The Spanish Love Deception

A comedy of manners traditionally refers to plays that ridicule the hypocrisy and pompousness of royalty. More broadly, this term can be used to describe literature that ridicules the social circumstances of certain characters. Though not all romances are romantic comedies, Armas’s novel includes humorous elements that would make it a comedy of manners.

Armas situates the otherwise dignified Lina in compromising situations that provoke laughter. One of the best examples of this is Aaron coming to Lina’s aid on a rainy evening, as she struggles to walk on the slippery sidewalk. Another occasion occurs the next evening, when Aaron shows up at Lina’s apartment to take her to a formal event—only to find her wrapped in a fuzzy, pink robe.

Lina also has a habit of making a fool of herself when trying to talk her way out of situations. One example of this is when Aaron takes Lina to a charity auction and introduces her to TJ, his old teammate. TJ casually asks if Aaron brought her to the auction, and she launches into a lengthy diatribe, leaving the men speechless. She rambles for minutes, when all she had to say was “yes.” At times, the novel abandons humor in order to discuss heavier topics. However, the inclusion of unintentional humor is also abundant.

A native Spanish speaker, Armas inserts Spanish words and phrases throughout her novel. On some occasions, she immediately restates Spanish words and phrases in English, so English-readers can grasp Lina and other characters’ thoughts. In the first and final sections of the novel, which take place in New York, Spanish is primarily confined to situational exclamations, such as “Dios mío” (“my god”). The exception is when Lina uses expletives, leaving the reader to research their meanings on their own. In the middle section of the novel, which takes place in Spain, there are longer conversations with sentences in Spanish. Typically, Armas either translates these sentences into English or comments on them so as to provide context without exact translations.

This frequent use of Spanish enhances the realism of the characters’ dialogue and thus, the characters themselves. Armas wants the reader to understand that Lina, who has only lived in the U.S. for a handful of years, has acquired complete proficiency in English to the point where she can communicate colloquially and professionally in her second language.