Spanish Golden Age Literature: Cervantes, Quevedo, Lope de Vega, Calderón

Spanish Golden Age Literature

Culteranismo focused on formal beauty, using cultured language and creating an artificial style. The concept is based on wit, irony, paradox, and double meaning.

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616)

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, creator of the modern novel, dedicated his life to various genres, most notably the novel. He wrote pastoral novels such as Galatea and Byzantine works like Persiles and Sigismunda.

His Novelas Ejemplares (Exemplary Novels), a collection of twelve short stories, were written because Cervantes believed that learning would benefit readers. His most famous work is Don Quixote. The meaning of the work was to destroy the authority of the novels of chivalry, employing various literary forms and linguistic registers.

Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645)

Francisco de Quevedo, born in Madrid in 1580, gained a reputation as a young man and participated in political intrigue. He retired to Juan Abad's tower and died in Villanueva de los Infantes in 1645. He is considered the maximum representative of Conceptismo. His style reveals a masterly command of language and an attitude of continuous play with language, especially in verse.

His compositions are grouped into three categories: love, moral and philosophical, and satirical and burlesque. Notable prose works include Los Sueños (The Dreams) and El Buscón (The Swindler).

Lope de Vega (1562-1635)

Lope de Vega, born in Madrid in 1562, had a hectic love life, but his religious convictions led him to become a priest. He died in 1635. He worked in all literary genres, but is most known for drama. His works were popular because of their popular character.

His poetry addresses issues such as work and religious devotion, with both popular and cultured currents. He revitalized popular lyricism. His writing is directed to the concept. His most important plays include Fuenteovejuna (The Sheep Well), El caballero de Olmedo (The Knight of Olmedo), and El perro del hortelano (The Dog in the Manger).

Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681)

Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681) dedicated his life to the theater and was chaplain to Philip IV. His theater explored moral and philosophical concerns of his time. His morality plays address theological dilemmas through allegory, such as in El gran teatro del mundo (The Great Theater of the World). His dramas touch on topics such as the passage of time, the misleading nature of reality, and honor, as seen in El alcalde de Zalamea (The Mayor of Zalamea) and La vida es sueño (Life is a Dream).