Fray Luis de León and Lope de Vega: Renaissance to National Theater
Fray Luis de León
The poems of Fray Luis de León are heirs to the Renaissance in both form and content.
In form, he used Italianate verse stanzas, above all, the lira and hendecasyllabic and heptasyllabic verses. The content includes classic topics (locus amoenus, Golden Mean) combined with religious themes.
Fray Luis, in both prose and verse, was extremely careful with language and style. He eschewed bombast and excess, and imbued his words with naturalness, simplicity, and harmony, to say “what is clearly meant to say” and to elevate the Romance language to the aesthetic heights achieved by the Latin language.
His original poetry is scarce, amounting to some thirty compositions in which:
- He exalts the desire and longing for peace, tranquility, away from the bustle of worldly life and spiritual rest (A Retired Life, Al Salir de la Cárcel).
- He expresses eagerness and seeks bliss, elevating the soul towards the divine through contemplation of the beauty created by God or by man (Noche Serena, Francisco Salinas, A Felipe Ruiz).
- He discusses reasons or religious themes (De la Vida del Cielo, La Ascensión).
Fray Luis also produced various magnificent translations of biblical books (Psalms, Proverbs) and classics (Pindar, Virgil, Horace).
Prose Work
His prose work includes:
- Some translations of the Bible (a literal translation and declared the Song of Songs and Exposition of the Book of Job), in which the author is not limited to pouring the content of the sacred books into Castilian, but incorporates his own comments.
- Two original works, De los Nombres de Cristo (commentary on the various ways in which Christ is mentioned in the Scriptures) and La Perfecta Casada (a work of a religious-teaching nature which sets out the duties and virtues that befit a Christian wife).
Lope de Vega
Lope de Vega wrote poetry and prose works, but it is in the theater genre that he is enshrined as one of the great figures of universal Spanish literature.
He is traditionally considered the creator and promoter of the national theater of the seventeenth century. He is also the most prolific author in all of Spanish literature. His friend Juan Pérez de Montalbán, a playwright, credited him with the creation of eighteen hundred comedies, of which today we know only a little more than four hundred.
Drama of Lope de Vega
Plays of Spanish History and Legend
Fuenteovejuna, El Caballero de Olmedo, Peribáñez y el Comendador de Ocaña, El Mejor Alcalde, el Rey
Plays of Foreign Matter
El Gran Duque de Moscovia, Castigo sin Venganza
Sitcoms and Swashbuckling Plays
El Perro del Hortelano, La Dama Boba, El Discreto Enamorado, El Villano en su Rincón
Characteristics of Drama
Themes and Issues
In most of his comedies, topics such as love, honor, or religious and monarchist ideals are present. At the bottom of Lope’s comedies, a defense of the crown and aristocratic society supported by an honest and honorable rural population can be seen.
Action Drama
He breaks with the Aristotelian rule of the three unities (action, place, and time) and divides the work into three acts. Lope’s works are noted for their dynamism and liveliness of action.
Language and Versification
He uses polymetry, i.e., the use of different lines to reflect the change of scenes, themes, etc. The language is usually popular and close to the spectators. However, at times he can also use a more developed language.
Popularity
Lope’s theater lacks the depth of Calderón’s ideological drama or the psychological characterization of some of Tirso de Molina’s characters, but he, better than any other playwright of his time, knew how to connect with popular sentiment and the town through his plays. A particularly unique and important aspect is the introduction of lyrical compositions of traditional origin (songs of love, spring, work, religious) into his comedies. The inclusion of these lyrical compositions is one of the keys to his success.