Transcript Lope de Vega (English)

FÉLIX LOPE DE VEGA Y CARPIO
Presenters:
Marina Palomo
Elena Zapico
November 2003
Table of Contents
 Historical context: Spain in the 16th
& 17th century
 Philip II (1556-1598)
 Philip III (1598-1621)
 Philip IV (1621-1665)
Table of Contents (cont.)
Theatre in the Spanish Golden Age
 Popular Theatre
 Characters
 Topics
Table of Contents (cont.)
Lope de Vega
 Biography
 Fuente Ovejuna
 The facts
 Structure
 Characters
 Social meaning
Table of Contents (cont.)
Quiz!!!!!
Historical Context
There can be no doubt about
the economic and political
decline of Spain in the 16 &
17th centuries, especially from
1650.
Historical Context (cont.)
Philip II


Philip II (1527-1598) became King of Spain in
1556. He governed Spain in the so-called
“Golden Age”. At that time the Spanish
Empire was huge.
However, his reign saw the economic
decline of Spain, its bankruptcy and a
disastrous decade from 1588 to 1598.
Historical context (cont.)
Philip III

Philip III (d. 1621) was a devout, phlegmatic
nonentity, totally incapable of carrying on
his
father's
methods
of
personal
government. He therefore had to have a
minister who would do all his work for him,
called privado, Duque de Lerma.
Historical context (cont.)

What did Philip III inherit in 1598?
A country ...





in deep financial chaos.
far from being united.
that was no longer seen by other European
countries as being a major player in European
diplomacy.
was falling to hold on to its Empire.
with government that continued to act as if it
was a major power when in fact was not.
Historical context (cont.)
These are basically the
problems that affected the
Spanish political and
economical scene during
the 17th century.
Historical context (cont.)


Neither Philip III nor Lerma were capable
of the fundamental reappraisal of internal
and foreing policy that Philip II's failures
called for.
The years from 1610 to 1630 were the last
period in which Spain clearly dominated
Europe. For the first of these two decades,
Europe enjoyed a kind of Pax Hispanica.
Historical context (cont.)
Philip IV

In 1621 Philip III died. Phillip IV (1621-1665), a
boy of 16, left the effective powers of
kingship in the hands of his former
gentleman of the chamber, Conde Duque
de Olivares.
Historical context (cont.)
Philip IV
Historical context (cont.)



Philip IV came to terms with the United
Provinces,
recognizing
their
full
independence.
In 1668, Spain formally recognized the
independence of Portugal.
Philip IV died in 1665.
Historical context (cont.)
There can be no doubt
about the economic and
political decline of Spain in
the 17th. But there was not
also a comparable cultural
decline or even decadence.
Theatre in the Spanish Golden Age
The period between the
Renaissance and the Baroque,
Spain's 'Golden Age' really
spanned two centuries (the
16th and the 17th) and it is the
most fecund and glorious age
of Spanish Arts and Letters.
Theatre in the Spanish Golden Age



(cont.)
The theatre reached its highest level.
Stage plays were no longer performed in
ecclesiastical
surroundings
after
the
creation of the 'Corrales de Comedias‘.
Lope de Rueda, Juan de la Cueva and Gil
Vicente are the precursors of Lope de
Vega, Tirso de Molina and Calderon de la
Barca.
Theatre in the Spanish Golden Age
(cont.)
Spanish Barroque Authors
16th Century
1550
60
70
80
17th Century
90
1600
10
20
30
40
50
CERVANTES
GÓNGORA
LOPE DE VEGA
QUEVEDO
TIRSO DE MOLINA
CALDERÓN DE LA BARCA
GRACIÁN
60
70
80
90
1700
Popular Theatre

During the 16th century the European
theatre was divided in:
 Religious.
 Royal.
 Popular.
Popular Theatre (cont.)



The popular plays were mainly comedies.
They were shown in outdoor theatres called
“Corrales”.
The “Corrales” were patios within the
houses. They did not have any decoration,
just few seats. Most people stood during
the play. Only the nobles watched the play
from the windows of the houses surronding
the patios.
Popular Theatre (cont.)


