Tirso de Molina’s The Trickster of Seville: A Deep Dive into Themes and Structure
Tirso de Molina’s *The Trickster of Seville*: A Deep Dive into Themes and Structure
Characteristics of the New Art of Comedy
The Trickster of Seville features characteristics typical of the theater of its time, that is, the new art of comedy created by Lope de Vega. The theater tries to be a real theater, a picture of life, spontaneous and colorful in terms of scenes. One of the primary characteristics of this style in the works of Tirso de Molina is the external division into three acts which, in turn, take place in different times and places. The mixture of tragedy and comedy eventually becomes a new genre: tragicomedy. In The Trickster of Seville, we can see that the main action is the protagonist’s deserved death for his sins, punctuated, in turn, throughout history by humorous touches, mainly by Catalinón, his teammate and friend.
Characters in *The Trickster of Seville*
Characters, both noble and commoner, are introduced in the play. In the new style of comedy, there are seven key characters, which we can glimpse in the work:
- The actor is presented under the name of Don Juan.
- The king, who is the justice imposed, will, in this work, be the commander.
- The lady, in this case, are the four ladies mocked by Don Juan, who enjoy different social conditions.
- The antagonist, always less than gallant, is Batricio, who is humiliated by Don Juan.
- The servants in this work do not enjoy the status of serfs. In the new art, the servants are “confidants” of their master. Therefore, in this work, the role of this character is played by Catalinón, who in turn will be funny as he brings humor to this work.
- Finally, the father of the lady will be Don Gonzalo de Ulloa.
Variety of Meter
The variety of meter is also a feature of the new style of comedy. Tirso de Molina introduced into his work a kind of different metric for each character and situation:
- Romance is used to narrate events in a popular area.
- In contrast, the octave is used in situations narrated in a formal setting.
- Sonnets reveal tense moments and increase the dramatic interest.
- Tenths are good for complaints and are very close to sonnets.
- Tirso used trios to sing to serious issues such as the death of Don Juan.
- Finally, quatrains and limericks are used for everyday situations, family, and loving dialogue.
Nationality, Language, and Themes
One of the new rules of theater refers to nationality, which is strongly whether or not the characters are from Spain. In this work, we can see that the title already indicates its Sevillian character (*The Trickster of Seville*). Finally, the language is simple because the comedy is set to delight the public, and it must reach them whatever their social position.
The main themes in the new style of comedy are honor and feelings of love. Moreover, they maintain the ideals of monarchy and religion. In the play The Trickster of Seville, we find feelings of love, but not in the main character, Don Juan, a young libertine, but in people like Octavio, the Marquis de la Mota, or Batricio. This love develops in the work, with positive feelings at times, but it also raises suspicion and jealousy.
Honor and the Monarchical and Religious Ideals
Honor and virtue are issues of real importance in this work, and the fact that Don Juan snatches the honor from the ladies is the cause of his death. Honor in the new style of comedy, and in this work, is attributed mainly to women. The loss of this honor could symbolize the death of life and social order. As is well shown in the work, women feel unhappy, mocked, insulted, and want revenge on Don Juan.
The monarchical ideal is found in the king, who punishes those who lack honor and who is able to restore it if it has been lost. The religious ideal is found at the end of the play, in which Don Juan is called to confess his sins before dying. This ideal is reflected throughout the play as other characters, like Catalinón, warn Don Juan of divine retribution against sin.
Tirso de Molina as a Playwright
As a playwright and a follower of Lope, Tirso de Molina produces a drama in this novel, as the final act ends with the protagonist’s death.