the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities at Vanderbilt University. His primary field of research is early modern Spanish literature, with emphasis on the picaresque, Cervantes, and the Comedia. His research also covers contemporary narrative and drama. Recent publications include Cervantes in the Middle: Realism and Reality in the Spanish Novel and the plays Into the Mist, Crossing the Line, and The Labyrinth of Love. His book of poetry, Quixotic Haiku: Poems and Notes, was published in 2015. He is a former president of the Cervantes Society of America and served as editor of the Bulletin of the Comediantes from 1999 to 2015."