This study proposes to establish an intrinsic relationship between Valle-Inclán and Muñiz based on the theme of dehumanization in their theater. It examines (1) the stylistic techniques which each playwright uses to depersonalize his characters, (2) the manner in which these characters dehumanize each other, (3) the role of society as the agent of dehumanization, and finally, due to each author's preoccupation with one social convention in particular (4) the devastating effects on men of the vestiges of an outmoded code of honor. The principal works used for the study are Valle-Inclán's Martes de carnaval, Luces de Bohemia, and Divinas palabras, and El tintero, Un solo de saxofón, Las viejas difíciles, and El grillo by Carlos Muñiz. Such an analysis proposes to reveal a profound literary affinity between these two writers, a bond which unites Valle-Inclán and Muñiz in a common protest against the dehumanization of mankind.

The purpose of this investigation is to determine the extent and nature of criticism in the plays of Jacinto Benavente. Source material included the writings of such prominent critics of Spanish literature as Walter Starkie, Federico de Onis, Richard Chandler, Kessel Schwartz, Emiliano Diez-Echarri, Jose Franquesa, Federico Sainz de Robles, and Valbuena Prat. Twenty plays which best exemplify Benavente's criticism of society were selected from the dramatist's 172.