Understanding Spanish Ballads and Celestina
Spanish Ballads
Ballads are a manifestation of oral transmission, a learned form of Spanish folk poetry.
The earliest known ballads date from the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
Method
A series of rhyming verses with 8 syllables and assonance in pairs.
Both primitive troubadour ballads are part of “Old Ballads” and are epic in character, lyrical, and cover various topics.
Classes of Romances
- Historical
- Border
- Topic Carolingian or Breton
- Romantic and lyrical
The romances mixed narration and dialogue and are characterized by their simplicity of expression, spontaneity, and the use of a variety of literary devices (repetition, parallelism, etc.).
The success of the romances led to their application to new cases (religious, mythological, etc.). Such romances are known as “New Romance” (signed by major authors).
Characteristics of the Couplets
Topics
The poem is divided into 3 parts, ranging from the more general to the more particular.
Propaganda Function
It is devoted to extolling the figure of Rodrigo Manrique and presenting him as a model Christian gentleman.
The poem is composed of 40 verses or manriqueñas with a broken foot.
Composed of 2 sextuplets, in which a verse or tetrasílabo (broken foot) follows each pair of beautiful images and 8 syllables. Simple and elegant language is used.
Celestina
The 1st edition was found in villages, had no title or form, and consisted of 16 acts.
New Edition
Titled Comedy of Calisto and Melibea.
Later Editions
Entitled Tragicomedy of Callisto and Melibea, consisting of 5 events, until reaching the known 21.
Gender Issues
Being a text in dialogue only, without narration and without many descriptions.
The work is considered partly dramatic or narrative.
Argument
Callisto, pursuing a hawk, is in the garden and sees Melibea. He is captivated by her beauty and wants her to love him, but she shows arrogance. Callisto tells his servant Sempronius, and this presents a mediator (La Celestina), an old woman experienced in getting affairs. Celestina then looks for a way to reach Melibea. But for this, Celestina and Sempronius have to earn the trust of Pármeno (another servant of Callisto). This one already knows the arts of Celestina and refuses to cooperate, but Sempronius and Celestina see that thanks to him, they could make money and take advantage of Callisto. He accepts because what interested him was to get Melibea. Celestina then gets the trust of Melibea and her mother, getting the 1st date. Callisto gives her the 1st string of gold coins +100. Celestina and give him the servants of the loot they want and refuses Celestina, and kill her. They are sentenced to death, and Celestina’s friends take revenge on the lovers. Then, in 1a of the citation, Calisto excuses a mess and fighting down hastily Melibea garden and falls and is killed instantly, then she commits suicide.
Characters
- Callisto (part of the urban nobility and wealthy)
- Melibea (part of the urban nobility and wealthy)
- Parents of Melibea (Pleberio and Alisa)
- Celestina (madam)
- Pármeno and Sempronius (servants of Callisto)
- Elicia and Areuse (friends of Celestina)