Lazarillo de Tormes: Analysis, Author & Meaning
Lazarillo de Tormes: An Overview
Text, Date, and Author
The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes first appeared in 1554 in four different editions. It is very likely that a previous edition, still unknown, existed. In 1559, it was banned. The exact date of composition remains uncertain. The work contains some historical references. The author is also unknown, as it was published anonymously and subsequently attributed to various authors. The ideas presented have led scholars to hypothesize about the author’s characteristics, suggesting possibilities such as Erasmus, a convert, a crypto-Jew, a Franciscan, or a noble discontent with the society of the time.
Sources, Structure, and Style
Many elements of Lazarillo originate from folk tradition. Anecdotes and tales common in popular folklore gain new significance when integrated into a larger structure with a specific function. The composition is based on two structural models: autobiography and epistle. All elements contribute to the life story told by the character, following the format of a long letter to an unknown “Your Grace.” The epistle format, as a framework for the narrative, also has a long tradition.
The presence of data taken directly from reality is remarkable: various geographic locations and references, characters from the social life of 16th-century Spain, and frequent references to contemporary problems. The author takes a major step towards creating the modern novel by proposing that the work be read as a true story. Lazarillo thus marks the starting point of the European realist novel. A characteristic of the modern novel is that characters evolve and change with life’s circumstances; they are not immutable beings.
The novel consists of a prologue and seven treatises.
The language of Lazarillo is plain, spontaneous, and devoid of artifice.
Ideas and Meaning
The work tells the story of a character whose features closely resemble those of a human being of flesh and blood. This character develops within a specific social environment that conditions and changes him decisively. The play portrays the process of individual learning and adaptation to a complex social environment. His ultimate prosperity is achieved only in exchange for personal dishonor, allowing his wife’s relations with the archpriest. The novel is a sharp and harsh criticism of the society of its time. Two central myths of 16th-century Spain—the obsession with honor and religion—are the focus of criticism. Most of Lazarus’s masters are clergymen, and all exploit the boy.
Anti-clericalism is evident, perceived through sarcasm or scorn. The nobility and the church are satirized. Love and friendship do not appear to excel in the work. The values most commonly found in Lazarillo de Tormes are material: ambition, greed, money, personal gain, appearances, and cunning.
Nearly half a century would pass before the appearance of the second picaresque novel, Guzmán de Alfarache.