Lope de Vega’s New Comedy: Features & Themes

Posted on Feb 10, 2025 in Latin

Key Features of Lope de Vega’s New Comedy

Lope de Vega’s New Comedy (Comedia Nueva) blended elements of Greek theater (a mixture of religious and popular elements, and lyrical and dramatic elements) with freer forms. It deviated from the traditional Greek model in several ways:

  • It offered a more relatable theater experience for families, covering a variety of historical and religious topics drawn from chronicles, ballads, and tradition.
  • It reflected monarchical sentiments, honor, national pride, and religion, all deeply rooted in the populace.
  • It provided agility to the scene, creating entertaining, interesting, funny, and passionate stories (Theatricality).
  • Plays were conceived as spectacles, with staging that emphasized the plot, dances, songs, and the evolution of the “funny” characters. This led to professional theater and the use of specific locations for performances (comedy theaters).

Technical Innovations of the New Comedy

Lope de Vega didn’t just renew the themes and attitudes; he also revolutionized theatrical technique. He moved away from the Greek concept of theater. The technical changes included:

  1. Reduction to Three Acts: Instead of the five acts of Greek plays, Lope’s plays typically had three acts (exposition, development, and denouement).
  2. Imitation of Life: The plays were conceived as intrigues with constant changes of place, time, and scenes, mirroring the complexities of life.
  3. Breaking the Aristotelian Unities: Lope broke the Aristotelian rule of unity of place, time, and action.
  4. Mixing Tragedy and Comedy: A key feature was the blending of tragic and comic elements.
  5. Rejection of Metric Unity: He rejected the use of a single meter throughout the play. Hendecasyllables (11-syllable lines) were used for serious situations, and octosyllables (8-syllable lines) for lighter moments.
  6. Variety of Stanzas: Different stanzas were employed for different purposes:
    • Romances (ballads) for narration.
    • Sonnets for laments.
    • Quatrains and limericks for dialogue.
    • Verses of great art for serious issues.
  7. Expressive Decorum: Characters spoke according to their age and social status.
  8. Fixed Character Archetypes: Common characters included:
    • The Lady (beautiful and of noble lineage).
    • The Dandy (galán).
    • The Servant(s).
    • The Villain (often an “old Christian” of clean blood).
    • The King (dispenser of justice).
  9. Love and Honor: Dramatic action converged on the feeling of love, and even more so on honor.

The Theme of Honor

Lope de Vega made honor and *honra* (reputation) central themes in his theater:

  • Honor: Traditionally a privilege of the nobility, inherited and based on valor and ancestry. Lope, however, presented honor as attainable by both nobles and villains, provided they were of “clean blood” (i.e., without Jewish or Moorish ancestry).
  • Honra (Reputation): *Honra* was based on the opinion of others. Both honor and *honra* were incredibly important; their loss meant social death. This loss had to be repaired with life and revenge. Only the king could override such revenge, as he was considered the source of honor. Even in cases of a ruler’s tyranny, the duty of law was to respect him.

Lope de Vega’s Works

Lope de Vega was incredibly prolific. His output is estimated at over 1,800 plays and 400 *autos sacramentales* (religious plays). Around 500 of his works are conserved. The themes of his plays, like his poetry and prose, were varied, reflecting his changing interests, alternating between divine love and human passion. His stage production ranges from secular subjects (pastoral, like *Belardo el furioso*; historical, like *El castigo sin venganza*, *Peribáñez y el Comendador de Ocaña*, *El mejor alcalde, el rey*, *Fuenteovejuna*; and swashbuckling and customs, like *El perro del hortelano*, *La dama boba*, *Los melindres de Belisa*; legendary…) to religious themes (*autos*, like *La siega*; hagiographic plays, like *Lo que ha de ser*; and biblical plays, like *La creación del mundo*).

Tirso de Molina

Tirso de Molina (pseudonym of Fray Gabriel Téllez) was the most important of Lope de Vega’s followers. His extensive dramatic production (much of which is lost) is characterized by a variety of themes. A loyal follower of the “New Comedy,” he introduced some changes, though the specifics are not detailed here.