Mariano Benavente, the father of the author, was a physician and specialist in children's diseases, who came originally from Murcia. His influence upon his son is perhaps noticeable in the respect shown by the latter for the medical profession and in his fondness for children.[1]

Devotion to the Stage.—In an interview published in the Madrid periodical La Esfera (in 1916) Benavente tells us that his affection for the theater was awakened at a very early age. He says that as a boy he took delight in fashioning little theatrical pieces in which he could act, and that his enthusiasm was aroused by the presentation rather than by the composition of such pieces. Even recently[2] he declared that he would rather have been a great actor than a writer of plays. In fact, he has been known to appear on the stage with the actress María Tubau and in some of his own productions, one of which was Sin querer.

Benavente is a peculiarly natural product of the stage. No one could give himself more whole-heartedly to his profession than he has done. He is interested in all theatrical matters: in the writing and presentation of plays, in actors, in the Madrid public which he praises and censures in turn, in the history and criticism of the drama, in aesthetic principles, in the relation between good art and financial success; in short, no detail escapes his notice. He likes to work with his audiences, to please and to amuse them, yet he does not lose sight of the serious mission of the drama. No outside interests have ever taken him for any considerable time from his true vocation. He is an excellent and well-rounded, but at the same time a delightfully spontaneous product of Spanish dramatic art.

Minor Works.—We are informed in the interview already mentioned that Benavente was forced to write several plays before he composed one that was accepted. In characteristically ironical style he asserts that it was not hard for him to gain a hearing, because his father was the physician of the theatrical manager to whom he made application. His earliest models, according to his own statement, were Shakespeare and Echegaray. Veneration for the great English dramatist is apparent in Benavente's entire career. The influence is perhaps most directly seen in the Teatro fantástico, the first in date of his published writings (1892). Short sketches and prose dialogues are contained in two other early volumes, Figulinas and Vilanos. A fourth book containing youthful writings and entitled Cartas de mujeres is a series of letters meant to illustrate the thoughts and the epistolary style of women. These letters have been much praised in Spain for their literary workmanship and for their insight into the feminine heart, a faculty which has always been considered one of the clearest manifestations of Benavente's genius.[3]

Other productions distinct from the central body of Benavente's dramatic works (the Teatro) are De sobremesa and the Teatro del pueblo. The former, a collection in five volumes of weekly articles composed for Los lunes of El Imparcial (1908-1912), is the principal source for its author's views on dramatic criticism and on worldly affairs in general. The Teatro del pueblo is a series of papers on subjects connected with the stage. Both these productions will be discussed after a review of the plays.

List of Plays.—The following titles are encountered, in the order here followed, in the twenty-two volumes of the Teatro. The date of the estreno (first performance) and a brief description are given with each title.[4]

