This thesis is a study of Benito Jeronimo Feijoo y Montenegro's Teatro Critico Universal and includes a look at the major, minor, lesser, and miscellaneous French references in this work.

The type of alienation discussed in this thesis is not related to the famous Verfrenidungseffekt attempted by Brecht, where the audiences are prevented from identifying with the characters of the drama in the hope that the public will reflect on the ideas presented more rationally and objectively. "Alienation" in this thesis is a psychological force which acts divisively between the characters in the drama and thus contributes to the development of a tragic situation.

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.