Baroque Literature: Poetry, Theater, and Prose in Spain
Baroque Poetry in Spain
Baroque poetry is characterized by its ornate style and artifice. Metrically, it often features sonnets, ballads, and songs in traditional styles. Key themes in Baroque poetry include:
- Love: Often portrayed with intensity and drama.
- Religion: Frequently explores disappointment with worldly pleasures.
- Metaphysical and Moral Themes: Focuses on death and the passage of time.
- Satire: Uses humor and ridicule.
Key Figures in Baroque Poetry
Francisco de Quevedo
Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645) was a prominent Spanish intellectual of the 17th century. He lived most of his life at Court, though his later years were spent in prison. He died in Ciudad Real. Quevedo’s works include El Buscón (a picaresque novel) and various didactic prose books. His writing often employs the conceptismo style. His poetry encompasses three contrasting planes: love poetry, moral poetry, and satirical poetry.
Luis de Góngora
Luis de Góngora (1561-1627) was born in Córdoba. He studied in Salamanca and later became a priest. As a poet, Góngora is known for the brilliance and complexity of his culteranismo style. His major works include Soledades and Fábula de Polifemo y Galatea. His style is characterized by abundant metaphors and hyperbaton. Fábula de Polifemo y Galatea tells the story of the giant Polyphemus, who falls in love with the nymph Galatea. Galatea, however, loves the shepherd Acis. In a jealous rage, Polyphemus throws a rock at Acis, killing him.
Baroque Theater in Spain
Baroque theater became a national spectacle in Spain. Plays were performed in corrales de comedias (open-air theaters) and aimed to entertain the public while conveying values aligned with the monarchy and empire.
Lope de Vega’s Theatrical Formula
Lope de Vega established a distinct theatrical formula with the following characteristics:
- Division of the play into three acts.
- A blend of tragedy and comedy.
- Rejection of the classical unities of time, place, and action.
- Metrical variety, with stanzas changing based on the situation or theme.
- Poetic decorum, where characters’ speech adapts to their social status.
- Inclusion of lyrical elements.
Lope de Vega
Lope de Vega (1562-1635) was born in Madrid. Personal troubles led him to become a priest, but he later fell in love again and left the priesthood. He died in Madrid. Over 400 of his plays have been preserved. He masterfully adapted his plots and excelled as a lyric poet, demonstrating a strong command of learned metrics. His works include:
- Dramas of Honor: These plays center on the honor or dignity of individuals, often leading characters to sacrifice their lives. A notable example is El Caballero de Olmedo.
- Comedies: These plays feature romantic conflicts with happy endings. A key example is El perro del hortelano (The Dog in the Manger).
Baroque Stylistic Trends
- Conceptismo: Emphasizes brevity and wit, often using paradoxes.
- Culteranismo: Focuses on the beauty and expressiveness of language, employing resources like:
- Hyperbaton: A literary device that alters the normal syntactic order of words.
Calderón de la Barca
Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681) was born in Madrid. He studied with the Jesuits and was ordained a priest at the age of 50, after a military career. His characters often express the intimacy of their thoughts through monologues. His works can be categorized as follows:
- Comedies: “Cape and sword” plays, featuring love affairs, intrigue, and conflicts that resolve happily, typically in three acts. An example is La dama duende (The Phantom Lady).
- Autos Sacramentales: These one-act plays represent Catholic thought through symbolic characters. A notable example is El Gran Teatro del Mundo (The Great Theater of the World).
- Dramas of Honor: These three-act plays explore a quality of the soul. An example is El Alcalde de Zalamea (The Mayor of Zalamea).
- Philosophical Dramas: La vida es sueño (Life is a Dream) is a key example, raising the Baroque theme of appearances versus reality and defending human freedom. It consists of three acts.
Prose of the 17th Century
Representative works of Quevedo include Sueños (a satirical play) and La vida del Buscón (a picaresque novel). These works are characterized by hyperbole, antithesis, and the creation of new words, all hallmarks of conceptismo.