Lope de Vega & Calderón: Masters of Spanish Golden Age Theatre
Lope de Vega (1562-1635)
Born in Madrid of humble origin, Lope de Vega was self-taught and had a very lively love life. In 1579, he was banished.
Poetry and Narrative
He wrote traditional lyric poetry, sonnets, and epic poetry. In his love and religious poetry, his autobiographical background lends intense emotion. He achieved remarkable quality in the novel Dorotea. His rich lyric poetry included traditional forms and sonnets; he also wrote epic poetry. As a narrator, he cultivated the novella, the Byzantine novel, and the pastoral novel.
Lope de Vega’s Theatre
His theatre was simpler than previous forms, moulded to public taste, and gave flexibility to performances. This form was called the New Comedy (Comedia Nueva). He wrote so prolifically that he was called a ‘prodigy of nature’.
The New Comedy
The New Comedy presented numerous innovations, blending the tragic and the comic, and incorporating humorous and lyrical scenes. This renewal relied on breaking classical rules:
- Rejection of the three unities (place, time, and action; unity of action was the most respected).
- Plays were presented in three acts (not five).
- Blending the tragic and the comic.
- Use of different verse forms (polymetry).
- Decorum (appropriateness between character type and manner of speaking).
- The figure of the ‘gracioso’ (the clown or wit).
- Inclusion of poetic elements.
Themes
Lope addressed various subjects, including religious, historical, etc. The most frequent themes were honor and ‘honra’. Common types included:
- Religious themes.
- Historical and legendary Spanish comedies (including dramas of unjust power).
- Contemporary comedies of love and intrigue (‘comedias de capa y espada’).
Characters
Characters were often defined by their social roles, becoming archetypes:
- The King (representing power).
- The powerful Noble (often an antagonist abusing power).
- The Commoner (‘villano’, often depicted with dignity).
- The Gallant and the Lady.
- The ‘Gracioso’ (clown/wit) and the Maid.
School of Lope de Vega
Many writers followed his theatrical model, such as Guillén de Castro, Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, and Tirso de Molina.
Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681)
He spent most of his life writing. A thoughtful man born in Madrid, he studied with the Jesuits and at the universities of Alcalá and Salamanca.
Theatre
Pessimistic and conservative, his was a cultured drama that raised profound issues through symbolic characters and revealed careful elaboration. He eliminated unnecessary scenes and focused characters on a main concern or single theme. Calderón’s theatre evolved, becoming increasingly a theatre of ideas and symbols. The language is conceptista and culterano—a cultured and refined style, often complex. Characters are well-developed, sometimes taking on symbolic dimensions. Spectacular scenery and stage innovations appeared in his later works.
Theatre Themes
His works explored philosophical and theological concepts, intensified ideas of monarchy and honor, and included cloak-and-dagger comedies. Key themes include:
- Philosophical themes: Developing Scholastic reasoning.
- The theme of honor: Often presented with rigid, fundamentalist codes (e.g., the idea that ‘mere suspicion of infidelity deserves the woman’s death’). This appears in dramas of love and jealousy, such as El médico de su honra (The Surgeon of his Honour).
Classification of Works
His works are typically classified into:
- Religious Dramas (e.g., El mágico prodigioso).
- Comedies (contemporary cloak-and-dagger or ‘comedias de capa y espada’).
- Mythological Dramas.
- Dramas of Honor and Jealousy (e.g., El médico de su honra, A secreto agravio, secreta venganza).
- Philosophical Dramas (e.g., La vida es sueño (Life is a Dream), considered his masterpiece).
- Autos Sacramentales (allegorical religious plays).
School of Calderón
He became the model for later Baroque authors who followed the trend of greater plot simplification and conceptual depth compared to Lope’s school.