Classical Dramatic Rules Versus Lope de Vega's New Art

Classical Precepts of Renaissance Drama

The rules of the Renaissance classical precepts, appealing to the authority of Aristotle and Horace, defended a series of strict guidelines for dramatic composition:

1. Clear Distinction Between Tragedy and Comedy

   A clear distinction must be maintained between tragedy and comedy. These genres were characterized by specific elements:

   • Tragedy: Characterized by action moving from a happy onset to a sad ending, the sublimity of the characters (gods, kings, and high nobility), and a high degree of reality. The subject matter had to be historic, and the tragedy had to be written in heroic verse.
   • Comedy: The action of the play moved from conflict to ultimate happiness. The social status of the characters had to be medium or low, and the matter should not be historic, but invented. The form used was prose, which was more akin to colloquial language, although verse was also admitted in Spain.

2. Structure and the Three Unities

   The works had to be structured in five acts and strictly adhere to the three unities: time, place, and action.

3. Purpose of the Plays

   The purpose of the plays was to achieve a delightful teaching: to mix, as Horace said, the useful with the sweet.

Lope de Vega's New Art of Making Comedies (1609)

In 1609, Lope de Vega published the New Art of Making Comedies at This Time (Arte nuevo de hacer comedias en este tiempo), a foundational work defending the new Spanish comedy and reflecting on various aspects of theater. Lope proposed a set of new rules that broke with classical tradition:

1. The Characters

   It is permissible to mix both tragic and comic characters, including nobles and commoners, who are involved in the same actions.

2. Mixture of Genres

   The mixture of comedy and tragedy is encouraged, as it reflects what happens in real life.

3. The Unity of Action

   The unity of action should be maintained, although Lope himself did not always adhere to this rule.

4. The Unities of Time and Place

   It is not necessary to meet the unities of time and place, although it is recommended that the action takes place in the shortest time possible.

5. The Number of Acts

   The works consist of three acts (exposition, knot, and outcome). The act, or 'day,' is divided, in turn, into scenes, which sometimes take place in different times and places. Thus, the variety within the play increases.

6. Intense National Color

   Even if the characters are not Spanish, they always express themselves and behave as such. This allows the local public to feel identified with them.

7. The Metric

   The comedy is always written in verse, alternating hendecasyllables and octosyllables, with a predominance of the latter. Stanzas vary widely: romances, quatrains, décimas, sonnets, etc. The verse form fits the situation, according to a tradition that ascribes a specific subject to each meter.

8. Purpose

   The ultimate goal of comedy is to delight, and for that reason, the language used must be accessible to all audiences.