During the 17th century the corrales
became more and more popular. The shows
were a social event for the whole village.
They started at 2 pm during the winter time
and one hour later during the summer.
If the public did not like the play, some men
between them called “mosqueteros” reacted
violently, throwing things to the actors,
making a big mess.
Popular Theatre (cont.)

Most plays were shown only once. Eight or
ten days in a row was considered a big
success. People demanded new plays so
frequently that Spain burst with a new
generation of theatre authors. Lope de
Vega was the most prolific of them.
Popular Theatre (cont.)


The comedies had not always a funny plot
like the word “comedy” suggests. Sometimes
they were tragicomedies or dramas, but
never tragedies.
The literary formula for these popular
comedies was definitely established by Lope
de Vega at the end of the 16th century,
receiving the name of National Comedy or
Spanish Comedy.
Popular Theatre (cont.)


Lope integrated, in a very personal
synthesis, different elements of the
previous theatre tradition. One of his most
important predecesors was Lope de Rueda,
who created the first theatre company in
1554.
Lope de Vega learnt from Rueda two main
things: elements from the italian comedy to
give complexity to the plots and the
integration of serious and comic episodes in
the play.
Popular Theatre (cont.)


From Gil Vicente, Lope took the
introduction of lyric elements into the
comedy.
Juan de la Cueva was an example for Lope
of how to use national subjects in the
comedies, taking the inspiration from El
Romancero and from national legends.
Popular Theatre (cont.)
Lope
melted
all
this
elements in an original
formula described in his
play Arte Nuevo de Hacer
Comedias (New Art for
Writing Comedies).
Popular Theatre (cont.)
Lope´s Comedy formula
was followed
by
the
theater authors during the
17th century and beyond.
Let´s
analyze
its
characteristics.
Popular Theatre (cont.)
Village´s people applause was
his main objective. This kind
of public dislikes classical
theatre so Lope forgets its
precepts, avoiding strictness
and creating a natural feeling
on the stage.
Popular Theatre (cont.)
The rejection of classical
precepts and the
pretention of natural
behavior are the features
that determined the
structure of comedies.
Popular Theatre (cont.)
A) Comedy is divided into three acts. This
division seems more natural than the five
parts that composed a classical play. The
three acts correspond to the three main
parts of the action in the plot:
introduction, body and conclussion. Body is
the largest part containing the athors ability
to mantain the public interest till the end.
The play is resolved in the very last scene.
Popular Theatre (cont.)
B) The plot has to be very active and varying.
Lope does not apply the classic “Unity of
Action Rule”. The New Comedy has at least
two parallel actions: one is protagonized by
characters of the high society level and the
other one happens between servants. These
two levels are not separated but interelated
with each other. The public enjoyed these
system extremely.
Popular Theatre (cont.)
C) The New Comedy does not respect either
the “Time and Place Unity Rule” according
to the classical precepts; thus the plot can
describe action that happens in very
different places and last many years. Also
radical changes of scenery are allowed.
Popular Theatre (cont.)
D) One of the most important characteristsof
the New Comedy is the mixture of tragic
and comic elements. This also goes against
the precepts of the classical plays. Once
again, Lope decides to act on behalf on
naturality: comic and tragic elements are
mixed in real life and the same has to occur
on the stage.
Popular Theatre (cont.)
E) The Comedy, always written in verses,
presents a variety of styles depending on
which character is speaking. The intention
of naturality demands different languages
levels: for a king, a farmer, a noble, a
soldier, etc.
Popular Theatre (cont.)
F) The verses and strophes used are also
varied. The author changes the metrics
adapting it to different siuations: love
dialogues, serious dialogues, monologues,
moanings, etc.
Popular Theatre (cont.)
G) Lope included a lot of short traditional
songs and dances inside the plays or
between the acts. This musics and
coreography are taken from the popular
tradition or sometimes created by the own
author in imitation of this.
Popular Theatre (cont.)
Classic Comedy vs. New Comedy
CLASSIC COMEDY
NEW COMEDY
Strictness and purity
Naturality
Five Acts
Three Acts
Action unity
Simultaneous actions
Time and place unity
Variety of time and places
Subjec unity
Mixture of tragic & comic
elements
Metrics unity
Metrics variety
Characters


The New Comedy presents a great variety
of characters, but it can be found a
common pattern in all the plays.
Since Lope, the authors seem to follow his
model of creating characters, thus, almost
always the following stereotypes appear in
the comedies:


High social level.
Low social level.
Characters (cont.)

