Literary Description and the Evolution of La Celestina

Understanding Literary Description

The description is a text type that is transmitted as a representation of something or someone.

Types of Realistic Description

• Description of people: This can be physical (prosopography), psychic (ethopoeia), or a combination of both (portrait).
• Description of animals: Detailing the traits and characteristics of creatures.
• Description of a process: It consists of the presentation of the stages of a general fact or event.

Literature and a New Mentality

During the 14th and 15th centuries, there were profound changes in the Iberian Peninsula that changed the conception of the feudal world and led to a new mentality. This change was influenced especially by the Black Plague. Artistic references to the appearance of skeletons and dances of death reflect that unease. The transformations of the 15th century were a consequence of the transition from the Medieval to the Modern era.

Key Societal Transformations

• Political: There was a recovery of royal authority that led to the appearance of states.
• Economic and Social: The development of trade brought cities to follow the rise of the bourgeoisie. Road improvements increased physical contact for the people and the extension of thoughts.
• Cultural: The world of knowledge, which until then had been exclusive to the clergy, came into the possession of universities, which affected a better formation of the laity.
• Shifts in Social Values: Money became a special value due to increased trade.

La Celestina by Fernando de Rojas

Written in the late 15th century by Fernando de Rojas, the work follows these stages:

1. The Infatuation of Calisto: The young knight Calisto falls for the beautiful Melibea.
2. Use of the Bawd: After the rejection of Melibea, Calisto uses an old bawd called a matchmaker.
3. The Spell of Melibea: She tries to convince the younger woman with words; as she mentions Calisto, by the following day, things have changed.
4. Tragic Consequences: Sempronius refuses to share the promised prize with Celestina and Pármeno. These characters kill her and are executed. Calisto falls and dies, and a desperate Melibea commits suicide before her father, Pleberio.

Society and Literary Style in La Celestina

Society in La Celestina: Characters exist in different conditions driven by passion and greed. The society in La Celestina presents a crisis where each social group behaves according to their interests and does not respect traditional values.

The Literary Work: As a text in dialogue, it is a work to be performed for oral reading. The language helps discover the way of being of the characters.