Spanish Golden Age Literature and History

The Spanish Golden Age: El Siglo de Oro

The Golden Age covers various movements:

• Renaissance (XVI century): In this rebirth, we have two stages: the First Renaissance (the first half of the century) and Mannerism (the second stage of the century).
• Baroque: XVII century.

Key Features of the Spanish Renaissance

The Renaissance begins with the discovery of America in 1492. Renaissance features include:

• The surge of early modern nations.
• Charles I succeeded the Catholic Monarchs and wanted the country to be open to the cultures of other countries, but Philip II closed our borders on religious grounds during the stage of the Counter-Reformation.
• The birth of capitalism.
• Humanism triumphed as a culture, which considers man the center of the universe.

Literary Characteristics of the Renaissance

Authors try to imitate the models of classical literature.

• The themes are of various kinds: secular (love, nature, enjoyment of life) and moral (praise of the simple life, divine love).
• A return to mythology to explain reality.
• The style is simple and natural and avoids rhetorical excess.

The First Renaissance and Neoplatonic Love

• Uses new metrics. The most characteristic feature is ease.
• Love is a major issue, but an impossible love. The poet hopes to improve to reach the beloved. This love is called Neoplatonic.

Mannerism: Spiritual and Profane Lyrics

It intensifies the resources used in the early Renaissance. There are two lines:

• Moral and Religious Lyric: Literature is more spiritual, seeking the purification of the soul. Examples include Fray Luis de León, San Juan de la Cruz, and Santa Teresa de Jesús.
• Lyric Profane: It follows the line of Garcilaso. An example is Fernando de Herrera.

Garcilaso de la Vega: The Soldier Poet

He was a soldier and poet. His book focuses on Isabel Freire, his beloved, though his love was not matched. His work consists of four songs, an ode, an epistle, two elegies, thirty-eight sonnets, and three eclogues. His style is characterized by the use of figures that provide musicality, such as anaphora and parallelism. He also uses mild epithets and adjectives, while paradoxes and antitheses abound to express unrequited love.

Fernando de Herrera and the Sevillian School

He was a religious poet and the main successor of Garcilaso. He emphasizes vocabulary and metaphors related to fire.

The Baroque: A Period of Decline

This is the period that follows the Renaissance. It ranges from the reign of Philip III to the death of Calderón de la Barca. It is a time of decline:

• Economically: Due to poor harvests and a demographic crisis.
• Socially: Conflicts between the bourgeoisie and nobility; poverty and begging increase.
• Politics: Spain loses power.
• The Inquisition holds back rationalist thought.