Release date is 2026-04-15

Editor digital: Joan Queralt Gil

Els idols by Carme Karr is a one-act domestic drama written in the early 20th century. The play centers on marital infidelity and the collapse of idealized male “idols,” contrasting romantic illusions with the pragmatic wisdom women use to preserve family and social respectability.

Joana arrives at her parents’ home in anguish after discovering a perfumed letter from Lulú, a showgirl arranging a tryst with Joana’s husband, Lluís. Furious and ready to confront him and demand a divorce, she even flirts with thoughts of revenge. Her mother, Donya Maria, steadies her, insisting on dignity, the children’s welfare, and the reality of social double standards. To teach her, Donya Maria reveals secret letters proving that Joana’s father once betrayed her too, yet she chose to forgive and maintain peace at home for the sake of the family. Humbled, Joana agrees to take the children away briefly, return soon, and “hold the post” beside her husband, resolved to forgive. Alone, Donya Maria burns the old letters, hides Lulú’s note, and, with a wry, tender irony toward the ever-fallible “idol,” prepares to welcome her husband home. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Originally published: Barcelona: Bartomeu Baxarias - Editor, 1911