Spanish Literature: From La Celestina to the Renaissance

Posted on Oct 3, 2024 in Religion

La Celestina (1499)

Published in Burgos

This work, containing 21 acts, was written by Fernando de Rojas. The dramatic action is divided into a prologue and two parts: the first up to Act XIV and the second from Act XV onwards.

Characters

The characters are unique creations:

  • Calisto: Dominated by the passion of love, he is portrayed as melancholic and withdrawn at times, and exalted and angry at others. He is insecure, lazy, egotistical, and amoral.
  • Melibea: Initially rejects Calisto, but later gives herself to him without question.
  • Celestina: An intermediary between Calisto and Melibea, she is driven by greed and the desire for riches. She uses her skills—insight, sagacity, shrewdness, improvisation, and the ability to manipulate people through deceit and seduction—to persuade Melibea.
  • Sempronio: Bound to Calisto by economic reasons.
  • Pármeno: Experiences an evolution in his relationship with his master. Initially loyal, he later becomes like Sempronio after witnessing Calisto’s imprudence.
  • Elicia and Areúsa: Harbor envy and resentment towards the ruling class.
  • Alisa: Melibea’s mother; a proud but foolish lady.
  • Pleberio: Melibea’s solicitous, tender, and affectionate, yet overconfident father.
  • Centurio: The only comic character in the work.
  • Sosia, Tristán: Calisto’s servants.
  • Lucrecia: Melibea’s servant.

Themes

  • Uncontrollable love and passion destabilize individuals.
  • Greed drives the servants and clouds Celestina’s judgment.
  • Fortune is portrayed as blind, random, and arbitrary.
  • Magic awakens Melibea’s love for Calisto.
  • Time pushes the characters into a frenzied enjoyment of the moment.
  • Death is meaningless.

Celestina’s Social World

Reflects the transformation of medieval society:

  1. New relationships between different social strata.
  2. A new moral code based on individualism, freedom, pragmatism, and profit.

15th-Century European Literature

Poetry

  • Dante Alighieri (1265-1321): Considered the first modern writer. His beloved acts as an intermediary between him and God, leading to his salvation.
  • Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374): Represents the birth of Petrarchism, idealizing his beloved but stripping her of her human condition. One of the most influential poets in history.
  • François Villon (1431-?): Known for conveying the anguish of a tormented life with vigor and sincerity.
  • Ausiàs March (1397-1469): Portrays women as real and human, capable of saving the lover’s soul, but also flawed. This duality causes conflict for the poet.

Prose

Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375): Elevated prose fiction to a literary level that suited the tastes of the new bourgeoisie. Boccaccio adopts a jovial and critical attitude towards a world dominated by passions.

Renaissance

  • Skepticism: Fosters a critical attitude, opposing medieval dogmatism.
  • Epicureanism: Encourages moderate enjoyment of life and pleasures.
  • Stoicism: Exalts human dignity and promotes a life in accordance with the natural order.
  • Neoplatonism: Defends the beauty of natural beings as a reflection of divinity, idealizing the feeling of love.
  • Erasmus: Advocates for an intimate religiosity focused on moral purity.

Renaissance Poetry

Combines traditional and Italian influences. Poetry was primarily an oral tradition. With the advent of printing, oral texts were collected in anthologies called songbooks.

Formal Aspects

Italian influence introduced the hendecasyllable (11 syllables), suitable for lyrical themes. Two main compositions:

  • Sonnet: Combines two quatrains and two triplets. The rhyme scheme of the quatrains is ABBA ABBA, while the triplets can vary (CDC DCD, CDE CDE).
  • Petrarchan Song: Composed of a variable number of stanzas. Includes eclogues, odes, epistles, and elegies.

This revolution is based on literary devices such as hyperbaton and metaphor.

Themes

  • Carpe Diem: Enjoy the moment.
  • Collige, virgo, rosas: “Gather, girl, the roses,” urging the enjoyment of young love before beauty fades.
  • Locus Amoenus: Depicts a pleasant, green meadow, expressing the author’s love and suffering.
  • Golden Mean: Praises a moderate life.
  • Beatus Ille: Expresses the longing for a life away from worldly chaos.
  • Nature: Gentle and harmonious, idealized and centered around the locus amoenus. Nature provides refuge and spiritual refreshment for the poet.
  • Love: Influenced by Neoplatonism and Petrarchism. The beloved is seen as a reflection of divinity, and love becomes an act of adoration.
  • Mythology: Gods and myths are used as symbols of emotional conflict.
  • Flight from the World: A foundation of ascetic poetry, expressing the desire to transcend the world and merge with the divine.
  • Mystical Union: Based on the soul’s union with God. This communication requires purification, is a divine grace, and produces a state of ecstasy. It is expressed through symbols, paradoxes, antitheses, and allegories.
  • Patriotic Ideal: Exalts national heroism and glorious deeds.