Spanish Literature: Medieval Theater to Renaissance
Medieval and Renaissance Spanish Literature
Medieval Theater
Religious Plays
Short plays performed on key Catholic religious dates. Only 146 verses of the Representation of the Magi are preserved.
Profane Plays
Non-religious in content and sometimes prohibited.
La Celestina (15th Century)
Author: Fernando de Rojas (1475(?) – 1541), born in Puebla de Montalván (Toledo) to a family of conversos.
- 1st edition (1499) in Burgos, six acts.
- Definitive edition in Valencia, titled The Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea, 21 acts, entirely in dialogue.
Characters
- Calisto: Noble, passionate, selfish; aims to conquer Melibea, pursuing pleasure.
- Melibea: Pure, consistent in her love; fully and sincerely devoted to Calisto.
- Celestina: Strong, cunning, wise, knowledgeable about human nature; succumbs to greed, leading to her death.
- Sempronius and Pármeno: Calisto’s servants, motivated by money and envy; kill for greed.
- Pleberio and Alisa: Melibea’s parents, unaware of the events.
Style
- Popular language (Celestina and servants)
- Cultured/Latin language (Calisto, Melibea, Pleberio, and Alisa)
Elements
- Medieval: Didactic and moralizing intent; coexistence between Christians and Jews.
- Renaissance: Individualism of characters; focus on personal values (pleasure, money); social imbalance (servants rebelling); suicide (personal, voluntary act).
The Renaissance
Began in Italy in the 14th century and spread throughout Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries.
- Humanism: Separation of human and supernatural; man’s ability to think and act rationally celebrated.
- Religion: More intimate and personal, based on love, mystery, and the search for answers.
- Protestant Reformation (second half of the 16th century): Led to the Catholic Counter-Reformation, the Inquisition, and censorship.
- Politics: Consolidation of absolute monarchies, notably the Spanish crown under Charles V and Philip II, continuing the conquest of America and European wars.
- Culture: Anthropocentrism; Carpe Diem.
Renaissance Lyric
Features
- Recovered forms from antiquity: elegy, eclogue, epistle.
- Dialogue
- Influence of Petrarch and Italian songbooks.
- Sonnets and hendecasyllables.
- Imitation of classics and nature.
- Themes: Love, nature (idealized and subjective).
- Mythological references.
- Style: Clarity, beauty, balance.
- Key authors: Garcilaso de la Vega, Fray Luis de León, San Juan de la Cruz.
Authors and Works
- Garcilaso de la Vega: Introduced Italian forms and themes to Spain; known for sonnets (38) and three pastoral eclogues; themes of love, nature, Greco-Roman myths.
- Fray Luis de León: Ascetic; known for prose (The Perfect Wife, The Names of Christ) and poetry, including odes (Ode to Retired Life); characterized by depth of thought, imitation of Greco-Roman authors, simplicity, and clarity.
- San Juan de la Cruz: Mystic; poetry in short verses about the soul’s journey to union with God; used human love as a metaphor; key works: Dark Night of the Soul, Spiritual Canticle, Living Flame of Love (written in lira).
Spanish Renaissance Novel
Features
- Novel of chivalry (Amadis of Gaul)
- Pastoral novel (Diana)
- Byzantine novel (Jungle Adventure)
- Moorish novel (A History of the Abencerraje and the Beautiful Jarifa)
- Picaresque novel (Lazarillo de Tormes): 1st person narration; life of a rogue; antihero; realistic world; social commentary.
Cervantes
Synthesized Renaissance ideals and 17th-century realism.
- Born in Alcalá de Henares (1547).
- Influenced by time in Italy.
- Soldier at the Battle of Lepanto; captured by Turks, held captive in Algiers for five years.
- Died in Madrid (1616).
- Passions: Arms and letters.
- Works: Tragedies, interludes, comedies; poetry (Journey to Parnassus); narrative (pastoral, Byzantine, short novels).
Don Quixote
- Structure: Based on the protagonist’s journeys (1st: Chapters 1-6; 2nd: 7-52; 3rd: second half); interspersed with subplots.
- Setting: Sierra Morena, Puerto Lápice, Barcelona, etc.; imaginative and sometimes unnamed.
- Time: Late 16th and early 17th centuries.
Characters
- Don Quixote: Idealistic; values goodness, justice, literature, and his love, Dulcinea del Toboso; criticizes novels of chivalry.
- Sancho Panza: Realistic, fearful, conventional; Don Quixote’s squire, motivated by self-interest.