Agustín Moreto y Cavana

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Agustín Moreto y Cavana (April, 1618 - October 28, 1661), was a Spanish dramatist and playwright.

His exact date of birth is unknown, but he was baptized at Madrid on April 9 1618. He graduated at Alcalá in December 1639, and lived in Madrid till 1654, when he moved to Toledo, took orders, and became chaplain to the primate Baltasar de Moscoso y Sandoval. He died at Toledo, while engaged on Santa Rosa, a play which was completed by Pedro Francisco Lanini. The first volume of his dramas was published in 1654; the second and third volumes appeared in 1676.

The most celebrated of his pieces is El Desdén con el Desdén, imitated by Molière in La Princesse d'Elide, by Carlo Gozzi in La principessa filosofa, and by Schreyvogel in Donna Diana. It is characteristic that four episodes in El Desdén con el Desdén are taken from four separate plays of Lope de Vega's (La vengadora de las mujeres, Los milagros del desprecio, De corsario a corsario, and La Hermosa fea).

Moreto borrowed from Castro, Tirso de Molina and others to a considerable extent, but his adaptation shows great dexterity and charm.

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• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.