The Aside in the "Comedias" of Alarcon

Even the technical devices of Ruiz de Alarc6n are worthy of study, not because they differ from those employed by his contemporaries, but because of the manner in which they are used. His tendency to be realistic and natural, a respect in which he frequently surpassed other Spanish dramatists of his age, is apparent even in his asides. He recognized the need to communicate directly with his audience, even as did Eugene O'Neill, and he often succeeded just as well; but surely he was irked by the need to resort to this device so often to explain the motives of characters, to repeat statements and ideas, to summarize events, and to foreshadow, a need imposed to a great extent by the inattentive and disturbing mosqueteros of the patio as well as by the mujercillas of the cazuela. Often the poet is obviously aware of the fact that it is very unnatural for a character to speak his mind at length to the audience or aside to another character when he is expected to reply to a question which has just been put to him; and so Alarc6n repeatedly apologizes by making some character conscious that the aside has been spoken, although he never understands it, or by having him complain of the delay in the response. Often, however, Alarc6n employs the device with such technical skill that

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