The Steps of Lope de Rueda

Image: Biographies and Lives

Do you know what the Lope de Rueda Steps are? It was a theatrical subgenre invented by this Golden Age playwright and they drank from the Italian influence. Short theater pieces, full of humor and hilarious situations, that were performed among the acts of the longest comedies. They were the precedents to the hors d'oeuvres and its creator was Lope de Rueda. In this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to offer you a summary on the steps of Lope de Rueda so that you know the main characteristics of it. We will also analyze "The olives", one of the most important steps of the author. We started!

Index

1. Lope de Rueda, the creator of the Steps
2. Introduction to the Steps of Lope de Rueda
3. Characteristics of Los Pasos de Lope de Rueda
4. The olives of Lope de Rueda

Lope de Rueda is one of the Spanish playwrights of the Golden Age highlights of the period. Although his main profession was that of a gold beater, he ended up abandoning it to dedicate himself fully to the theater. He founded his own company and achieved great success with the Spanish public.

His literary style was very influenced by Italian comedy and, with his works, he achieved a great adaptation of the Italian lyric to the Spanish. Lope de Rueda wrote a large number of theatrical pieces, among which the comedies and, of course, the steps stand out.

What are the Lope de Rueda Steps

It is the most important creation that Lope de Rueda made of the Spanish theater. They were short theater pieces what were represented interspersed in prose comedies. They were, then, the pieces preceding the hors d'oeuvres and whose objective was to entertain the public with simple and fun plots full of comic situations and people.

The Steps were preceding the hors d'oeuvres, a type of genre that was also cultivated by Cervantes and that today we can know thanks to the fact that all of them are gathered in a publication known as Cervantes's Entremeses.

In the literature of the Spanish Golden Age the theatrical genre experienced a great heyday. Playwrights innovated with this genre of literature, which was the most social and the one that reached the public in the most immediate and direct way. From this time is also Lope de Vega, the creator of the New Art of Making Comedies that caused a real revolution in the world of theater. But in addition to this well-known contribution by Lope de Vega, we must meet another Lope, Lope de Rueda, who also introduced important novelties in the theatrical field.

And it is that Lope de Rueda created the Steps. They were short theater pieces that were performed interspersed between the acts of a long play. This playwright was in charge of fix the structure of the Steps and to turn them into a characteristic element of the works that were produced in the Golden Age. Thanks to this contribution, Lope de Rueda has gone down in history as a relevant playwright of this brilliant era and, in addition, they also made him a prominent character in the sector during his time theatrical.

In 1567 the Pasos de Lope de Rueda appear published which were distributed in two volumes: "The delightful" and "Registration of representatives". The works that we find in these volumes have very similar characteristics that we will analyze in detail below.

Image: CEIP La Vera Cruz

As we have already mentioned, Lope de Rueda's Pasos are creations that have a series of peculiarities that make them unique. Next, we are going to show you the characteristics of these short theater creations so that you can better know what they were like.

The characters of the Steps

Being short-lived works, this meant that the number of characters was also short. Lope de Rueda's pieces usually present steps that go from 3 characters to 5 maximum. Therefore, it is a much lower amount than what the theatrical authors of the 16th century were accustomed to.

In addition, these characters used to fulfill a series of features:

• They used to represent the lower class of society
• The figure of the master appeared as a counterpoint to the servant
• Type characters who embodied the good and evil of society
• The protagonist was almost always part of the lower class and embodied attributes of honesty

Comic pieces

Another of the most representative characteristics of the Pasos de Lope de Rueda is that they were comical. In fact, the main objective sought with this type of work was to achieve entertain the public with funny and funny situations. In this way, it was possible to keep the spectators' spirits and that they could rest and relax from the main play (remember that the plays of the Golden Age could go on all day).

Duration of Steps

We have already commented that they were short plays. And it is that they were represented between acts to allow the actors to rest and the public also to rest. This made the works have to have a very controlled duration, something that affected the plot making it had to develop quickly and that it was composed of simple elements.

The language of the Steps

Unlike the theatrical works, the Pasos de Lope de Rueda they were written in prose. This was something totally innovative in the sector since the authors only wrote theater in verse. With this resource, the author was able to give his characters more credibility since, as we have commented, the vast majority of them represented the lower class of society.

Image: Slideshare

And to finish this lesson on the Steps of Lope de Rueda we have to talk about one of the most important of the author. We refer to the Pass entitled "The olives" and which was published in 1548.

Argument from The olives by Lope de Rueda

This short play tells the story of a family made up of Toruvio, Águeda and his daughter Mencigüela. The plot revolves around the plantation of an olive grove. Toruvio affirms that he has planted the olives so that, in a few years, they can enjoy their own olive grove. As a result of this, the couple argue about the price of olives, in which they do not seem to agree. The discussion will become very strong until the neighbor appears on the scene who will show them that they are arguing over some olives that do not even exist.

Topics for this Step

As you can see, the argument of this Step is very simple. The plot takes place in the same space where we witness the irrational discussion of a couple. However, although it seems like a simple argument, this work is dealing with some important issues. Here we discover them:

• Differences between men and women: in this piece you can clearly see the difference between the education of a man and a woman
• The role of children: It is also clear that the role of children in the family was hardly relevant

However, let's remember that the main objective of the Steps was to entertain and amuse. Therefore, in "Las olitunas" the author will make use of very humorous stylistic resources that are influenced by burlesque comedy.

If you want to read more articles similar to The Steps of Lope de Rueda: summary, we recommend that you enter our category of Reading.