The 4 most important WORKS of Francisco de QUEVEDO

The Madrid writer Francisco Quevedo (1580-1645) was framed in the period known as the Golden age, a time within the arts in Spain that is recognized as the flowering of the fine arts that went hand in hand with the formation and imperial growth. In this lesson from a teacher we will see the Quevedo's most important works. To do this, we will contextualize and make a brief summary of 4 iconic books at different times in his life.

Index

1. Introduction to Quevedo's work
2. History of the life of the Buscón (1603)
3. The Dreams (1605-1622)
4. Politics of God, government of Christ, tyranny of Satan (1626)
5. Life of Marcus Brutus (1646)

To begin this lesson it is pertinent that we contextualize a little Quevedo's work and the life of the same author. Although he was born in Madrid, his fame as a writer and his training occurred in the city of Valladolid. Added to his poetics and his love for literature, he developed following his father in politics with charges within the court.

It is interesting to mention that, despite his name as a writer, his work was not reproduced under his supervision during the time. Additionally, it is often mentioned that he had astrong enmitywith another of the great writers of the time: Luis de Gongora (1561-1627).

His work was characterized by being melancholic, with a certain burlesque humor and with a lot of poetry, as was typical in the baroque. The 4 books that we will see in this lesson from a Teacher are: "History of the life of the Buscón", "The Dreams", "Politics of God, government of Christ, tyranny of Satan" and "Marco Bruto".

We start by talking about one of Quevedo's most important works: History of the life of the Buscón (1603). One of the most interesting points of this first book is that, de facto, Francisco Quevedo never acknowledged having written it. Due to its strong controversial tone and under the context that was lived Inquisition, the perpetrator is believed to have lied to protect himself.

The life of the Buscón is a picaresque novel what is divided into three books and recounts the life from the childhood of Don Pablos of Segovia. With this, the author seeks to reflect on the actions of the protagonist that, after all, even though they are morally or ethically questionable, generate laughter in the reader. It is a novel that also tells us about the social ascent during the time and the difficulties of wanting to ascend in the social scale having a humble origin.

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This work, which actually has the very long name of "Dreams and discourses of truths discovering abuses, vices and deceptions in all trades and states of the world", is the first philosophical installment of Quevedo.

Influenced by tradition humanistic, the author carries out a social critique that he divides into various sections: "Dream of the Final Judgment", "The demonized bailiff", "Dream of Hell", "The world from within" and "Dream of death". This is a work full of pessimism, which represents the baroque literatureThrough allegories we see a conceptual stance on morality, man's ways of being, the divine and the profane, etc.

So far we have seen two types of works: a picaresque novel and a philosophical book. In this case, Quevedo gives us a work of his elucubrations in the field of politics.

In this book we can discover that for Quevedo the origin of political power lies in God, but this is not what gives power to the ruler of the monarchy. Conversely, the political power of a king has to do with the pact that he establishes with that of his own people. Under this line, the work is divided into two parts: one dedicated to the Count-Duke of Olivares and a second to Pope Urban VIII.

With this last title we end the tour of some of Quevedo's most important works. This time, the author dedicates the book of the life of Marcus Brutus, the assassin of Caesar (as known from the writings of Plutarch).

As Ignacio Arellano indicates in his text Life and work of Francisco de Quevedo, with these works, Quevedo has a master's degree in:

“Conceptist poetic language (…), with all the complexity of mental and verbal concepts advocated by such aesthetics, and carried to the extreme of all skill and experimentation with language and poetry, from the creative use of models chosen ”.

This same author points out that with The Life of Marco Bruto, Quevedo condensed the intention that he had had throughout his life, that is, to use a prose "where he criticizes the vices of bad government, defends a Christian stoicism or comments on contemporary political events."

If you want to read more articles similar to Quevedo: most important works, we recommend that you enter our category of History of Literature.

• Arellano, I. (s.f.). Life and work of Francisco de Quevedo.
• Quevedo, F. (1603). History of the life of the Buscón.
• Quevedo, F. (1605-1622). Dreams.
• Quevedo, F. (1626). Politics of God, government of Christ, tyranny of Satan.
• Quevedo, F. (1646). Life of Marco Bruto.