High social level:



An old man: usually the king or the father of the
femenine protagonist.
A gentleman: male protagonist.
A lady: female protagonist.
Characters (cont.)

Low social level:



The joker
The female servant: this character can be
substitute by a girlfriend of the female
protagonist.
The male servant: this character can be
substitute by a friend of the male protagonist.
Different versions of the same schema can be found.
There can be two gentlemen trying to marry the same lady,
two gentlemen and two ladies, etc.
Characters (cont.)


The psicological development of the
characters is not deep. The author is more
interested in the action than in the soul of
his characters.
The comedy always presents a parallel
relationship between the characters. The
gentleman has his contrast in the joker or in
his male servant, and the lady in her friend
or female servant.
Characters (cont.)



This
characters
are
opposites
and
complementaries at the same time.
The gentleman and the lady reflect ideal
moral qualities like honor, education,
bravery, etc.
On the other hand, the servants have a very
practical and realistic vision of life.
Simplicity and rustic behavior are two of
their main qualities.
Characters (cont.)


The low social level characters are in
charge of creating humoristic situations.
They make jokes, act cowardly in dangerous
situations, etc.
This contracts the serious actions develop
by the main characters and make the
audience laugh.
Topics
Religion.
 History.
 Love (honor and revenge).

Topics (cont.)
Religion:
Autos Sacramentales.
Topics (cont.)
History:
National comedies:
describe
national
subjects as wars or
territorial conflicts.
Topics (cont.)
Love:
Honor and revenge
Topics (cont.)


What makes these comedies popular is not
that they express the common people
interests and situations, but that they are
made for the common people to enjoy.
The values trasmited in these plays are still
those that belong to the higher clases.
The comedies are a way of making
propaganda of the traditional social class
division.
Biography


Lope Felix de Vega Carpio (Madrid, Spain,
1562-1635).
Was the most prolific dramatist of Spain’s
“Golden Age”: he is credited with having
written between 1500 and 1800 secular
plays in addition to several hundred Autos.
It is said that he could write a complete
play in a single day.
Biography


(cont.)
Born in the family of a poverty-stricken
nobleman, he received his elementary
training under the Jesuits.
As a young man he served in the campaign
that resulted in the destruction of the
Spanish Armada. Military service, however,
apparently was not permitted to interrupt
the flow of de Vega's literary activity, for,
according to tradition, he wrote steadily
even on shipboard.
Biography



(cont.)
His disregard of the three unities did for
Spain what Shakespeare did for England:
gave it a national theater.
He was frequently referred to as the
"Spanish Phoenix" and "Prodigy of Nature."
Of some 2200 plays, 50 autos and 431
comedies survive. In addition to the autos,
de Vega wrote three other types of plays.
Biography
(cont.)
1. “Dramas of the cloak and sword"
whose spirited and gallant hero
overcame all obstacles to win the lady
of his love.
2. Similar dramas of adventure dealing
with historical and semi-historical
personages.
3. A small group of "social" dramas
portraying contemporary life.
Fuente Ovejuna
(cont.)
This play belongs to the group of
Comedias de Comendadores
within the Lope´s writing. The
“Comendador” as a tyranic and
power-abusive figure has
appeared in other
Lopes´comedies and has a
tradition of previous popular
songs and romances. In Fuente
Ovejuna this character reaches
great intensity and social impact.
Fuente Ovejuna
(cont.)
The historical scene is
placed in the 15th
century. Two
different historical
moments have to be
considered in order to
understand the
meaning of the play.
Fuente Ovejuna

(cont.)
TIME WHEN THE
ACTION TAKES PLACE
(15th century)
Two important facts have to
be pointed out about this
time:
 One is the importance of
the Military Orders.
 Civil War about who
should succed Henry IV
to the throne.

