17th-Century Spanish Literature: Cervantes, Lope de Vega, and More
17th-Century Spanish Literature
A Change in Social Function
During the 17th century, Spanish literature underwent a significant shift in its social function, becoming an art form aimed at a broader audience.
- Its primary goal was no longer to moralize or teach but to entertain and please the public.
- A vibrant literary world emerged, marked by rivalry between authors and lively polemics.
Stylistic Transformations
Sobriety and balance gave way to stylistic exuberance and complexity.
- Writers sought innovation, captivated audiences, and surprised readers.
- Genres and styles were renewed, including comedy, the novel, and the intricate culterano and conceptista styles.
- Lyrical themes from the Renaissance were reused and taken to extremes, either towards realism or a radical quest for beauty.
- Literature became full of dramatic contrasts, characterized by a continuous opposition of contraries.
- Writers employed a complicated and unnatural language, rich in literary figures, and eschewing simplicity.
- A taste for ornamentation and wordplay emerged, giving rise to new concepts and literary realities.
Miguel de Cervantes: Plays and Poetry
Cervantes explored all literary genres, but his plays and poetry were often overshadowed by his narrative works.
A Miserable Life
Miguel de Cervantes was born in Alcalá de Henares and received a Renaissance education. He traveled to Italy in the entourage of Cardinal Acquaviva. In 1570, he became a soldier and participated in the Battle of Lepanto, where he was wounded and later captured by Turkish pirates. He spent five years in captivity in Algiers before returning to Spain. Despite his service, he faced hardship and was even imprisoned twice. He died on April 23, 1616, in Madrid, burdened by economic difficulties.
The Theater
Cervantes’s theatrical works can be categorized into the following trends:
- Classical theater modeled after Greek traditions.
- Comedies, including “The Great Sultana.”
- Interludes, where Cervantes followed the style of Lope de Rueda with a strong satirical bent.
The Poetry
Cervantes considered poetry his true vocation, but not his greatest strength, as he himself acknowledged.
- He primarily wrote in Italian meters and was influenced by Garcilaso de la Vega and pastoral lyricism.
- He later dedicated himself to traditional poetry, including many romances interpolated in Don Quixote.
- His longer poems include “The Song of Calliope.”
Miguel de Cervantes: Narrative
Cervantes is considered a foundational figure in modern fiction. In addition to Don Quixote, he wrote La Galatea, Exemplary Novels, and Persiles and Sigismunda.
The Pastoral World of Cervantes: La Galatea
La Galatea is a pastoral novel that generally adheres to the conventions of the Renaissance genre:
- Noble characters disguised as shepherds who fall in love.
- Written in prose interspersed with verse poems.
Cervantes’s narrative reveals a tension between the idealized pastoral world and the harsh reality of the late 16th-century crisis. This tension becomes even more evident in Don Quixote.
In “The Dialogue of the Dogs,” one of Cervantes’s Exemplary Novels, Berganza, one of the talking dogs, compares the real-life shepherds he knows with the shepherds depicted in pastoral novels and is disappointed by the discrepancy.
The Short Novel: Exemplary Novels
In 1613, Cervantes published a collection of short stories under the title Exemplary Novels. These stories, following the model of medieval tales with a didactic purpose, represent a new genre.
- Cervantes aimed to propose a model of behavior in each novel.
- He created this model by drawing on literary tales, fables, and the Italian novella tradition.
Cervantes was aware that he was creating a new genre. Some of the best-known examples include “The Illustrious Kitchen Maid” and “The Gypsy.”
The Byzantine Novel: Persiles
Persiles and Sigismunda, Cervantes’s last novel, follows the model of the Byzantine romance, a genre that influenced all of his narrative work. This genre was characterized by:
- A chain of adventures experienced by the main characters.
- Creative freedom and a taste for fiction that would later influence the contemporary novel.
Persiles recounts the numerous calamities that the protagonists must overcome before finally meeting and marrying in Rome.
Miguel de Cervantes: Don Quixote
Cervantes’s greatest contribution to literature is Don Quixote, with which he is credited with creating the modern novel.
