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Alarcón defends the comedia against criticsm through his definition of illusion as a moral art - a stance evident in his plays.The plays of Ruiz de Alarcón, a significant dramatist in the Spanish Golden Age, show in many of their plots a preoccupation with deception, which Whicker believes reflects Alarcón's fundamental concern about truth-telling in literature. His study of Alarcón's comedias stresses the seriousness and moral orthodoxy of the playwright and his concern with how simulation and dissimulation can be viewed both positively and negatively in theatre as well asin life. In support of his argument for the seriousness of Alarcón's theatre - his challenge to his audience to think hard and clear about his play, particularly over the issue of illusion, deception and dissimulation - Whicker focuses on the moral arguments perceived in Alarcón's theatre, and their reference to serious literary-moral issues current in the Golden Age; he tests the relevance of his argument against contemporary circumstances, the ethics ofprivanza in particular. JULES WHICKER lectures in the department of Hispanic studies, University of Birmingham.