TIME WHEN THE PLAY IS
WRITTEN (beginning of the
17th century)
 Social hierarchy.
Fuente Ovejuna
(cont.)
15th Century

Two important facts have to be pointed about
this time. One is the importance of the Military
Orders, specially the Calatrava Order, in the
reconquering and repopulation of Castille. The
political power was divided in feudos. In charge
of every feudo there was a Maestre, who
delegated some power to several Comendadores.
The Maestre and the
Comendadores were
important charges in the Order.
Fuente Ovejuna
(cont.)
A. Sometimes these figures were so
powerful that could be a threatening for
the Monarchy. This tension between the
Military Orders and the Monarchy is very
strong until The Catholic King and
Queen, who strenghtened the royal power.
Fuente Ovejuna
(cont.)
B. At this time there was a Civil War about
the sucession of Henry IV. The two
parties were:


The defenders of Isabel de Castilla (Henry´s
sister)
The defenders of Juana La Beltraneja (Henry´s
illegitimate daugther)
C. The triumph of the Catholic King and
Queen was in 1476, the same year that the
action of Fuente Ovejuna is set.
Fuente Ovejuna
(cont.)
17th Century
The most important idea was the alliance
between the nobles and the monarchy as
the head of social power. To keep their
positions these groups needed the support
of the common people, specially the rich
countrymen. The King is considered an
example of virtue for the village. He has the
responsibility of governingh his people
without oppressing them.
Fuente Ovejuna: the facts
Fuente Ovejuna is based
on real facts. Lope got
the information for a
Chronicle written by Fray
Francisco de Rades in
1572.
Fuente Ovejuna: the facts (cont.)

In 1476 Fuente Ovejuna, a village located in
Córdoba, Spain, was under the Calatrava´s Order
administration. Fernán Gómez de Guzmán was its
Comendador. He was not only tyranic with the
people of the village, raping the women and abusing
his power in many ways, but he also tried to
manipulate the young Maestre Don Rodrigo Téllez
Girón to betray the Catholic King and Queen and
to support Juana La Beltraneja. This was also
against the feelings of the people in Fuente
Ovejuna, who were loyal to the Monarchy.
Fuente Ovejuna: the facts (cont.)


For all these reasons the whole village decided to
have an uprising and kill the Comendador in the
name of Fuente Ovejuna and the Catholic King.
Between the Chronicle description and Lope´s
comedy there are some differences. The most
significant one is that there are evidences that
the real revolution was organized by literate people
and clergy. But in the Comedy, Lope, in order to
please the audience, presents the country men as
the leaders of the uprising.
Structure
In Fuente Ovejuna, two actions are
described:
 The main action: occurs in a private or
moral stage. It is related to the abuses of
the Comendador.
 The secondary action takes place in a
public or political level.
Lope mixes these two levels so wisely that
they appear completely united at the end.
Characters
El Comendador
He symbolizes opression. Thus, he
does
not
have
psicological
complexity. He just accumulates
negative characteristics: he is
proud, lustful and dishonors his
political possition and humiliates
his vassals.
Characters (cont.)
He is a traitor to the king and a
despot to the people. His action,
threaten the social and political
harmony.
Because
all
these
reasons, although the play never
justifies the crime, his death is
described as an example.
Characters (cont.)
The people: honor, love and revenge.
The village is what it is called a
colective character, meaning that
there
a
not
well
developed
individualities, but many more or less
plain characters that act as a whole.
The village´s people are presented as
honorable and decent, contrasting
with the Comendador´s despotism.
Characters (cont.)
This colective character is gaining
importance as the play is being
represented. It is more intense at
the end of the play when the
whole village decided to kill the
Comendador in the name of
Fuente Ovejuna.
Characters (cont.)
The colective spirit has its climax
in the torture scene. The king
servants
are
torturing
and
interrogatng
the
people
individually. But no matter what
they do, people always answer
Fuente Ovejuna was the killer.
Characters (cont.)


Although it is the colective character who
domains the play some personalities are
stressed.
The lady and the gentleman are the most
important ones: they are Laurencia and
Frondoso. They represent the ¨good love¨ in
contrast to the ¨bad love¨ of the
Comendador.
Characters (cont.)


