Cara de Plata. Tres donjuanes en el telar de Valle-Inclán*

Cara de Plata, the third of the drama series of Comedias Barbaras, turned out to be an anomaly in the creative production of Valle-Inclan, since in the period when the author was creating the esperpento, he seemed to go back to aesthetics and models that had already been superseded years before. At least this is what the critical interpretation of that time and, to a certain extent, later research has suggested. However, the key that could explain this interrup- tion in the author's aesthetic evolution might be found in his need to provide literary embodi- ment for his revised theory on Don Juanism, which in the 20s was one of his obsessions. Ac- cording to the hypothesis introduced in this work, Valle-Inclan wanted his drama to stand for his thought and, therefore, the main characters of Cara de Plata embody his three traditional models of Don Juan.