El médico a palos

To teach him a lesson, Martina—the wife of a lazy, heavy-drinking woodcutter—convinces a nobleman’s envoys that her husband is the only doctor capable of curing his daughter, Lucinda. However, Martina claims he will only admit to being a doctor if he is beaten; thus, the trick to getting him to practice his profession is to give him a sound thrashing. But is Martina’s ruse the only deception in this play?