The Theatre of Spain and New Spain to 1700 (Calderón and His Contemporaries) Pedro Calderón de la Barca is the second-most dominant Spanish dramatist from the Golden Age. Many critics ranked Calderón above Lope de Vega! While Lope de Vega and his contemporaries wrote for the public theatre, Calderón and his contemporaries wrote primarily for court theatre. Historians see this as a major cause of the decline of Spanish drama. Calderón wrote nearly all of his best secular plays between 1622 and 1640. Calderón became a priest in 1651, but continued to write autos sacramentales for Madrid. He wrote around 200 plays; about 100 have survived; 80 are autos. Image: http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/art-115986/Pedro-Calderon-de-la-Barca? 1

The Theatre of Spain and New Spain to 1700 (Calderón and His Contemporaries) Calderón’s plays mostly fall into two categories: “cape and sword” plays honor plays His most famous secular play is Life Is a Dream. The play is a philosophical allegory about the human situation and the mystery of life. The theme of the play is that life is a dream from which only death awakes us. Calderón wrote only one outstanding comedia after 1640, The Mayor of Zalemea. After 1652, all of his secular plays were written by demand from the court. These short, light, myth-based plays came to be called zarzuelas for the royal hunting lodge at which they were performed. Title page from Life is a Dream. Image: http://www.spanish-art.org/spanish-literature-baroque-verse.html 2

The Theatre of Spain and New Spain to 1700 (Calderón and His Contemporaries) Calderón is best known for his autos – he is said to have perfected the form. Although he had written autos from the beginning of the career, he turned to them especially after 1647. He wrote about 2 a year for the city of Madrid until his death. His best autos, however, were written before he became a priest. The top two are: The Constant Prince Devotion to the Cross Pedro Calderon de la Barca. Image: Wikipedia 3

The Theatre of Spain and New Spain to 1700 (Calderón and His Contemporaries) Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla wrote at the same time as Calderón. He lived in Madrid, where he held a position at court and wrote plays for the royal theatre. He wrote about 70 plays. He broke new ground with light comedy works, using new character types from what was traditional at the time. Although he had few followers in Spain, his plays were greatly admired in France. Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla Image: http://www.margaritaxirgu.es/castellano/vivencia4/155c/155c.htm 4

The Theatre of Spain and New Spain to 1700 (Calderón and His Contemporaries) Agustín Moreto y Cabaña is another contemporary of Calderón. He was born in Madrid and spent most of his life at court, for which he principally wrote. He wrote fifty plays, most of which are adaptations of comedias by Lope de Vega (and others). His best-known work, Scorn for Scorn, inspired the French playwright Molière. Moreto had a wide following among aristocratic audiences. Agustín Moreto y Cabaña Image: Wikipedia 5