Lazarillo of Tormes: A Picaresque Novel Analysis
Lazarillo of Tormes
Lazarillo of Tormes is a subgenre of the picaresque novel. This pseudo-autobiographical account tells the story of a character, reminiscent of a character in Les Misérables, who soon abandons his family and serves several masters. The picaresque stories attempt to explain a final state of dishonor from the protagonist’s past.
Date and Authorship
Dated 1554, it comes from lost editions. Probably the first issue is one or two years earlier, and the book was composed around 1540. Several authors have been proposed for this novel, including Juan de Ortega, Alfonso Valdés, and Cervantes de Salazar.
Sources
- The Golden Ass: Apuleius’ work influences the organization of the story and the character of the protagonist, a boy of many masters. However, Lazarus does not undergo the metamorphosis of Apuleius’ character.
- Fourth Book of the Valiant Knight Rinaldo de Montalban: Adapted from Baldo Folengo’s Italian poem, which already forms an autobiographical narrative, a hero of low birth and his partner, and his fellow blind man.
- Process Letters of Love: A sentimental novel by Juan de Segura, from which Lazarillo takes the model letters.
- Folktales
Levels of the Story
Lázaro abandons his family, serves several masters, and develops various trades. It is structured in three ternary modules: childhood, adolescence, and youth of the rogue.
- First Module: Childhood (blind, cleric, squire). During this period, the blind man teaches Lazarus to help at Mass, which facilitates his entry into the service of the cleric. With the cleric, his hunger increases, as it does with the squire, with whom he hoped to solve his life.
- Second Module: Adolescence (friar, master painter, pardoner, tambourines). Lázaro goes through situations without any further influence. He hides his sexual awakening, but the friar of Mercy began in erotic practice. Lazarus learns new arts of deception and falsehood and delves into the suffering he continues to accumulate.
- Third Module: Youth (chaplain, archpriest, bailiff). Lazarus settles down and becomes a man with a paid occupation: first, he works as a waterboy, then as a pig herder, and finally as a town crier. The protagonist is seen at the height of professional success, which is joined by his marriage and having a home.
Speech
It is structured as a letter or epistle; it is a monologue. The narrator, an adult Lazarus, tells his story to “Your Grace,” who has asked him to explain the “case.”
Types of Speech
- Address Value: The narrator makes assessments of character and situation.
- Universal Speech: The narrator expresses a generalization from an incident.
Expressive Resources
The narrator of Lazarillo makes humorous use of some gospels. He uses the diminutive and antithesis.
The Irony
Only perceived on the basis of the context, it depends on the intentions of the issuer and the playability of the interlocutor.
- Irony’s Protagonist: The narrator-protagonist directs irony at himself when the squire tells him that he lives much better when he eats little.
- Irony of the Masters:
- The Blind Man: When he washes the wounds he has made with wine, dealing a blow with a jug.
- The Priest of Maqueda: By the time he eats the bones, he had eaten before.
- The Squire: Claims, knowing that Lazarus is hungry.
- Irony of the Author: The author directs his irony toward the adult Lazarus.
Themes
- Honor: Honor depended on the consideration that others had about someone, and it was a typical phenomenon of the time.
- Religion: Church Estates. The play essentially condemns the exploitation of the poor by a vile and ignorant clergy.