Cervantes's Entremeses: Bridging Reality and Fiction in Golden Age Theatre

When Miguel de Cervantes penned his works, a central challenge for the novel was to reconcile the opposition between fantasy and reality as literary categories. The novels written at the time (e.g., books of chivalry, pastoral romances) were often based on the recreation of the fantastic and improbable. Cervantes's great contribution was to break this rigid opposition between reality and fantasy, achieving full autonomy for the fictional world. The fantastic and the real became categories that did not rely on pure objective reality, but rather on the internal consistency created within the new "novelistic reality."

The dichotomy Cervantes established was not merely between fiction and reality, but between life and its literary portrayals. His popular Entremeses (interludes) are brief plays, mostly written in prose. Together, they constitute a small repertoire of masterpieces, widely regarded as Cervantes's finest short dramatic works.

Notable Entremeses and Their Themes

Among the most acclaimed are The Altarpiece of the Wonders and The Careful Watchman. The first is an acute, forceful comic satire against social hypocrisy. The theme of the betrayed husband also appears in The Cave of Salamanca and The Jealous Old Man.

Other significant Entremeses include:

• The Judge of Divorces
• The Election of the Mayors of Daganzo
• The Ruffian Widower
• The Feigned Vizcayan (considered of lesser interest)

Cervantes's Entremeses have always been admired without hesitation. Their quality is based on the interplay of fantasy and reality, a hallmark of Cervantes's work. Designed to provoke laughter, they subtly address major assumptions of contemporary society, often with a final taste of bitterness and disappointment. Though some were never performed, Cervantes's interludes rigorously adhere to the theatrical model of the time. Destined to be performed between acts of major comedies, each Entremés consists of a single act.

Character Archetypes and Dialogue

The characters, typical of the Entremés genre, are enshrined types: the ailing old man, the grumpy individual, the jealous husband, the ruffian, the sanctimonious person, the braggart soldier, the Vizcayan, and so forth. Thus, the audience, upon first encountering these characters on stage, knew what to expect.

The social environment is reflected through open and concise dialogue. Reality intertwines with courtly language, cultism, Latin phrases, and literary allusions, blending with momentary expressions or proverbial phrases and proverbs. Prevarication or archaic language often arises from the mouths of rustic characters, who, in turn, are seduced by the wonder of elevated words, Latin phrases, or legal jargon. Another success of Cervantes lies in the evocative names he bestows upon his minor characters.

Publication and Legacy

Cervantes's Entremeses, published in 1615, saw three alternative editions that year, with minor differences. They continued to be re-edited until the mid-eighteenth century.

List of Cervantes's Entremeses:

• The Cave of Salamanca
• The Election of the Mayors of Daganzo
• The Careful Watchman
• The Judge of Divorces
• The Altarpiece of the Wonders
• The Ruffian Widower
• The Jealous Old Man
• The Feigned Vizcayan