Because love story is stereotypical is in the
colective action where the critical
importance of this characters is pointed
out.
Frondoso is the first one in having a
confrontation with the Comendador (at the
end of the first act).
Characters (cont.)


Laurencia enbodies the popular anger and
is she who awakes the revenge insticts of
the village. Her speech after being rapted
incitate the revolution.
The other important characters are Mengo
(the joker and Frondoso´s paralell), Esteban
(mayor of Fuente Ovejuna and Laurencia´s
father) and Pascuala (Laurencia´s friend).
Characters (cont.)
Lope´s innovation is to introduce in
the comedies the concept of the
honorous countryman. The honor was
before Lope a virtue reserved for the
nobelty, in Fuente Ovejuna, however,
we see the village fighting to restore
the
honor
humilliated
by
the
Comedador.
Social meaning of the play


For a long time Fuente Ovejuna
was
considered
as
a
very
democratic and revolutionary
play.
Nowadays, literary critics insist
that Fuente Ovejuna is not such
as democratic and feminist play as
it used to be considered.
Quiz
During the 16th & 17th centuries, Spain
was...
a) A declining Empire
b) A colony
c) A united country
Quiz
During the 16th & 17th centuries, Spain
was...
a)
b)
c)
A declining Empire
A colony
A united country
Quiz
(cont.)
Spain´s “Golden Age” means...
a) Thousand
of gold mines were
found in Spain
b) Glorious age of Spanish Arts and
Letters
c) Costumes at that time were usually
made with plenty of golden
ornaments
Quiz
(cont.)
Spain´s “Golden Age” means...
a) Thousand
of gold mines
found in Spain
b)
c)
were
Glorious age of Spanish Arts and
Letters
Costumes at that time were usually
made with plenty of golden
ornaments
Quiz
(cont.)
Stage plays started to be performed in...
a) Beaches
b) Synagogues
c) “Corrales de Comedias”
Quiz
(cont.)
Stage plays started to be performed in...
a) Beaches
b) Synagogues
c)
“Corrales de Comedias”
Quiz
(cont.)
During the 16th century, european
theatre was divided in...
a) Religious, royal and popular
b) Religious, royal and musical
c) Religious and popular
Quiz
(cont.)
During the 16th century,
theatre was divided in...
a)
b)
c)
european
Religious, royal and popular
Religious, royal and musical
Religious and popular
Quiz
(cont.)
The New Comedy is divided into...
a) 5 acts
b) 3 acts
c) 2 acts
Quiz
(cont.)
The New Comedy is divided into...
a) 5 acts
b)
3 acts
c)
2 acts
Quiz
(cont.)
Three characteristics of the New
Comedy are...
a) 3 acts, metrics variety & subject
unity
b) 3 acts, variety of time and places &
metrics variety
c) 5 acts, action unity & unity of place
and time
Quiz
(cont.)
Three characteristics of the New
Comedy are...
a) 3 acts, metrics variety & subject
unity
b)
c)
3 acts, variety of time and places &
metrics variety
5 acts, action unity & unity of place
and time
Quiz
(cont.)
Values transmitted in the comedies
belong to...
a) Musicians
b) Religious people
c) Higher classes
Quiz
(cont.)
Values transmitted in the comedies
belong to...
a) Musicians
b) Religious people
c)
Higher classes
Quiz
(cont.)
Lope de Vega gave to Spain...
a) A musical theatre
b) A national theatre
c) A tragic theatre
Quiz
(cont.)
Lope de Vega gave to Spain...
a) A musical theatre
b)
A national theatre
c)
A tragic theatre
Quiz
(cont.)
Fuente Ovejuna is placed in the...
a) 15th century
b) 14th century
c) 10th century
Quiz
(cont.)
Fuente Ovejuna is placed in the...
a)
b)
c)
15th century
14th century
10th century
Quiz
(cont.)
The main characters in Fuente Ovejuna
are..
a) El Comendador and the lady
b) The gentleman and the lady
c) The people and the lady
Quiz
(cont.)
The main characters in Fuente Ovejuna
are..
a) El Comendador and the lady
b) The gentleman and the lady
c)
The people and El Comendador