Celestina: A Tragedy of Love and Greed
Characters
Calisto:
Young and passionate, selfish, impatient, and insecure. His love for Melibea is characterized by madness and passion.
Melibea:
Experiences inner conflict and evolves throughout the play. She represents a modern woman, grappling with societal expectations and her own desires. She is tempted by love but fears losing her honor and disappointing her parents.
Celestina:
Greedy and cunning. A historical archetype of the go-between, she is an old prostitute and witch who exploits human passions for financial gain.
Sempronius and Parmeno:
Selfish, deceitful, greedy, and cowardly servants of Calisto, motivated by sexual and economic interests.
Elicia and Areuse:
Young prostitutes and tools of Celestina, resenting the upper classes.
Melibea’s Parents:
Naive and confident in their daughter’s upbringing. The father shows tenderness at the play’s end.
Other Characters:
- Lucrecia: Melibea’s faithful servant
- Tristan: A young boy
- Sosia: A servant boy
- Centurio: A cowardly and boastful soldier
Summary
La Celestina depicts a society consumed by passion and greed. The play begins when Calisto sees Melibea in her garden and falls violently in love. He enlists Celestina, an old procuress, to help him win her affections. Celestina, along with Calisto’s servants, Sempronius and Parmeno, exploits Calisto’s passion. Through magic and manipulation, Celestina unites Calisto and Melibea. Greed leads to murder, and the servants are killed. Calisto and Melibea’s love ends tragically when Calisto dies after a fall, leading Melibea to commit suicide. The play concludes with the lament of Melibea’s father, Pleberio.
Style (Internal Analysis)
La Celestina demonstrates a strong stylistic will, with careful attention to language. Its strength lies in its varied, lively, and realistic dialogue. Characterization unfolds through dialogue. The play uses the cultural language and rhetoric of the people, incorporating extensive monologues, antitheses, parallels, apostrophes, interrogations, and refrains. It blends dialogue and monologue styles, representing both cultured/scholarly and popular humanist literary trends.
Central Theme
The central theme is love, explored across different social classes. The play contrasts the worlds of masters and servants, united by the pursuit of sexual pleasure. The passionate and illicit love between Calisto and Melibea is contrasted with other relationships marked by sexual passion, deceit, and financial dependence. Love, in its various forms, is a driving force for all characters.