through the window. However, Diego finds it, having already witnessed the entire episode. He sends Simón to get Carlos while he finally talks to Francisca about the marriage. Francisca, heartbroken, says that she'll do as her mother orders, even though she will be unhappy. When Carlos arrives, Diego deliberately provokes him to see how much he cares for Francisca. Carlos proves that theirs is not an illicit love, but rather they have spent 90 days just talking to one another and have thus fallen in love. However, Carlos offers to abandon Francisca if that is what his uncle would command. Diego realizes that he has been as commandeering to Carlos as Irene has been to Francisca, for which Diego has already criticized her. Finally, Diego decides that it would be better for Francisca to have free choice of what she wants to do, and she decides to marry Carlos. Interpretation Social criticism Diego's behavior is an example of poder ilustrado, ("enlightened power"), a kind of powerful man who factors reason and logic into his decision-making process. All of the characters demonstrate a high sense of decorum, as befits a neoclassical work. On many occasions a character seems about to get angry but always calms him/herself down so as not to be ruled by chaotic emotions. The play is occasionally criticized as being somewhat misogynistic in that the women of the story sometimes trick the male characters, and are examples of old regime, non-enlightened characters. However, the male characters trick others also, such as when Calamocha and Simón are attempting to conceal their own purposes for having come to Alcalá, or when Diego pretends that he doesn't know about the relationship between Francisca and Carlos in order to find out how she really feels. By contemporary standards, this would never be considered a feminist work. However, Moratín was commenting on the social institutions of his own day in Spain, compared to which his ideas are positively enlightened. Commonly, a girl's parents would either find a husband for her or make her become a nun. Females were taught to obey and always be silent, which is exactly what Francisca does. Moratín criticizes this through Diego, who becomes frustrated by the elliptical conversations he has to have with Francisca because she cannot say what she truly feels. Also, by having the happy ending be that Francisca gets to choose her husband, Moratín advocates