Fuenteovejuna

One of the central themes of Fuenteovejuna is that of class struggle, and, in fact, the play was frequently adapted by communist powers during the 20th century in order to display the message of the power of the common people over the aristocracy.

There is a wide gulf between those in power in the play and those who do not have power; namely, the poor farmers and peasants of Fuenteovejuna. The Commander holes up in the town because he has wealth and power due to his position, and these allow him to easily control the people. Additionally, he demands tithes of them—in other words, he abuses his power and position to take even more from the townspeople from the little that they have. Individually, the people are unable to fight back; however, as a collective, they are able to rise up against the Commander and take their town back. Further, it is only by abandoning their individual identities and adopting the identity of the collective that they are able to escape punishment for the murder of the Commander. This reading is complicated, though, by the fact that they ultimately ask Ferdinand and Isabella to rule them instead of the Commander; they are able to overcome the Commander, but they are perhaps unwilling to overcome class hierarchy.