FÉLIX LOPE DE VEGA Y CARPIO Presenters: Marina Palomo Elena Zapico November 2003

FÉLIX LOPE DE VEGA Y CARPIO

Presenters:

Marina PalomoElena 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


Lope de Vega Biography Fuente Ovejuna

The facts Structure Characters Social meaning


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.


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.


These are basically the problems that affected the

Spanish political and economical scene during

the 17th century.

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.


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.



Philip IV

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.


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.

16th Century 17th Century

1550 60 70 80 90 1600 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 1700

CERVANTES

GÓNGORA

LOPE DE VEGA

QUEVEDO

TIRSO DE MOLINA

CALDERÓN DE LA BARCA

GRACIÁN

Spanish Barroque Authors

Theatre in the Spanish Golden Age (cont.)

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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


Lope melted all this elements in an original formula described in his play Arte Nuevo de Hacer Comedias (New Art for Writing Comedies).


Lope´s Comedy formula was followed by the theater authors during the 17th century and beyond. Let´s analyze its characteristics.


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.


The rejection of classical precepts and the

pretention of natural behavior are the features

that determined the structure of comedies.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.

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 unityMixture 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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


17th CenturyThe 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 ComendadorHe 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 Empireb) A colonyc) A united country

Quiz

During the 16th & 17th centuries, Spain was...

a) A declining Empireb) A colonyc) 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

Lettersc) Costumes at that time were

usually made with plenty of golden ornaments

Quiz (cont.)

Spain´s “Golden Age” means...a) Thousand of gold mines were

found in Spain b) Glorious age of Spanish Arts and

Lettersc) Costumes at that time were

usually made with plenty of golden ornaments

Quiz (cont.)

Stage plays started to be performed in...

a) Beaches b) Synagoguesc) “Corrales de Comedias”

Quiz (cont.)

Stage plays started to be performed in...

a) Beaches b) Synagoguesc) “Corrales de Comedias”

Quiz (cont.)

During the 16th century, european theatre was divided in...

a) Religious, royal and popular b) Religious, royal and musicalc) Religious and popular

Quiz (cont.)

During the 16th century, european theatre was divided in...

a) Religious, royal and popular b) Religious, royal and musicalc) Religious and popular

Quiz (cont.)

The New Comedy is divided into...a) 5 actsb) 3 actsc) 2 acts

Quiz (cont.)

The New Comedy is divided into...a) 5 actsb) 3 actsc) 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) 3 acts, variety of time and places & metrics variety

c) 5 acts, action unity & unity of place and time

Quiz (cont.)

Values transmitted in the comedies belong to...

a) Musiciansb) Religious peoplec) Higher classes

Quiz (cont.)

Values transmitted in the comedies belong to...

a) Musiciansb) Religious peoplec) Higher classes

Quiz (cont.)

Lope de Vega gave to Spain...a) A musical theatreb) A national theatrec) A tragic theatre

Quiz (cont.)

Lope de Vega gave to Spain...a) A musical theatreb) A national theatrec) A tragic theatre

Quiz (cont.)

Fuente Ovejuna is placed in the...a) 15th centuryb) 14th centuryc) 10th century

Quiz (cont.)

Fuente Ovejuna is placed in the...a) 15th centuryb) 14th centuryc) 10th century

Quiz (cont.)

The main characters in Fuente Ovejuna are..

a) El Comendador and the ladyb) The gentleman and the ladyc) The people and the lady

Quiz (cont.)

The main characters in Fuente Ovejuna are..

a) El Comendador and the ladyb) The gentleman and the ladyc) The people and El Comendador

Documents

FÉLIX LOPE DE VEGA Y CARPIO Presenters: Marina Palomo Elena Zapico November 2003