Jorge Manrique’s Verses & La Celestina: Themes, Characters, and Analysis
Verses on the Death of the Father of Joseph Manrique
This consists of 40 stanzas of verse, each containing two quebrado. Each foot is a sextuplet.
Structure:
- Couplets I-XIV: Jorge Manrique presents general considerations about life and death: the transience of life, the inconsistency of the mundane, the equalizing power of death, etc., through metaphors and allegories of the Christian vision of death and arrival. He presents life as a path in which man is preparing for a better life after death.
- Verses XV-XXIV: Attempts to show that riches and power are not an advantage when death arrives, as it reaches everyone. It reminds us that in some cases, not even a memory remains after death.
- Couplets XXV-XL: Recalls that his exemplary life will make him worthy of eternal life and leave good memories among those who knew him.
La Celestina: Authorship
Fernando de Rojas, declared in the <<letter from the author to his friend>> to have found the first act of the same and decided to continue it. Thus, there would be two authors who could edit the work under the title of Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea. Fernando de Rojas was born in Montalbán around 1476.
Argument:
The young Calisto falls for Melibea. To achieve his goal, he contracts the services of a bawd, Celestina. His servant, Pármeno, warns him of the dangers of the matchmaker, but Calisto does not heed Pármeno’s reasons and is also seduced by Celestina, who offers profit sharing to the matchmaker. Thanks to Celestina, Calisto falls into Melibea’s arms. The servants demand their share from the matchmaker, who refuses and is killed by the servants, who were later executed. In one of his nocturnal rendezvous, Calisto dies while trying to jump the garden wall of Melibea with a ladder. Melibea cannot stand it and throws herself from a tower.
Topics:
The fundamental issue is love. The work is divided into two worlds, one of the servants and the other of the masters, both joined by the pursuit of love and sexual pleasure, which leads to tragedy. The relations between the servants and Calisto are marked by economic interest and greed, which leads to death. There are also other issues such as the disloyalty of the servants.
Genre:
Rojas considered it first a drama and then a tragicomedy. From the late eighteenth century, it was considered by the precepts as a novel in dialogue, due to the extension of the text, the freedom in the conception of time and space, and the crudity of some scenes. More recently, it is considered a humanistic comedy, a drama conceived to be read aloud for a small audience.
Space and Time:
It develops in an urban space, but there is no constant concrete reference. There are changes in scenarios, which are indicated by the characters in their dialogues. Regarding time, and although there are apparent temporary contradictions, it can be deduced: Acts I-XV happen in three days and part of another. A month passes. Acts XVI-XXI: a day and part of another.
Characters:
- Calisto: Insecure, impatient, and selfish.
- Melibea: Has an inner conflict and evolves throughout the play, showing herself as a modern woman who is unable to demonstrate her feelings.
- Sempronio and Pármeno: Greedy and cowardly, moved by sexual and economic interest.
- Celestina: Greedy, practices witchcraft, cunning, and knows human passions.
- Elicia and Areúsa: Tools of Celestina, feel resentment towards the upper classes.
- Melibea’s Fathers: Naive; the father is human and tender towards Melibea in the end.