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This article argues that Ricardo de la Vega, the librettist of Tomás Bretón's celebrated zarzuela La verbena de la paloma, modelled the famous Nocturno scene on Shakespeare's comic episode with Francis the drawer in 1 Henry IV, II.iv. La verbena has been praised for its urban realism, and the Nocturno, which depends on a minimum of action, takes this kind of realism to extreme lengths. Yet for all the scene's impression of being drawn from life, it derives from Ricardo de la Vega's highly perceptive reading and creative imitation of Shakespeare.
