Lope de Vega and Calderón de la Barca: Spanish Baroque Theater
Lope de Vega: The Success of His Works
For Lope de Vega, theater had a primary purpose: to entertain the public. As the public enjoyed fables of love (romantic stories), Lope created four characters that are repeated throughout his comedies: the Galán (leading man), the Dama (lady), the Gracioso (funny servant of the Galán), and the Criada (lady’s maid). The Galán and Dama developed a serious plot, while the Gracioso and Criada developed a humorous, parallel story. Thus, his theater became a national theater, a public event for worship and a popular audience, appealing to both kings and the common people.
Lope de Vega’s Style
Both his prose and poetry are apparently simple, without excessive rhetoric. His poetry is characterized by being difficult to write but easy to read. Lope stood outside of the concepts of the Culteranistas and Conceptistas. His taste for simplicity and naturalness led him to frequently use popular themes. Lope always adapted the meter to the content. He also sought a strict correspondence between the type of character and the speech they used.
Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Life of Calderón de la Barca
This playwright of the seventeenth century was a follower of Lope de Vega’s theater, leaning towards the Conceptista trend. Born in Madrid in 1600, his long life coincided with the development of the Baroque in Spain, to the point that 1681, the year of his death, is usually taken as the date of the end of the Baroque period.
Works of Calderón de la Barca
He dedicated himself almost exclusively to theater. His preserved works consist mainly of plays (comedies and autos sacramentales).
Comedies
His comedies tell philosophical, religious, or historical legends for holidays. An example would be The Schism of England. He also wrote plays to entertain the public, such as La Dama Duende.
Autos Sacramentales
Calderón established a model of morality play in which allegory is used as a means to disseminate the mysteries of Catholicism and the more abstract theological concepts. The characters of these works are allegorical figures such as Ignorance and Love. The most important auto sacramental would be El Gran Teatro del Mundo.
Theme of El Gran Teatro del Mundo
This work presents life as a theatrical performance. Men are the actors in a play whose author is God.
Life is a Dream
Life is a Dream is a comedy that raises philosophical issues of life as a dream, predestination, and free will.
Interpretations of Life is a Dream
- Anthological Sense: Life is a Dream portrays the struggle between dream and reality.
- Theological Sense: The play presents two theological problems: the power of the stars and free will, particularly in the context of arranged marriages. Calderón admitted an indirect influence of the stars on human behavior, but the play makes it clear that the wise man conquers the stars. Thus, each individual is responsible for their behavior. Basilio’s predictions are true, but Basilio is guilty because he only saw the effect and not the cause, which is his own fault. Moreover, Basilio fails in the purpose of marriage—to have children and raise them—as he gets caught up in what the stars say.
- Moral Sense: This aspect can be seen in Basilio’s decision to imprison his child in the tower. It is also evident when Sigismund wants to rape Rosaura. Sigismund acts like a prince but behaves like a beast without ethics.
- Legal and Political Sense: Basilio breaks the law by preventing his son, Sigismund, from accessing the throne, violating the law of succession. This is evident in the people’s uprising, demanding the return of the rightful heir. Clotaldo prioritizes the law and loyalty to the king over his love for his daughter, Rosaura. Finally, Sigismund apologizes to Basilio for the uprising and for trying to overthrow him.
Calderón de la Barca’s Style
His style is not uniform; he does not follow the same style in all his works. In his comedies, Baroque elements are scarce: metaphors are infrequent, and the language is generally simple. In contrast, in his philosophical dramas and autos sacramentales, the language is solemn, complicated by adjectives and metaphors, and the text is filled with symbolism.