In this book chapter, Dr. Davis examines the depiction of a dissimulated desire for material improvement (mejora) as it is expressed in the epic poetry of imperial Spain, particularly in Alonso de Ercilla’s La Araucana. She shows that within the aristocratic context of the times, the desire for personal betterment or “mejora” is always contingent upon the need to demonstrate one’s accomplishments as a king’s man who has served the imperial monarchy in arduous battles and difficulties, sometimes in an effort to conquer distant lands. Davis argues that the contrast between these two demands gives rise to an important tension that is perceptible in the text and that leads to an exhaustion the reader senses in the narrative voice toward the end of the long epic poem.