15th Century Transformations & Renaissance Literature
15th Century: A New Mentality
The transformations of the 15th century marked the transition from the Middle Ages to the Modern Age. These transformations can be categorized as follows:
Transformations
- Political Transformations: The restoration of royal authority and the emergence of states.
- Economic and Social Transformations: The development of trade and cities brought about the rise of the bourgeoisie. Improved roads extended contact between people and their ideas.
- Cultural Transformations: The creation of universities led to better training of the laity. There was a thirst for knowledge of the classical world of Greece and Rome. Money became an essential value in the value system.
La Celestina by Fernando de Rojas
La Celestina, written by Fernando de Rojas, is a key literary work of this period. The plot can be divided into four parts:
- Calisto’s Infatuation: Calisto falls in love with Melibea.
- Use of the Bawd: Calisto, advised by Sempronio and against Parmeno’s opposition, resorts to an old bawd called Celestina, a matchmaker.
- Enchantment of Melibea: Melibea falls in love with Calisto after being enchanted by a magical potion.
- Tragic Outcome: Melibea refuses to share the profits. Parmeno and Sempronio kill the pimp. Calisto falls off a ladder, and Melibea commits suicide in front of her father.
Society in La Celestina
- Characters from Different Social Classes: The protagonists are not only great lords, but servants also play a large role.
- Passion and Greed: Characters want to enjoy life’s pleasures effortlessly.
La Celestina presents a society in crisis: each group behaves according to its own interests and does not respect fundamental values previously considered above.
La Celestina as a Literary Work
La Celestina is a text written in dialogue. It is a very long work, likely designed for oral reading. The language used reveals the characters’ personalities.
The Renaissance and its Lyric Poetry
The Renaissance was the result of the dissemination of humanist ideas, which determined a new conception of man and the world.
Cultural Renaissance
- Courtly Ideal: The nobleman lived at court, where he held political office, for which he needed a humanistic education. He also devoted time to literature, painting, and music.
- Artists and Patrons: Artists were educated individuals. Maecenas were protectors of the arts and letters.
- Imitation of Antiquity: Culture imitated Greek and Latin models.
Renaissance Poetry
The model for Renaissance lyric poetry was Petrarch, which resulted in a profound renewal in themes and metrical forms.
- Love: Love was considered a contradictory and painful experience. The beauty of the beloved is described through comparisons and metaphors based on elements of nature. The theme of *Carpe diem* was introduced.
- Nature and Mythology: Love scenes were developed in an idyllic natural setting, responding to the *locus amoenus* topos.
Renaissance Formal Innovations
The principal novelty was the use of the hendecasyllable, sometimes combined with the heptasyllable. These lines are used to build the following poetic forms:
- Lira
- Octava Real
- Estancia
- Tercetos encadenados
- Sonnet: 2 quatrains and 2 tercets
- Silva: an unlimited number of hendecasyllabic and heptasyllabic verses
Evolution of Poetry in Spain
In the second half of the 16th century, literature flourished with a religious character.
- Asceticism: Purification of the soul through detachment from earthly pleasures to achieve perfection.
- Mysticism: Union of the soul with God in human life.
Garcilaso de la Vega
Garcilaso de la Vega was a prominent poet of the first half of the 16th century. His most important theme is the complaint for the refusal of love or the death of his beloved. His poetic work is scarce. Garcilaso composed poems in the first person, featuring pastoral or mythological figures.
Ascetic and Mystic Poetry
Poets of the second half of the 16th century reconciled Renaissance poetic forms with religious themes.
- Fray Luis de Leon: Author of religious poems related to the classical world. His work emphasizes the *Beatus Ille* topos.
- San Juan de la Cruz: A Carmelite monk, he explains his mystical experiences using images of human love. Notable works include *Noche Oscura*.