Lope de Vega Plays and Spanish Golden Age Drama
Lope de Vega and Spanish Golden Age Theatre
Popular Golden Age Theatrical Genres
- Jácaras: These were sung ballads that generally dealt with struggles between pimps and gangsters.
- Masquerades: Dances consisting of broken and ridiculous movements and animal costumes, performed amid a deafening din.
- Follas: These were disordered mixtures of brief comic genres that served as an excuse to sing and dance.
The Dramatic Works of Lope de Vega
The dramatic production of Lope de Vega is characterized by a mixture of the cultured and the popular. He looked for his arguments in proverbs, folk songs, and ballads. Aware of the plurality of recipients who attended the corrales (theatrical courtyards), Lope tried to satisfy everyone in several ways: through the dramatic actions, the vulgar elements, and more.
Major works of Lope de Vega include:
- Cloak and Sword Comedy (Comedia de capa y espada): La dama boba
- Palace Comedy (Comedia de palacio): The Gardener's Dog (El perro del hortelano)
- Biblical Comedy: The Beautiful Esther
- Plays of Saints: Good Care
- Mythological Comedy: Adonis and Venus
- Drama Series: Peribáñez and the Commander of Ocaña
- Tragedies: The Knight of Olmedo
- Courtier Theatre: Love in Love
Analysis of Fuenteovejuna
The originality of the invention of Fuenteovejuna (Fuente Ovejuna) lies in the collective character of the town, which ends the tyranny of the Commander Fernán Gómez. The work has a double action: the town of Fuenteovejuna (literally "sheepish source"), which is a victim of the tyrant, and the royal sphere, which gives the drama a political dimension: the commander attacks the Catholic Monarchs when reaching the town of Ciudad Real. This raises the open confrontation between a man who abuses his power and the people of Fuenteovejuna.
The men showed passivity and submission to the attitude of the commander, whom Laurencia will induce to action. The villagers revolt in the name of the Catholic Monarchs, and they are ultimately forgiven because the judge fails to obtain evidence against them. When the judge questions them about who killed the commander, all the villagers respond: "Fuenteovejuna!"
El Caballero de Olmedo
Based on a true story—the murder of a knight on the road from Medina del Campo to Olmedo—this drama is charged with tragic tones. The play adapts the plot of La Celestina: to secure the love of a lady, Inés of Medina, and prevent her marriage to Rodrigo, Alonso hires the matchmaker Fabia. On the road to Olmedo, the knight encounters his own ghost and then a peasant who sings of his impending death. The technique of premonition is used through dreams and announcements of the fatal outcome. The Knight of Olmedo is considered a tragicomedy due to the presence of love, death, and destiny.
Peribáñez and the Commander of Ocaña
This drama revolves around a commander, but Lope faces the conflict of honor between the peasant Peribáñez and Commander Don Fadrique. The commander falls in love with Casilda, Peribáñez's wife, whom he tries to bypass by naming Peribáñez a captain and sending him to war. In his absence, the commander enters the home of the peasants, but Peribáñez returns in time and kills him. The intervention of the King, who forgives the farmer, resolves the conflict. This work features a single storyline. It is characterized by sharp lyricism, especially in the scenes that include representations of village folklore and traditional songs.