Baroque Spanish Literature: A Comprehensive Overview
Baroque Literature in Spain
The Pessimistic View: This period was characterized by a concern for moral standards, the transience of life, death, and disappointment. Contrasts were used to highlight the equivocal nature of reality, employing a resource-rich and complex rhetorical style.
Two Main Literary Currents:
- Culteranismo: This movement sought formal beauty through the use of elaborate language (cultism) and the creation of an artificial style. Its principal representative was Luis de Góngora.
- Conceptismo: This style focused on ingenuity and wit. Irony, paradox, caricature, and double meanings were frequently employed. Its leading figure was Francisco de Quevedo.
Luis de Góngora (1561-1627)
Góngora’s work can be divided into two types of poems:
- Popular Poems: These include minor art forms written in a simpler language. Romances and letrillas are prominent examples.
- Learned Poems: These are compositions of high art, including two long poems: The Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea, which recreates the myth of the cyclops Polyphemus in love with the nymph Galatea, and the Solitudes, an unfinished poem celebrating life in nature.
Baroque Theater and Lope de Vega
Félix Lope de Vega was a key figure in Baroque theater, considered the creator of the domestic comedy, a theatrical formula that catered to popular tastes. He argued that the primary purpose of drama was to entertain the audience, challenging the traditional view that theater should be primarily educational.
Characteristics of Domestic Comedy:
- Division of the play into three acts (instead of the classical five).
- A mixture of tragic and comic elements.
- Rupture of the unities of time and place; the dramatic action takes place over several days and in different locations.
Miguel de Cervantes and Don Quixote
Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) is considered the creator of the modern novel. He fought in the Battle of Lepanto and was held captive in Algiers for five years. He also worked as a tax collector.
Cervantes wrote poetry, drama, and novels. His notable works include the pastoral novel La Galatea, the Byzantine novel Persiles and Sigismunda, the Exemplary Novels, and, most importantly, Don Quixote.
Exemplary Novels: These are twelve short stories that Cervantes believed offered moral examples to readers. Notable examples include The Gypsy Girl, The Dialogue of the Dogs, and Rinconete and Cortadillo.
Don Quixote: This is Cervantes’s masterpiece and a foundational work of the modern novel. The first part was published in 1605 to immediate success, followed by the second part in 1615.
Meaning of the Work: Cervantes aimed to critique the popularity of chivalric romances.
Style: The novel employs various literary forms and linguistic registers, adapting the language to each character and situation. It also parodies the artificiality of romances through the use of language, particularly in Don Quixote’s speech.
Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645)
Quevedo was a prominent figure of the conceptismo style and one of the most important authors in Spanish literature. His writing demonstrates masterful control of language, with irony, parody, puns, and metaphors as characteristic features. He also used slang and colloquialisms, even creating new words.
Poetry:
- Love Poems: These explore Petrarchan motifs and forms to express an idealized yet conflicted vision of love.
- Moral and Philosophical Poems: These poems address themes of time, the transience of life, and death.
- Burlesque and Satirical Poems: These compositions offer a caricatured critique of various aspects of society.
Prose: Quevedo was a skilled prose writer, covering a wide range of topics and approaches, including festive, satirical, ascetic, and political themes.
Notable Prose Works:
- Dreams: A collection of short pieces satirizing various characters, social classes, and professions.
- The Swindler: A picaresque novel narrating the miserable life of Pablos, the son of a barber-thief and a witch. It is written in an acidic and expressive language, employing wordplay and hyperbole to caricature characters and situations.
Lope de Vega (1562-1635)
Lope de Vega was a prolific writer who excelled in various genres, particularly as a playwright. His work was immensely popular with audiences seeking entertainment.
Poetry: Lope’s poetry, focused on love and religious devotion, encompasses both popular and cultured forms. He revitalized popular lyric forms like carols and ballads while also employing elaborate conceits in his more learned poetry.
Drama: Lope’s dramatic output was vast, with around 400 surviving plays.
Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681)
Calderón de la Barca wrote a drama of ideas that explored the moral and philosophical concerns of his time. His most characteristic works are the allegorical morality plays and the dramas.
Morality Plays: These works reflect theological dilemmas through allegory. In The Great Theater of the World, God is the author of a grand drama (the world) in which humans are the characters.
Dramas: Calderón addressed themes such as the passage of time, the deceptive nature of reality, and honor. Notable examples include:
- The Mayor of Zalamea: This play explores the theme of honor. Captain Álvaro de Ataide assaults the daughter of Pedro Crespo, the mayor of Zalamea. Crespo executes the offender, and his actions are ultimately approved by the king.
- Life is a Dream: This play contrasts the principles of free will and predestination. King Basil of Poland imprisons his son Segismund based on a prophecy that he will overthrow his father. Following a popular uprising, Segismund is released and proclaimed king. He defeats Basil in battle but ultimately forgives him and submits to his authority, demonstrating that human will can overcome fate.