Lazarillo de Tormes: Final Masters and Picaresque Themes
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The Final Masters of Lazarillo de Tormes
El Capellán: The Seventh Master
El Capellán (The Chaplain) represents the opportunist who uses others for profit. He offered Lázaro his first job with pay. Lázaro spent four years with this master to receive the amount of money needed to buy clothes and a sword. Once Lázaro got what he needed, he left his master and his craft.
El Alguacil: The Eighth Master
El Alguacil (The Constable) represents the law of that era. Lázaro finds that the office is very dangerous for his master, so he leaves.
El Arcipreste de San Salvador: The Ninth Master
El Arcipreste de San Salvador is Lázaro's last master. He is the one who arranges for Lázaro to marry his servant. He also represents the corruption of the clergy, as there were local stories in that area regarding the relations between the wife of Lázaro and the Archpriest.
La Criada del Arcipreste de San Salvador
She is the woman Lázaro marries, and she is the part of his life that brings him happiness. Once they married, his hunger ended, and he achieved stability in his life.
Significance of the Novel
The autobiography of Lázaro is a verification process of the uneducated. The constituent features of the picaresque novel are:
- An autobiographical narrative in which the rogue recounts his life, going back to its origin and continuing the story in a linear chronological sequence until the final situation of dishonor.
- A joint narrative of the story within a system of serving several masters.
- A vision of reality from the unique perspective of the narrator-protagonist.
Core Themes of the Picaresque
The Picaresque Theme
This is observed in the characters of the blind man and Lázaro.
- Pettiness and Greed: This is seen in the acts of the cleric.
- Appearances: We clearly see the squire maintaining completely false appearances; he represents people who prove to be a totally different person from who they actually are.
- False Religiosity and Clerical Corruption: This is like a subdivision of the false appearances achieved by the clerical class. This can be seen clearly in the characters of the Pardoner and the Sheriff accompanying him.
The Theme of the Tramp
This relates to Lázaro and the blind man. The blind man teaches Lázaro the ways of beggars and vagrants, which is a significant way to earn a living.
The Theme of the Orphan
This also relates to Lázaro; the child lives his childhood without his father, and then his mother delivers him to a master to look after him.
Hunger: The Most Important Theme
Hunger is the most important element of the novel. Everything revolves around hunger, and all the problems of the novel occur because of Lázaro's hunger. For this reason, one can say that it is one of the most important themes of the novel, breaking with the literary schemes of the time.