point of honour

…the “point of honour” (pundonor) that Vega commended as the best theme of all “since there are none but are strongly moved thereby.” This “point of honour” was a matter largely of convention, “honour” being equivalent, in a very limited and brittle sense, to social reputation; men were expected…

…considered best of all: the pundonor (“point of honour”), grounded in a gender code that made women the repository of family honour, which could be tarnished or lost by the woman’s slightest indiscretion. Lope’s drama was concerned less with character than with action and intrigue, seldom approaching the essence of…