Lazarillo de Tormes: Summary, Analysis & Structure

Lazarillo de Tormes: Summary and Analysis

Lazarillo de Tormes has had several sequels and imitations. In 1620, Juan de Luna published the Second Part of Lazarillo of Tormes in Paris. The same year, El Lazarillo de Manzanares by Juan Cortes de Tolosa was published in Madrid. Even in modern times, Camilo José Cela published New Adventures and Misadventures of Lazarillo de Tormes.

Plot and Structure

The novel consists of a prologue and seven treatises of uneven length. It is written in an autobiographical form: the narrator writes to "Your Grace," who has previously asked him to fully explain "the case," referring to rumors about the infidelity of Lázaro's wife. Lázaro does not limit himself to accounting for the case, but, justifying himself and deliberately lying, he tells his life story. This allows him to recount his adventures in a fun way while subtly criticizing the way of life of his masters.

The structural unity starts and ends with a reference to "the case." His father was a fugitive from justice; Lázaro, because of his office of town crier, will accompany those who are persecuted for righteousness and will have to declare their voices to his mother's crimes. He is determined to be on the side of good.

Themes and Social Criticism

• The protagonist's life features varied episodes, often focusing on deception.
• Many of the characters are representative of Spanish society at the time.
• The narrator offers criticism of that society.
• A constant motif in the play is the narrator's religious criticism.
• The false religiosity of the clergy is shown (showing an attitude of Erasmus), lashing out at the vices and attitudes of the clerical establishment: false religiosity, greed, meanness, and cruelty.
• The theme of honor is also reflected throughout the novel. The external concept of honor, based on appearance, is ridiculed (in the 3rd treatise).

Style and Language

The description of the truest reality of the world and its characters needs a language more in tune with the truth. Realism begins, which subsequently crystallized in some works of Cervantes and the picaresque. The narrator does not renounce literary artifice but prefers to develop his story in a living language. Hence, its popular style is full of colorful, colloquial, and even vulgar expressions. This provides greater verisimilitude to the narrative. Irony also abounds, which translates the author's critical eye and attitude through the protagonist towards various characters and situations.

Lazarillo and the Picaresque Novel

It is a picaresque novel, but with harsh social criticism. Said criticism hides under fun and painful incidents. Many of its characteristics would become characteristic features of the picaresque novel of the seventeenth century:

• The story takes place in the first person.
• Events and vicissitudes are described with a realistic character.
• The rogue is born into a family without honor.
• The rogue does not change social class.
• The work is open: new episodes can always be included.