1894October 6th. El nido ajeno (comedy, three acts).
1896October 21st. Gente conocida (scenes of modern life, four acts).
1897February 13th. El marido de la Téllez (comedy sketch, one act).
February 27th. De alivio (monologue).
October 31st. Don Juan (translated from Molière).
November 30th. La farándula (comedy, two acts).
1898November 7th. La comida de las fieras (comedy, three acts).
December 28th, Teatro feminista (farce comedy with music, one act).
1899March 11th. Cuento de amor (from Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night").
May 4th. Operación quirúrgica (comedy, one act).
December 7th. Despedida cruel (comedy, one act).
1900March 31st. La gata de Angora (comedy, four acts).
April 6th. Viaje de instrucción (zarzuela).
July 15th. Por la herida (drama, one act).
1901January 18th. Modas (sketch, one act).
January 19th. Lo cursi (comedy, three acts).
March 3rd. Sin querer (comedy sketch, one act).
July 19th. Sacrificios (drama, three acts).
October 8th. La gobernadora (comedy, three acts).
November 12th. El primo Román (comedy, three acts).
1902February 24th. Amor de amar (comedy, two acts).
March 17th. ¡Libertad! (translated from the Catalan of Rusiñol).
April 18th. El tren de los maridos (farce comedy, two acts).
December 2nd. Alma triunfante (drama, three acts).
December 19th. El automóvil (comedy, two acts).
1903March 17th. La noche del sábado (stage romance, five divisions).
No date. Los favoritos (adapted from episode in Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing").
March 23rd. El hombrecito (comedy, three acts).
October 29th. Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle (translated from Dumas Pére).
October 26th. Por qué se ama (comedy, one act).
November 20th. Al natural (comedy, two acts).
December 9th. La casa de la dicha (drama, one act).
March 16th. El dragón de fuego (drama, three acts).
1904March 15th. Richelieu (translated from Bulwer-Lytton).
No date. La princesa Bebé (scenes of modern life, four acts).
March 3rd. No fumadores (farce, one act).
1905April 13th. Rosas de otoño (comedy, three acts).
No date. Buena boda (based on Augier).
July 18th. El susto de la condesa (dialogue).
July 22nd. Cuento inmoral (monologue).
December 23rd. La sobresalienta (farce with music).
December 1st. Los malhechores del bien (comedy, two acts).
December 24th. Las cigarras hormigas (farce comedy, three acts).
1906February 22nd. Más fuerte que el amor (drama, four acts).
No date. Manón Lescaut (adapted from the Abbé Prévost).
1907February 8th. Los buhos (comedy, three acts).
February 21st. Abuela y nieta (dialogue).
No date. La princesa sin corazón (fairy-tale).
January 10th. El amor asusta (comedy, one act).
March 16th. La copa encantada (adapted from Ariosto, one act zarzuela).
November 7th. Los ojos de los muertos (drama, three acts).
No date. La historia de Otelo (comedy, one act).
No date. La sonrisa de Gioconda (comedy sketch, one act).
No date. El último minué (comedy sketch, one act).
September 21st. Todos somos unos (farce with music).
December 9th. Los intereses creados (comedy of masks).
1908February 22nd. Señora ama (comedy, three acts).
October 19th. El marido de su viuda (comedy, one act).
November 10th. La fuerza bruta (comedy, one act).
March 14th. De pequeñas causas... (comedy sketch, one act).
December 23rd. Hacia la verdad (scenes of modern life, three divisions).
1909January 20th. Por las nubes (comedy, two acts).
April 10th. De cerca (comedy, one act).
No date. ¡A ver qué hace un hombre! (dramatic sketch, one act).
October 14th. La escuela de las princesas (comedy, three acts).
December 1st. La señorita se aburre (based on Tennyson, one act).
December 20th. El príncipe que todo lo aprendió en los libros (fairy-tale, two acts).
December 20th. Ganarse la vida (fairy-tale, one act).
1910January 27th. El nietecito (from Grimm's Fairy Tales, one act).
1911November 9th. La losa de los sueños (comedy, two acts).
1913December 12th. La malquerida (drama, three acts).
1914March 25th. El destino manda (from Hervieu).
1915March 4th. El collar de estrellas (comedy, four acts).
No date. La verdad (dialogue).
December 22nd. La propia estimación (comedy, two acts).
1916February 14th. Campo de armiño (comedy, three acts).
May 4th. La ciudad alegre y confiada (second part of Los intereses creados).[5]

It will be observed that the Teatro includes nearly all varieties of dramatic output: one, two, three, and four act plays, monologues, dialogues, translations, adaptations, zarzuelas, farces, fairy-dramas, comedies, and tragedies.

First Period.—Between 1894 and 1901 Benavente produced eighteen plays on the Madrid stage. They represent, in a general way, the first phase of his dramatic career. The element that characterizes them most conspicuously is satire. Benavente holds up to scorn Spanish aristocratic society of the present day. He introduces to his audiences a succession of types whose failings and foibles are displayed with merciless precision. The author himself is concealed behind the array of personages whom he presents to the public.

Occasionally the reader will encounter a noble character isolated in the midst of selfish, amusement-seeking men, frivolous women, scheming parents and thoughtless sybarites. Such types, however, are comparatively rare; their function is to bring into stronger relief the general worthlessness of other characters. A woman is usually chosen to play the part of strength and virtue. This is by no means accidental. Study of Benavente reveals him as a defender of women; not at all their blind worshiper, it is true, but distinctly a sympathizer with their trials and problems.