The King’s Sin: A Literary Analysis of “[Book Title]”
INTERNAL STRUCTURE
The internal structure is clearly different, even though it agrees in part with the external structure. The internal structure is as follows:
INTRODUCTION:
This is the part where you can see the main theme, which will be referred to throughout the book. It involves seeing the naked body of Marfisa, the Queen’s double.
DEVELOPMENT:
This section is based on all the vicissitudes experienced by the protagonists as they try to bring the king and queen together. This starts from the king’s decision to see the queen naked, until he finally achieves it.
DENOUEMENT
Once the king has seen his wife naked, he undergoes a personality change. From this point until the end of the book, you could consider this the conclusion.
EXTERNAL STRUCTURE
The book is divided into chapters, and within those, points.
Chapter: Chapter 10 points: 3 points Frame: 14 points Chapter: 12 points
CHARACTERS
This book has many characters, but the most important are:
King / Queen / Marfisa / Father Almeida / The Conde de la Peña Andrada / The Valid / Father Villaescusa
THE KING
Not too many features of him are quoted, even though he is the protagonist. He only starts and ends the action, or rather, he lets it all be done. He is a passive character.
Of the few features we get from him, we know he is young, gullible, and unsure of how to handle his responsibility as king.
THE QUEEN
Like the king, she only ends the action, letting it all happen. She is also passive. We also know she is young and inexperienced.
Marfisa
Marfisa is a prostitute who visits the king. She is the trigger for any action within the play, although she is not quite sure what she is doing. She follows the orders of the Conde de la Peña Andrada and Father Almeida, two of the greatest exponents for the king and queen to be seen.
CONDE DE LA PENA ANDRADA AND FATHER ALMEIDA
These two are very peculiar, as they could be said to be the devil, not actually existing, but they do exist. They are in favor of the king seeing the queen naked, so they can get the king and queen together so they can do it. Once they have succeeded, they disappear and cease to exist.
FATHER VILLAESCUSA AND THE VALID
They are the greatest opponents of the king and queen being seen in private. They use all means at their disposal, especially since Father Villaescusa thinks it is a mortal sin, and this will influence the welfare of the nation. The Valid, however, is not so convinced and keeps changing his mind.
As you can see, the characters are divided into three groups:
The king and queen
Those who support the king and queen, including the trusted servants of the king and queen, and part of the population
Those who are against the king and queen, as most think this is a mortal sin. Among these, we find the Grand Inquisitor and cures.
ARGUMENT
The king spends the night with a prostitute because his wife is not satisfied and wants to experience new emotions. To see a naked woman, he asks his wife to see her naked, because in those days, seeing a naked woman was a mortal sin.
This results in a country-wide panic, because if the king committed a mortal sin, the punishment may fall upon his people. They were now at stake in wars in Holland, and the gold from the Indies at sea.
To try to determine if this could happen, a commission was set up in the Inquisition. They knew they were going to see when they could. Some fought for their part that it did not happen, but others fought for the king and queen to fulfill their desires.
In the end, they win, and the king and queen get to see each other. Against what the majority said, they won the war in Holland, and the gold of the Indies came to Cadiz.
CONTEXT
The work can be contextualized in Madrid. The most important thing is that at this time, the Inquisition existed, and the Church ruled over the government. We notice that most of the characters are of the nobility and the clergy, although we can find characters of lower social classes, but they are not noticeable because they are servants of high-ranking nobles.
TECHNICAL
The lexicon is very refined, as these nobles speak in a very educated way. There is no noticeable change in the level of language, since the few characters that can be considered lower-class use or attempt to use a religious language level.
PERSONAL ASSESSMENT
My assessment is quite good because I like books from this time, such as the saga of Captain Alatriste, by Arturo Perez Reverte. I also like this book because, without giving too many features of the characters and their paths starting from different points, it links the various stories, plus the final, although expected and when and believe it gives the lace finish that makes you rethink what you have read and link some loose ends.