Baroque and Renaissance Literature
The Theatre in the Baroque
During the seventeenth century, theatre, alongside bullfighting, was the most popular form of entertainment across all social classes. Theatrical performance spaces varied, typically adapting to the nature of the work, the category, and the number of actors. Religious dramas, such as morality plays, were performed in public squares. Court dramas, often with mythological themes, took place in palaces or gardens, showcasing special effects. Popular theatre, inspired by traditional literature and customs, was staged on the streets and, most commonly, in corrales de comedias.
Corrales de comedias were open courtyards surrounded by tenements. The stage was positioned at one end, with the mosqueteros (men) standing in front, and the cazuela (women) in a designated area. The windows and balconies of surrounding houses served as boxes for the nobility and officials.
Félix Lope de Vega
Félix Lope de Vega Carpio mastered all literary genres. His poetry, for instance, possesses great beauty and perfection, although his fame rests primarily on his plays. Lope de Vega refined and enhanced successful elements of earlier theatre, such as incorporating songs and the presence of the gracioso (fool). He also introduced innovative formulas to cater to public taste. The result is a lasting legacy known as seventeenth-century Spanish comedy, with the following salient features:
- A blend of tragedy and comedy, mirroring real life.
- Multiple, often parallel, plotlines, one featuring the nobility and another the servants.
- Varied settings in time and space, ranging from days to years.
- Three-act structure, aiming for an unexpected ending.
- Verse form.
- Characters from two social levels: nobles and commoners. The nobleman embodies the abuse of power, contrasted with the virtuous nobleman and the villain. The respectful and honest lady is juxtaposed with the lover, whose counterpart is the gracioso. Above all stands the figure of the king.
Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Pedro Calderón de la Barca built upon Lope de Vega’s foundation. His polished works define human character and delve deeper into the themes Lope had outlined. His notable plays include Life is a Dream and the allegorical The Great Theatre of the World. His work incorporates both culterano and conceptista elements, catering to the cultured and refined audience of Philip IV’s court.
Renaissance Novel
During the sixteenth century, the novel flourished, giving rise to several subgenres (pastoral, Byzantine, Moorish, and picaresque). Most of these subgenres catered to the desire for escapism from everyday reality.
Renaissance Theatre
The first half of the sixteenth century saw authors like Torres Naharro, Gil Vicente, and Juan del Encina, considered the creator of the gracioso, a character whose witty remarks outline key traits and represent one of the most human and characteristic types of Baroque theatre.
By the second half of the century, some theatre companies became established, performing their repertoire in fixed venues called corrales. Lope de Rueda, an actor and playwright, emerged, known for his pasos, short, humorous pieces reflecting the customs of the time.
Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) is considered the most representative figure of Castilian literature. His life spanned two historical periods, the Renaissance and the Baroque, whose characteristics are reflected in his works. In his youth, he embraced Renaissance humanist ideals and experienced the optimism and expansion of Spain under the first Habsburg monarch. In his maturity, he witnessed the growing crisis affecting the country, marked by a wave of disappointment and pessimism that permeated Baroque art and literature (17th century).
Cervantes’s work is diverse, encompassing all literary genres, but his most notable creations are in narrative and theatre.
Don Quixote de La Mancha
Don Quixote de La Mancha is Cervantes’s principal novel and one of the greatest works of literature. It narrates the adventures of Alonso Quijano, a nobleman over fifty whose routine life leads him to lose his mind and emulate the heroes of chivalric romances. Cervantes aimed to expose the harmful effects of reading such books. However, while the predominant tone mocks and parodies bad chivalric romances, the contrast between the protagonist’s aspirations for glory and justice prompts reflection on the challenges of realizing human ideals.
Argument Structure of Don Quixote de La Mancha
Don Quixote de La Mancha is divided into two parts, its plot driven by the protagonist’s continuous movement. In the first part, published in 1605, Don Quixote leaves home twice in search of adventure. The first time, he travels alone and is mockingly knighted at an inn. In the second outing, he is accompanied by Sancho Panza, whom he persuades to be his squire with promises of riches. They experience adventures such as the windmills and the galley slaves.
The second part, published in 1615, recounts Don Quixote and Sancho’s third journey. They reach Barcelona, where Samson Carrasco, a neighbor disguised as the Knight of the White Moon, defeats Don Quixote, forcing him to return home, where he dies after regaining his sanity.