Publication Details
The first part was published in Madrid in 1605 and was extremely well-received by the public.
While Cervantes was writing the second part, a spurious sequel titled Second Volume of the Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote de la Mancha appeared, written by someone using the pseudonym Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda.
Cervantes, deeply hurt, hurried to finish his own second part, which was published in 1615. He ensured that no one could ever again exploit Don Quixote without his permission by having the character die at the end of the work.
Structure, Space, and Time
The structure of Don Quixote is typically analyzed according to the protagonist’s journeys or “sallies”: the first part covers the first sally (Chapters 1-6), the second sally (Chapters 7-52), and the third sally encompasses the entire second part. The main structure is interrupted by smaller subplots that function as miniature narratives.
Space and time have a realistic basis, interwoven with fictional elements:
- Known locations are imaginatively recreated, or the names of places are omitted.
- The events occur during the author’s time, but there are contradictions between the dates provided and those offered by the author himself in the prologues and within the novel’s timeline.
Style
Don Quixote achieves a stylistic balance by employing simple language and themes that are often rooted in the Renaissance. However, it also introduces elements of irony and parody.
Themes
Don Quixote is a treatise on the virtues and miseries of human beings: idealism, cruelty towards the weak, justice, the right to freedom, and more. Among the key themes are:
- A critique of books of chivalry and literature in general.
- A depiction of the difficult situation in Spain, which was experiencing economic and moral decline.
- The identification of madness with truth and freedom. At first glance, Don Quixote appears mad, but deep down, he embodies a certain sanity.
- A vision of the world that blurs the lines between reality and fiction.
Characters
The main characters are Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Initially, they represent opposing figures:
- Don Quixote lives in an imaginary world where the highest values are idealism, doing good, and love for his lady Dulcinea.
- Sancho is Don Quixote’s counterpoint: realistic, fearful, and grounded in popular wisdom.
The novel features a vast array of secondary characters.
The Lyric of the 17th Century
The transition from Renaissance to Baroque lyricism was an evolution rather than a sudden break. Baroque poets reflected the contradiction between the luminous, classical ideal of the Renaissance and the pessimistic, disillusioned reality of the Baroque period.
Themes
Baroque lyricism inherited themes from the Renaissance but introduced changes due to a shift in worldview:
- Love remained the preferred theme, but it was often intertwined with reflections on the transience of life, death, and the rapid passage of time. This is reflected in poems about the short lifespan of flowers, mythical figures, and ancient ruins.
- Mythological themes persisted, but poets often chose tragic stories featuring antiheroes, such as the giant Polyphemus in “Polyphemus and Galatea.”
- The decline and crisis affecting Spain were reflected in poems, often satirical in nature.
- Poems about literary controversies among authors became more common.
Stanzas and Verses
Baroque poets used the cultivated forms of the Renaissance and also revived popular forms:
- They employed the hendecasyllable (11-syllable line) in stanzas like the lira, the silva, and the sonnet.
- The romance and the letrilla, popular verse forms, were widely used for satirical or festive themes.
Styles
Two contrasting approaches to literature and poetry emerged: culteranismo and conceptismo:
- Culteranismo involved an extreme complication of language, an overuse of literary figures, obscure vocabulary, and unusual syntax. Luis de Góngora was a leading figure in this style.
- Conceptismo focused on an extreme complication of content, employing ingenious and elaborate associations between concepts and words. Lope de Vega and Francisco de Quevedo were prominent figures in this style.
Culteranismo: Luis de Góngora
Luis de Góngora is the most representative figure of culteranismo, and the movement is sometimes referred to as “Gongorism.” He took Baroque aesthetic procedures to an extreme.
Life
Born and died in Córdoba, Góngora established himself at the royal court and served as chaplain to Philip III. His life was marked by a passion for literature.
Work
Góngora’s work has two facets: a clear and accessible style in his early poetry and a darker, more complex style in his later work. Both styles are often interwoven in his compositions.
