Life is Calderón's dream

The life is dream, written by Pedro Calderon de la Barca and premiered in 1635, it is one of the most important works, not only of the Golden Age of Spanish literature, but of the entire literary history of the country.

The theater piece mixes love, family and political intrigues with philosophical questions that have left us with some of the most emblematic monologues of Spanish theater. In this lesson from a TEACHER we want to help you understand it better with a summary of The life is dreamby Calderón de la Barca.

Index

1. Life is a dream: brief summary by acts
2. Day I of Life is a dream
3. Summary of Life is a dream: Day II
4. Day III of Life is a dream

The life is dream it's divided in three acts, called days, which structure the work following the outline of approach-node-denouement. To help you in your task, here is a summary of The life is dream separated by the acts or days of the work of Calderón de la Barca. We started!

We know Rosaura, a young woman who arrives in Poland accompanied by her servant Clarion and disguised as a man. The two have gotten lost on the way when they see a tower and approach it. Inside the tower is Sigismund, lamenting their situation out loud, so Rosaura and Clarín decide to listen to their complaints secretly. Sigismund laments his captivity, longing for the freedom of animals and nature, for he has been locked up since he was born.

Rosaura, empathizing with her sorrows, sympathizes with Sigismund, and is about to tell him of her own misfortunes when she enters Clotaldo. Since no one is supposed to find the tower, Clotaldo wants to arrest them, but just then he recognizes Rosaura's sword as the sword that he left to his former lover, Rosaura's mother. Without saying anything to the girl Clotaldo recognizes her as hers son (he doesn't know that Rosaura is actually a girl in disguise), and Rosaura mentions that she has come with this weapon to get revenge on someone.

In scene V, Calderón introduces us to the palace. The cousins Astolfo and Estrella are in court to discuss the succession to the throne of his uncle, the king basil. The two are possible heirs, so Astolfo proposes to Estrella marriage to secure the throne for both of us. Star does not say no, but a medallion that he is wearing Astolfo catches his attention, thinking that it could be the portrait of a loved one.

The king arrives, and in a long monologue, he reveals to everyone that has a secret son that he locked in a tower after hearing a prophecy that he predicted that his son would be a cruel and terrible prince who would humiliate him in front of the people. He now he regrets having done it, since it is he who has become a tyrant for having locked him up, and has a plan: Basilio will free his son (legitimate prince) for a day and he will put him to the throne, and if he sees that he is really cruel and tyrannical, he will lock him up again with a clear conscience.

Clotaldo takes Rosaura and Clarín before the king, but since he has already revealed the existence of Sigismund, he sets them free. Clotaldo now asks Rosaura the object of his revenge, and she doesn't just say that she is Astolfo, but he also hints to Clotaldo that she is a woman, which makes dishonor on the part of the man possible.

Clotaldo informs the king that the plan is already underway. Sigismund has been put to sleep and taken to the palace. Basilio reveals that he will watch Sigismund behave like king for a day, and if he goes wrong, he will lock him up asleep in the tower again and he will make believe that it was all a dream. Clarín also talks to Clotaldo and informs him that Rosaura is now posing as Clotaldo's niece and has become a lady of Estrella's palace.

Sigismund enters, awakened and amazed to find himself in the palace. Clotaldo tells him about his real identity and his prophecy, and Sigismund gets angry and she threatens to kill him. His behavior is not much better with the servants (one ends up thrown off the balcony) or with Astolfo. King Basilio is disappointed by Sigismund's attitude, and warns him that "perhaps you are dreaming, / although you see that you are awake ”, but he does not believe it and reproaches him for his cruelty in having locked. Rosaura arrives, and Sigismund fills her with compliments for her beauty, which she rejects, calling him a barbarian and a tyrant. Clotaldo goes out to rescue her from her, and Sigismund is about to kill him when Astolfo enters, and then Estrella and the king, who decides that they will put him back to sleep to return him to the tower.

Astolfo and Estrella remain, with Rosaura listening to them, and Astolfo reiterates his love for Estrella, who again reproaches him for the portrait that she wears around her neck. Estrella asks Rosaura (who now goes by the name "Astrea") to pick up the medallion that she has asked Astolfo to get rid of. Astolfo recognizes herAlthough she denies it, and since he still loves her, he does not want to give her her portrait. Estrella arrives, and Rosaura makes up a story with another portrait that she had and she manages to escape from it, but Astolfo cannot give Estrella her portrait and she gets angry.

Meanwhile, Sigismund is back in his sleeping cell, and Clarín is locked up for knowing too much. When he wakes up, Sigismund doubts whether he is still dreaming or not, questioning the limits of dream and reality. He tells Clotaldo his "dream", and he replies that even in dreams it doesn't hurt to do good. Sigismund reflects on all this through his most famous monologue from The life is dream:

I dream i'm here
these prisons loaded,
and I dreamed that in another state
more flattering I saw myself.
What is life? A frenzy.
What is life? An illusion,
a shadow, a fiction,
and the greatest good is small:
that all life is a dream,
and dreams are dreams.

We finish this summary of The life is dream speaking of the third and last act, or journey.

Clarín is in his cell when some soldiers appear to free him, thinking that he is Sigismund. The real Sigismund appears, thinking again that perhaps it is all a dream, and the soldiers cheer for him. Clotaldo, seeing everything, thinks that he will die, but Sigismund forgives him, believing now in doing good. The town is divided Among those who want Sigismund as king (and not the foreigner Astolfo), and the faithful to King Basilio, and upon finding out everything, Basilio decides to intervene. Meanwhile, Rosaura asks Clotaldo to kill Astolfo to save her honor (they were lovers, but Astolfo left), but Clotaldo cannot do it because he is faithful to the king's side, so Rosaura prepares to kill him herself herself.

Rosaura approaches the side of Sigismund and Clarín and tells Sigismund her story, including the fact that they had already seen each other twice (in the tower and at court). This confuses Sigismund, who thought that one of these had been a dream, but he is determined to do good. The battle between the two sides is going on and they hurt Clarín. Basilio decides to surrender to Sigismund, and Clotaldo tells him that the book of man's will is stronger than the determinism of destiny.

The king prostrates himself in front of Sigismund, fulfilling the prophecy, but Sigismund forgives him. Furthermore, Sigismund decides restore Rosaura's honor marrying her to Astolfo and Clotaldo finally reveals to everyone that she is his daughter. Sigismund will marry Estrella, and will also punish the soldiers who betrayed the king, thus receiving the praise of all and solving all the loose ends.

And with this, we end this summary of The life is dream, an essential work of the Baroque literature.

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Calderón De la Barca, P. (2016). The life is dream.