La Celestina: Editions, Characters, Themes, and Fernando de Rojas' Legacy

The Human Comedy Genre

Regarding the 'Human Comedy' genre, sometimes attributed to Petrarch: Its arguments are often simple, servants play very important roles, it can contain obscene passages, and it may feature illogical changes of space and time.

La Celestina

First Edition (1499, Burgos)

• Originally titled Comedy of Calisto and Melibea.
• Comprised of 16 acts.

Second Edition (1500, Toledo/Salamanca)

• Titled Comedy of Calisto and Melibea, also with 16 acts.
• Both the first and second editions include a foreword and a letter to a friend. In this letter, the author states he found the first act of the comedy during his vacations, and his enthusiasm led him to finish the remaining 16 acts in 15 days.
• The letter contains acrostic verses that reveal: The bachelor Fernando de Rojas finished the comedy of Calisto and Melibea and was born in the settlement of Montalbán.

Third Edition (Seville, Toledo, and Salamanca)

• Retitled Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea.
• Due to the play's popularity, Rojas added five acts but changed the ending.
• Currently, the work is known as La Celestina, named after its protagonist.

Characters

• Calisto: Feels a profound passion for Melibea. He is insecure, lazy, selfish, and amoral, as he does not hesitate to break social rules to achieve his desires. His passion presents features of courtly love.
• Melibea: A human character. She initially refuses Calisto but later surrenders to him unabashedly.
• Celestina: Greedy, ambitious, and cunning. She possesses layers of improvisation, the ability to manage people, and can change her language depending on who she is with. She speaks with many proverbs.
• Sempronio: Unfair, cowardly, and violent.
• Pármeno: Initially loyal to Calisto, but later becomes like Sempronio.
• Elicia and Areúsa: Prostitutes who consistently manifest envy and resentment towards the upper class.
• Alisa (foolish, proud) and Pleberio (tender, loving, but capricious and negligent): Parents of Melibea. (Celistina)

Themes

The work explores themes such as:

• Passion
• Death
• Fate
• Magic
• Greed
• Time

It conveys a moral code, warning the young not to trust old madams, and emphasizing that both the poor and the old are subject to the same passions.

Fernando de Rojas

• Studied Law and Humanities in Salamanca.
• A cultured man who possessed a great library.
• He was involved in 'The Tolavega Case'.
• Served as a mayor for the Queen.
• Was a converted Jew.