The most important plays of Calderón de la Barca

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Calderón de la Barca was one of the most famous writers of the baroque, literary current belonging to the Golden Age. Calderón de la Barca was known especially for his theater, although they are not the only jewels that he left us as an inheritance. Know the plays by Calderón de la Barca It is essential for anyone in the world and not just for students. For this reason, in this lesson from a PROFESSOR we are going to delve into his literary production so that you can better understand his work as a writer and playwright. Take note of this complete selection!

Index

1. Biography of Calderón de la Barca: who was it?
2. Type of plays by de Calderón de la Barca
3. The life is dream
4. The goblin lady
5. The mayor of Zalamea

Calderón de la Barca was born in Madrid on January 17 in 1600 and died in the same place on May 25, 1681, in the bosom of a family of noble origin. It was Knight of the Order of Santiago

He was educated at the Imperial College of the Jesuits, in Madrid. Here, but she started to acquaint yourself with classical poets that so much influenced him later. In 1614 he decided to enroll at the University of Alcalá to leave it a year later. In 1615 he did the same at the University of Salamanca, where he studied Canons and Law until 1920.

In his youth, Pedro Calderón de la Barca he was a revolutionary soldier. He was involved in several violent encounters. He was charged with murder and rape of the cloister of a nunnery. Likewise, he was also part of the campaign to quell the rebellion in Catalonia against the Crown in 1640. In his mature age, Calderón de la Barca was a priest.

His life greatly influenced his work, so much so that he contrasts the impulse of his youth with the more reflective side of his maturity. Since 1642, Calderón asks for his military retirement to enter the service of the Duke of Alba, until in 1651 he is ordained as a priest. This time of tranquility and respite allowed her to write his great literary works.

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The author mainly writes comedies and autos sacramentales. Towards the year 1623, Calderón premiered his first comedies that managed to captivate Felipe IV and that made him become the court playwright. But it is not until 1942 that he begins his most brilliant time in literature.

In his work they can be clearly differentiated two trends. The first closely follows the realistic, national and traditional theater, very characteristic of Lope de Vega, and a second more personal. Here we find the most symbolic and lyrical proposals of the author. The characters offer further schematization.

The life is dream is, perhaps, the author's masterpiece. It was released in 1635 and has acquired great universal value. It is one of the culminating works of the Spanish Golden Age. But, due to its complexity, the work has given rise to various interpretations. Calderón de la Barca manages to represent the human condition through his characters.

The main theme of the work is very varied since Calderón makes use of miscellany to introduce various themes, but the central theme of the work revolves around the triumph of freedom and the predestination of man.

Plot of the work

King Basil of Poland has imprisoned his son Sigismund since he was just a child after hearing the prophecy of an oracle that Sigismund would be a cruel king. But years later, he decides to remove Sigismund from the tower in which he is locked to see if, really, the prophecy is true. When leaving his confinement, Sigismund, who was not used to the noise of the city, behaves in a cruel and petty way, just what the prophecy had revealed. For this reason, King Basilio decides to drug his son and lock him up in the tower again to make him believe that it had all been a dream.

But the town finds out that there is an heir to the Crown and decides to free Sigismund. The King, frightened by this revolt, expects the worst from his son, but he places himself at the feet of his father after having reflected on his confinement.

Structure of the work

It consists of three acts, or conferences:

• The first act (eight scenes) is the contextualizing element, that is, it presents the characters and the space-time location of the story.
• The second act (nineteen scenes) is the one that leads to the conflict.
• The third act (fourteen scenes) is the part in which the denouement takes place.

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The goblin lady is a comedy released in 1929 belonging to the subgenre of the swashbuckling comedy that Calderón cultivated in his youth. In this work, as is customary in the genre, there is no lack of mockery and entanglement in the three acts that the work contains.

Plot of the work

The protagonist, called Doña Ángela, is a young widow who lives under the surveillance of her brothers to keep her honor. When she comes home to Don Manuel, who considers himself a heartthrob, she, Dona Angela, falls madly in love with him. To seduce him, Dona Angela will pretend to be a goblin. Thus, in addition, she will be able to avoid the control of her siblings.

The mayor of Zalamea is a historical comedy that Calderón de la Barca wrote in the time of Felipe II. In this work, Calderón deals with a topic previously addressed by Lope de Vega. It focuses on humor, but in a very special way. We do not find anything like another of the playwright's works. His way of treating the subject of honor that has been approached so many times makes it one of the masterpieces in the history of Spanish literature.

The honor and justice are the main themes of this comedy, although not the only ones. Love and the struggle of social classes accompany the main themes of the play.

Plot of the work

The work narrates a drama lived in Zalamea de la Serena when the Spanish troops passed by on the way to the Portuguese War. Here, Captain Álvaro Ataide stays in the house of the wealthy farmer from Zalamea, Pedro Crespo. The captain kidnaps and outrages the farmer's daughter. Pedro Crespo tries to solve the situation by offering goods to the captain so that he can marry Isabel, but he rejects her for being of an inferior condition.

The contempt suffered by Captain Álvaro Ataide affects the honor of the family. Pedro, elected mayor of Zalamea, wants justice and kills Don Álvaro.

Structure of the work

It is organized in three acts, as is usual for the author, with six paintings in the first act, four in the second act and another four in the third act. Although the action takes place in the town of Zalamea, the spaces change constantly, which allows the work to have a great movement.

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