Symbolism & Dramatic Techniques in Buero Vallejo’s El Tragaluz
Key Symbols Explained
Train Symbolism
Represents triumph and victory, but also oppression due to its association with ongoing anguish and final death. Getting on or off the train signifies taking or not taking sides in the societal game. The sound of the train prompts thought and meditation.
Skylight Symbolism
A symbol of defeat and failure, perceptible only when its shadow is cast on the wall.
Light (Luz)
The work is marked by significant changes in light.
Scissors
The Father cuts figures from postcards. He also wants to cut fingers; Vicente warns Mario that he must observe and not act. After the crime, the Father, stripped of the scissors, cuts the fingers off the postcard figures.
Linguistic and Stylistic Features
Language
The language used is similar to that of the second half of the twentieth century.
Relevant Adjectives
Examples include: the story of the skylight being “dark and unique”; “an ancient nation called Spain”; Encarna/Mario declaring, “I am a broken man.”
Spatial Description
The Basement: “The furnishings are sparse, cheap, and old (…) dilapidated sofa.”
Lighting Effects
The light in the researchers’ area is white and normal. There are constant effects creating lividity and unreality.
Semantic Field of Money
Includes terms like: “coins”, “money”, “economic development”, “salary”, “supply”, “box”, “booty.”
Judicial Lexicon
Examples: “Vicente will be given his chance” (to defend); “judge”; Mario calls Encarnación “witness.”
Modal Periphrasis of Obligation
Phrases like: “To live“, “We must forget“, “You have children and must see them.“
Literary Devices: Metaphors
- Characters as Trees: The characters of the skylight are described as “a few dead trees, in an immense forest.”
- The Train: Represents hidden, expressed concerns.
- The Skylight as Cinema: For Mario, it represents “an unattainable perspective.”
Analysis of Dramatic Techniques
Theatrical resources are employed in the service of denouncing mistakes and falsehoods, aiming for purifying human purposes.
Brechtian Distancing vs. Immersion
This technique contrasts with the “immersion effect” (catharsis, internalizing the public in the drama, direct access to the consciousness of characters). There’s a complementary character between distance and participation in the scenes, reflecting the will of the playwright (e.g., the San Ovidio concert scene). The “immersion effect” related to blindness is achieved by turning off all theatre and stage lights, introducing the viewer into the deepest feelings of the blind participants in the drama.
Core Dramatic Elements
Three key elements are used: the choir, music, and masks. Historical dramas enhanced Buero’s desire for experimentation, games, historical perspective, and the use of characters acting as narrators.
Staging: The Creative Space
Features include a kinetic “decorated” appearance, where gestures are fully encrypted; lighting that creates different spaces on the same stage; and the staining of a scene with unreality through light effects.
Simultaneous Techniques
These techniques reflect dramatic tension between external and internal action (what characters think and feel), for example, in El Tragaluz. It represents a “split reality” used to indicate mental states.
Symbolic Spaces and Themes
- Skylight: Represents a “corner.”
- Office: Vincent’s space, where “He believes he is God.”
- Madness: Vincent exclaims, “You’re crazy!” and “The skylight has made you so mad,” calling someone a “poet.” This explores the world of the subconscious, an “inseparable mixture of thoughts on events.”
- Dream Motif: Referencing Calderón de la Barca’s Life is a Dream: “You’re dreaming! Wake up!” Sleeping will be overruled by Encarna. The precipice signifies: “Just a dream.”