SACRAMENTAL car: characteristics and works

When we study the history of Golden Age literature, a term appears that is very common: the Auto Sacramental. It is a piece of theater that is framed within the religious theater and that usually has very specific characteristics. These pieces used to be represented in religious festivals and had a great scenography and a very careful work of literary style and artistic interpretation. In this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to show you the characteristics of the Auto sacramental and the most outstanding works so that you can better understand what this dramatic subgenre consists of, promoted, above all, by an author as important as Calderón de la Barca.

Before entering fully into the characteristics of the Auto sacramental, we are going to better define this subgenre that is part of the drama or theater genre. It is a play that deals with a religious theme, a liturgical drama that used to talk about episodes from the Bible or show moral conflicts that were solved with the norms and commandments of Christianity.

The Autos Sacramentals were represented in religious holidays and they used to be celebrated in temples or on the outskirts of churches. The oldest text that is included within this subgenre is the Cars of the Magi, dating from 1145; However, it was from the Spanish Golden Age that this genre began to be cultivated more constantly and great literary pieces were created.

The authors of the Golden Age that most cultivated Autos Sacramentals were, above all, Calderón de la Barca, followed by Tirso de Molina or Lope de Vega, among many others. The structure that this theatrical piece follows is usually the following:

• Introduction or loa
• Songs and dances
• Allegorical ending

As we have already commented, the topics on which the Autos Sacramentales deal with are religious and, normally, they represented biblical scenes or dealt with moral issues resolved by the Christian community. Although at first these works were performed in the streets, in the end they were performed in large theaters, due to the magnificence of their props and staging.

The main purpose of these theatrical pieces was to spread the Catholic faith and Christian morals. For this reason, the texts are full of archetypal characters that lead the public to reach the conclusions they want to highlight.

Now that we know the definition, let's analyze the main characteristics of the Autos Sacramentales so you can learn to identify the elements most used in this literary subgenre. Here is a list of the most common elements:

• Religious theme.As we have already commented in the previous section, the Auto Sacramental is characterized above all by talking about religious issues and strongly linked to the Christian faith. The content was usually presented as an allegorical drama and covered both biblical and moral issues related to Christianity.
• Educated author. Another important point is that in order to write an Auto Sacramental it was imperative that the author had in-depth knowledge of religion and morality; in addition, he also had to have a great command of theater and staging. These pieces were very striking and elaborate, therefore, the author had extensive knowledge on the subject.
• Outdoor. Normally, these plays were performed outdoors so that the Christian message could reach a greater number of people. In areas such as town squares, religious temples or in front of the church these representations were usually carried out.
• Teaching objective. Another characteristic of the Autos Sacramentales is that the objective they pursued was to instruct the people with the Christian mentality. They were inspired by passages from the Bible or featured clichéd characters to give a clear and concise message to the population.
• One act only. The most classic and traditional cars are those that were only represented in a single act, therefore, they are not too extensive works and with a very clear and direct message. Over the years, some authors added one more act to better divide the plot, but the most common was that everything was crowded into a single act.
• Careful scenography. In this sense, Calderón de la Barca he got great works that not only contained an allegorical theme, but the staging was also magnificent. A scenography that was designed to surprise the public and fully immerse them in the message that he wanted to convey with his work.

Types of sacramental cars

It is also important that we know the different types of autos sacramentales that used to be cultivated. Depending on its content, we find these types:

• Biblical. They are the cars that represent scenes from the Bible.
• Theological. They focus on transmitting the knowledge of God and spreading his teachings to the people.
• Mariano. They are the sacramental cars that focused on the figure of the Virgin Mary, the mother of God.
• Hagiographic. These cars are the ones that present us the life or teachings of the saints.

We end this lesson by talking about the most outstanding authors and works of Auto sacramental. As we have already mentioned, the most outstanding of them all was Calderón de la Barca, since he managed to create very colorful scenic pieces with a scenography that was totally correlated with the allegorical tone of the work. Within its production, it is worth highlighting the cars of "The great market of the world" or "The supper of King Baltasar".

But, in addition to Calderón, there are also other authors who cultivated this subgenre:

• Lope de Vega
• Tirso de Molina
• Francisco Rojas Zorrilla
• Sor Juana Ines De La Cruz
• Agustin Moreto

Example of auto sacramental

ALBEDRÍO: Who, if so, are you complaining?

MAN: From you, villain.

ALBEDRÍO: Did I do more than be at your obedience?

UNDERSTANDING: Yes, because between good and evil / evil you inclined him.

WILL: You will do / what now, that Agency / inclines, but not force.

Fragment of The life is dream of Calderón de la Barca.