La “teoría de juegos” y las estrategias matrimoniales en La verdad sospechosa

Abstract

This article studies the goals and the behavior of Jacinta and Lucrecia in La verdad sospechosa to see if they can be considered rational social agents, or if they are instead irrational characters who go against their own interests or those of society in general. The study uses “Game Theory” to view the play as a kind of interactive contest between different agents or players, each one of whom attempts to maximize his benefits by employing a specific strategy, which can be defined as the actions that each one takes in order to achieve this goal. “Game Theory” suggests that Jacinta and Lucrecia can be considered the most successful players in La verdad sospechosa, while García and Don Juan de Sosa seem to be ineffective agents because the women are much more skillful in the battle of the sexes than the men. The explanation for this contrast is that Jacinta and Lucrecia participate in these games with prudent and intelligent strategies —using the faculty of reason to analyze the factors of utility, risk, and uncertainty— while the young men’s behavior is always dominated by their irrational passions.