Title: Lope de Vega Rewritten by María de Zayas: «La viuda valenciana», A Comedy Between Two Novels
Abstract: The article discusses the intertextual relationships that connect Lope de Vega’s comedy La viuda valenciana with two novels, one preceding (the novella XXV from the fourth part of Bandello’s Novelle), and the other descendant (the story of Lucrecia inserted in the fourth of the Desengaños amorosos by María de Zayas). The aim is to show, beyond the traditional relationships of dependence, the desire of the writers to establish networks of complicity, with clear and deliberate references, between the rewriting and the homage. If Lope deliberately seeks the evocation of the Italian text in his play, María de Zayas revives Lope’s widow in an intertextual wink that seems intended to honour the admired poet