The Skylight: A Deep Dive into Buero Vallejo’s Masterpiece
Action in The Skylight
The Skylight by Antonio Buero Vallejo advances through antithesis and plurivalence. We see the antithesis of Mario and Vicente, the “contemplative” and the “active,” between the skylight and the train. The skylight serves as an expression of a form of life below the human level and, simultaneously, as a renewed “myth of the cave.” The ambiguity of the father, who in one sense is only a poor madman, but in another sense comes to acquire a meaning close to that of a symbol of God on a strange day. The cleavage planes of time: Vicente’s death, which from one point of view is the murder of a madman, but from another point of view is like meeting a tragic fate.
Time in The Skylight
In The Skylight, there are three time levels:
- 1939: The year the entire family, except Vicente, misses the train.
- 1967: The moment in which the family lives in the transom.
- 25th and 30th Centuries: When the viewers are watching the experiment.
Buero Vallejo initially wrote only the part of the 20th century when the play was written and devised the subtitle and the plan of presenting the play as an experiment. The work has an implicit time because eight days have passed between the two parts.
The Stage Area
The stage area of The Skylight is manifold, which is the fragmentation of the unique setting. This helps to condense the action, avoid shifting, and the use of scenes. In this work, it is only used to delimit the two parts into which it is divided. It allows for continuous changes in space and time and simultaneous scenes in time that happen in different places. The characters are not bad guys: the Manichean distinction between good and evil has no place in Buero’s theater.
Characters
El and Ella
They make us see reality objectively so that the viewer does not identify with the family of the post-war period.
Vicente
Vicente is the character who has chosen the train and tries to succeed in society, even at the cost of making new victims. He is at the service of or is an accomplice of those who dominate society. He is a tormented character who fights his conscience, and this leads him to confess. He is the victim and the offender, a victim of society, and guilty for having chosen. That feeling led him to hear the train and visit his family.
Mario
Mario is the character of the work that lies outside the system; he chooses to be a victim. Facing the suspect, he acts as a prosecutor and judge. He is honest, upright, caring, and sad. He does not want to play a part in society. His contemplative purity is ineffective.
Father
The Father is the central figure in the drama, playing key roles in Buero’s theater. His madness is the result of the success of the train that killed his daughter. His ravings are set by Buero intentionally. He has chosen to launch the philosophical question that holds the text: “Who is that?” For the father, the skylight of the house is like a train after the war, and he lived with his eyes on the shadows. He has some moments of sanity and criticizes consumer society. The father knows everything and is the one who punishes or forgives the offender.
Mother
The Mother feigns joy but, deep down, is unfortunate since their daughter’s death. She feels worship for her son Vicente but declined to leave the train. She embodies love and forgiveness. In the face of hatred and death, she proclaims simply.
Encarna
Encarna is a poor girl, a victim of society, and mistreated by the social. She has a wretched past and is a victim of Vicente. Sometimes, Encarna is a reflection of Elvira. At one point in the play, she reflects her own future in a prostitute who walks by the side of the coffee shop. She is a lover of Vicente and in love with Mario. In the end, it is implied that Mario acted.
Eugenio Beltran
Eugenio Beltran is not on the scene, but there is much talk of him. He has a fundamental role. He is a victim of the ins and outs of publishing. For his employer, Vicente, and Mario, he is a model because “He has gone ahead without staining himself.”