Masterpieces of the Spanish Golden Age Literature

Miguel de Cervantes: Father of the Modern Novel

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was born in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) in 1547. He lived in Italy and participated in the Battle of Lepanto (1571), where he was wounded in the arm. During his return, he was captured by Barbary pirates and taken to Algiers. When he was released and arrived in Spain, he held different occupations. He published his first work, La Galatea, in 1585, and The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha in 1605. In 1615, he published the second part of Don Quixote; in this decade, he also released the Exemplary Novels. In the prologue of his last work, The Travails of Persiles and Sigismunda, written before he died in 1616, he says goodbye to his friends.

Francisco de Quevedo: Master of Conceptismo

Francisco de Quevedo y Villegas is the most important Spanish intellectual of the 17th century. Born in Madrid (1580), he always lived at court. He was exiled, and his last years were spent in prison. He died at Villanueva de los Infantes (Ciudad Real) in 1645. He wrote The Buscón, a picaresque novel, and numerous books of didactic prose, such as Dreams and From the Cradle to the Grave. In these pieces, he used the conceptismo style, based on puns and full of antithesis, metaphors, and paradoxes. It is in his poems where he achieves higher intensity and beauty. His poetry is an example of the contradictions of the Baroque spirit, featuring three opposite planes:

• The sublime poetry of his love.
• The ascetic morality of his philosophical works.
• His satirical and impertinent poetry.

Luis de Góngora: The Brilliance of Culteranismo

Luis de Góngora y Argote was born in Córdoba in 1561. He studied at Salamanca, became a priest, and was introduced to the court, where he competed with Quevedo and Lope de Vega. As a poet, he is characterized by the brilliance and complexity of his culteranismo style. He also mastered satire and wrote popular ballads and letrillas. From 1613, his two long poems, Soledades and the Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea, were released. These two works are difficult to understand, as they add numerous hyperbatons, tropes, and allusions to classical mythology to the metaphorical meaning. This makes Góngora the most admired poet of his time. He died in Córdoba in 1627. For a long time, his works were neglected, but they were recovered in the 20th century, regaining the high place they deserve.

Lope de Vega: The Phoenix of Wits and Spanish Theater

Lope Félix de Vega Carpio was born in Madrid in 1562. He had many amorous scandals, which did not prevent him from developing a deep religious sensibility. Ordained in 1613, he fell in love again three years later and left the priesthood. He died in Madrid in 1635. Although his life was very agitated, he composed many works for the theater. His plots drew from history, legends, classical mythology, and the Bible. Among his most significant works are:

• Dramas of honor: Where the main theme is the dignity of the individual, such as Fuenteovejuna and The Knight of Olmedo.
• Sitcoms and comedies: Sentimental love conflicts with happy endings, such as The Dog in the Manger.