Spanish Literature: Manrique’s Poetry and La Celestina
Jorge Manrique: A 15th-Century Literary Giant
Jorge Manrique stands as a pivotal figure in 15th-century Spanish literature, renowned for his elegant and heroic style. His love poetry, reminiscent of the troubadour tradition, showcases the characteristics of songbook poets. Among his 50 preserved compositions, Coplas por la muerte de su padre (Verses on the Death of His Father) remains his most celebrated work.
Coplas por la muerte de su padre
Inspired by the death of his father, Don Rodrigo, Manrique crafted this elegy. It begins as a lament, evolving into a philosophical treatise on life’s transience and death’s transcendence. The poem reflects on earthly fragility, urging contemplation on life and death.
Key Elements:
- Elegy/lament
- The “ubi sunt?” motif (Where are those who once lived?)
- Mutable Fortune
- Three lives: earthly, fame, and eternal
Structure and Meter:
The poem’s sextuplets (six-line stanzas) consist of paired octosyllabic and tetrasyllabic lines (8a 8b 4c 8a 8b 4c), known as the “manriqueña” or broken-foot couplet.
Thematic Progression:
- (I-XIV): Life’s brevity and the insignificance of anxieties about death. The importance of actions worthy of eternal life.
- (XV-XXIV): Explores themes of life as a journey (“Homo Viator”), vanity (“Vanitas”), mutable fortune, fleeting time (“Tempus fugit”), hidden dangers, and “ubi sunt?”.
- (XXV-XL): A tribute to Don Rodrigo, culminating in a peaceful acceptance of death.
Language and Style:
Manrique’s language is agile, natural, and simple. He employs rhetorical questions, figures of speech, and metaphors to engage the reader. His style is harmonious, pithy, and sincere.
Origins of the Romance
Traditionalist Hypothesis:
This theory links romances to the chanson de geste, suggesting some originated from fragmented epic poems. Independent passages, adapted by reciters, formed these narratives.
Troubadour Hypothesis:
This view posits that jugglers created romances, imitating traditional ones.
Characteristics:
Romances feature eight-syllable lines with assonant rhyme (8a 8b 8a 8b), short rhythm, simple syntax, parallelism, repetition, antithesis, enumeration, and fragmented storytelling.
La Celestina: A Humanistic Comedy
La Celestina, a humanistic comedy, was written by Fernando de Rojas in the late 15th century.
Editions:
The first edition, titled Comedia de Calisto y Melibea, was printed in Burgos in 1499. It contained 16 acts and plot summaries, without the author’s name. Later editions included a letter from the author, acrostic verses revealing Rojas’s name, and additional acts, ultimately changing the title to Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea.
Authorship:
Fernando de Rojas, born in Puebla de Montalbán, Toledo, around 1470, is credited as the author, though he claimed to have continued a found manuscript.
Themes:
- Greed: Leading to destruction and death.
- Fortune: A source of disorder.
- Magic: Used by Celestina.
- Love: A destructive force.
Genre:
La Celestina blends comedic and tragic elements. While primarily dialogic, its narrative structure resembles prose. It’s a work designed for reading rather than performance.
Structure:
The 21 acts are divided into two parts: the first (1-12) focuses on Calisto and Melibea’s love and Celestina’s intervention; the second (13-21) depicts Elicia and Areúsa’s revenge, leading to the lovers’ deaths.
Characters:
The characters are divided into two groups: the nobles (Calisto and Melibea) and the servants (Celestina, Sempronius, Pármeno, Elicia, and Areúsa). Each character is driven by self-interest.
Character Analysis:
- Calisto: Young, unstable, insecure, lazy, selfish, and amoral.
- Melibea: Defies social norms for love.
- Celestina: The archetypal bawd, driven by greed.
- Servants: Materialistic and violent.
- Elicia and Areúsa: Prostitutes motivated by self-interest, envy, and resentment.
Language and Style:
The characters’ language ranges from elevated, with Latinate expressions and complex syntax, to colloquial and vulgar. The stylistic level varies depending on the interlocutor.
Intent:
La Celestina offers a moralizing message about the destructive nature of love and the consequences of defying social norms. It also reflects the changing values of the time.