We would like to thank everyone who participated in and made the conference out of which this volume arose, Metamorphosis and Transformation in the Life and Work of Lope de Vega in the summer of 2006, such an enjoyable and successful experience. Any introduction to the life and work of a figure as mercurial and prolific across all major literary genres as Lope must confront the problem of combining coverage with depth. This volume reflects our own vision of the Fénix and its origins in a consideration of change. We hope, nevertheless, that it will be useful to undergraduate students and their teachers as a sourcebook as well as inspiring well-travelled lopistas to look again at particular themes and approaches or ponder other important questions.

Some of the contributions focus on providing a synthesis of what has been written on a particular text or area, introducing for an undergraduate audience the state of the field, whilst at the same time indicating where more detailed and indepth considerations of these issues are to be found. Other contributors offer fresh insights or enriching perspectives on well-known material, whilst others again have taken this opportunity to bring centre stage less well-known and perhaps unjustly neglected aspects of his output. What is clear is that in the face of the myriad of possible texts and approaches to Lope, we hope this volume showcases at least some of the exciting new developments in Lope de Vega studies today and reflects the freshness and energy pervading the field.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Charles Davis for his extraordinarily careful readings and numerous suggestions for improvements, this volume's successes would not have been possible without him. Finally, it remains to thank Merton College, Oxford for providing a grant to help with the final stages of editing the volume and Ellie Ferguson, of Boydell and Brewer, for her assistance throughout.