Occasionally the reader will encounter a noble character isolated in the midst of selfish, amusement-seeking men, frivolous women, scheming parents and thoughtless sybarites. Such types, however, are comparatively rare; their function is to bring into stronger relief the general worthlessness of other characters. A woman is usually chosen to play the part of strength and virtue. This is by no means accidental. Study of Benavente reveals him as a defender of women; not at all their blind worshiper, it is true, but distinctly a sympathizer with their trials and problems. It is to be noted that no character in any of these early plays is represented as utterly bad. That would be contrary to the author's conception of human nature. Benavente insists that no man or woman can be regarded as entirely perverse or entirely admirable. Although his attitude is nearly always objective, and his general method satirical or ironical, he evinces upon occasion the ability to sympathize with the very weaknesses of the persons whom he ridicules. If we will try to forget for a moment that Benavente is making fun of an idle aristocracy vainly seeking relief from boredom, we shall understand that we are brought face to face with individuals drawn from real life, whose principal attributes are a discouraging mediocrity and inability to rise above a certain level. =Originality.=--Benavente has been accused of plagiarism in his early plays. The charge has been brought, particularly with reference to _Gente conocida_, that he borrowed the character of the strong woman from Ibsen. His reply to this censure argues that there was no conscious imitation. He declares that Henri Lavedan served as a model as much as any writer can be said to have done so. That is to say, Benavente wished to unfold a picture of life as it is, in a series of photographic scenes.[i.6] Such a species of play has always been preferred by him. In days of more mature power, when he was writing with a more obvious purpose, he lamented that he was no longer doing what was pleasing to him, but was catering to the desires of others. It may be gathered from what has just been said that there is not a strong element of plot in these plays of Spanish society. The object is rather delineation of character. Among the longer plays _Gente conocida_, _La comida de las fieras_ and _Lo cursi_ have perhaps received the greatest attention. _Lo cursi_ is an excellent example of a skilfully constructed society comedy. Some of the shorter pieces, such as _Operación quirúrgica_, _Despedida cruel_, and _Por la herida_ are very effective. A glance at the list of plays shows that _Don Juan_, _La farándula_, _Cuento de amor_, and _Viaje de instrucción_ are unconnected in subject matter with the characteristic type just discussed.