Autoridad, poder y razón de Estado en el teatro de Antonio Enríquez Gómez

Comedies of political content written by Antonio Enríquez Gómez reflect, through the analysis of its four recurring themes —the dichotomy between law and power, the reason of state, the law enforcement from a political point of view and forgiveness—, the outlines of the nascent Leviathan or modern state. Although the patriarchal relationship between the Monarch and his people is based on a iusnaturalist conception, love should be subject to the effectiveness in the exercise of power. The characters in this theatre sometimes hesitate between Aristotelian-Thomistic rationalism and Machiavellian-Hobbesian reason of state and, on other occasions, they oppose the people’s strength, risk and will to the divine reason of Law. In the context of the Hispanic Monarchy crisis, Enríquez Gómez’s critics are not limited to Government representatives and civil servants, but also include the Church and common people (Third State)