- During his lifetime, Góngora was known for his letrillas and romances, which often had a satirical and burlesque tone.
- He is considered one of the masters of the sonnet, using it to express a wide range of subjects.
His longer poems, such as the Soledades and the Polifemo, are characterized by elaborate descriptions of nature and mythology.
Conceptismo: Francisco de Quevedo
Francisco de Quevedo was a voracious reader and a man of vast culture, fluent in several languages. However, his erudition did not shield him from the harsh realities of his time.
Life
Born in Madrid, Quevedo spent much of his life at the royal court. He endured four years in prison and died in Villanueva de los Infantes.
Work
Quevedo’s poetry is remarkably diverse in both themes and tone, often blending contrasting elements.
- His love poetry is among the most passionate in Spanish literature, with “Love Constant Beyond Death” being a notable example.
- In his satirical and burlesque poetry, he achieves an unparalleled expressive force. No subject was safe from his sharp wit and criticism.
- His religious poetry exudes pessimism and frustration.
- He explored a wide range of topics in his romances.
Lope de Vega
Life
Born in Madrid, Lope de Vega was a central figure in the literary life of his time. His tumultuous love life often brought him into conflict with the law. His piety led him to become a priest. He enjoyed the patronage of influential figures like the Duke of Alba and the Duke of Sessa. He died in Madrid in 1635.
Poetic Work
Rimas Humanas y Divinas del Licenciado Tomé de Burguillos (Human and Divine Rhymes of Tomé de Burguillos) is a compilation that includes Lope’s poetic works in various forms. He addressed themes of love, mythology, religion, and art.
Among the collected texts, the sonnets stand out. Most of them deal with the subject of love and can be seen as a “sentimental biography” of the author.
These sonnets, belonging to the Petrarchan tradition, are remarkable for their technical quality.
Narrative Work
Lope’s narrative works include the pastoral novel La Arcadia and the Byzantine-style novel El Peregrino en su Patria (The Pilgrim in his Homeland).
- When Lope wrote La Arcadia, he drew on numerous models. Its pages reflect court life in Alba de Tormes.
- El Peregrino en su Patria is an adventure novel filled with incidents. It achieved great success and was later translated into English.
The New Comedy
Lope de Vega is the author of several religious plays (autos sacramentales), but his secular plays are the most representative of his dramatic work.
This new genre of comedy emerged from the fusion of the Italian commedia dell’arte and the theater of the Spanish Renaissance. Lope added his own sensibility to capture the public’s taste. Some of his most representative plays include:
- Religious: El mejor alcalde, el rey (The Best Mayor, the King)
- Historical: Fuenteovejuna; Peribáñez y el comendador de Ocaña (Peribáñez and the Commander of Ocaña)
- Comedies of manners: La dama boba (The Foolish Lady); El perro del hortelano (The Dog in the Manger); El acero de Madrid (The Steel of Madrid)
Features
Lope de Vega’s plays are characterized by the following traits:
- A mixture of tragedy and comedy.
- A rejection of the three unities (time, place, and action).
- The use of different meters and stanzas.
- The creation of intrigue and suspense to engage the audience.
With this combination of elements, Lope aimed to entertain the diverse audiences that attended theatrical performances.
Characters
The characters are a distinctive feature of Lope’s new comedy. They are often stereotypical figures, lacking complex psychological profiles, and they reappear in different works. Some of the most prominent character types include:
- The King: the ultimate representative of justice and honor.
- The Gallant: handsome, brave, idealistic, generous, and of noble lineage. Honor, love, and jealousy drive his actions.
- The Lady: beautiful, witty, and noble. She is typically in love with the Gallant.
- The Gracioso (or Graciosa): a witty servant, faithful to the Gallant, who represents contrasting values and attitudes: common sense, realism, practicality, and a love of money. Humor is their defining characteristic.
- The Villain: often a powerful nobleman who is arrogant, unjust, and driven by selfish interests. He disrupts the relationship between the king and his subjects.
- The Villagers: simple, decent people who live happily and work the land.