"Drawing on contemporary Spanish political philosophy, this study shows that, far from glorifying monarchy and advocating absolutism (the orthodox view in the Hispanic world), Lope's political plays constitute an informed critique of kingship; it challenges the received wisdom that the comedia was an instrument of state and that its playwrights were the conscious propagandists of an aristocratic elite." "With the help of insights and models provided by speech act theory, the stratagems and techniques utilised by Lope to negotiate the path of prudence between the acceptable and the unacceptable in political commentary in the commercial theatre are scrutinised, illustrating how richly-nuanced texts produce not an ideologically monolithic and complacent drama but one which is at once politically anxious and probing."--Jacket.