Spanish Renaissance Literature: Forms, Themes, Stages

Characteristics of the Spanish Renaissance

The Renaissance in Spain appears with peculiar characteristics. Two factors contribute to its unique personality:

Contributing Factors

• Reign of Charles I of Spain: Symbol of brilliance, fullness, and economic prosperity.
• Reign of Philip II: Spirit of the Counter-Reformation and exercise of censorship with the Inquisition.

Stages of the Spanish Renaissance

Two main stages:

1. First Renaissance: Appearance of Neoplatonism and Erasmism. Representative: Garcilaso de la Vega.
2. Second Renaissance: Emphasis on the national and religious. Representative: Fray Luis de León.

Formal Aspects and Verse Forms

Key elements include the hendecasyllable verse, the triumphs of Garcilaso, and the creation of new stanzas:

• Terceto: 3 hendecasyllable verses, consonant rhyme.
• Cuarteto: 4 hendecasyllable verses, consonant rhyme.
• Lira: 5 verses, two hendecasyllables and two heptasyllables.
• Estancia: Combines hendecasyllable and heptasyllable verses, variable rhyme and structure.
• Octava real: 8 hendecasyllable verses, consonant rhyme.

Also prominent are:

• The Sonnet: Two quatrains and two tercets; rhyme varies in the tercets.
• The Petrarchan Canzone: Consisting of a variable number of stanzas, but the metric scheme of the first is the same for all.

Literary Genres

Various genres were cultivated:

• Eclogues: Poet expresses feelings through shepherds.
• Oda: High-pitched lyric with a variety of topics.
• Epístola: Doctrinal topics presented as a letter.
• Elegía: Feelings in response to a painful circumstance.

Key Themes

Prominent themes include:

1. Carpe Diem: Enjoy the day.
2. Colligite, virgo, rosas: Exhortation to a young woman to enjoy love.
3. Locus Amoenus: Recreates a pleasant place in the countryside.
4. Beatus Ille: Longing for a life away from the world's chaos.

Other significant themes:

• Nature: The Locus Amoenus often serves as a framework for love scenes, witnessing the poet's heartaches.
• Love: Displayed as a virtue, distinct from carnal desires; metaphors are used for the beloved's beauty.
• Mythology: Gods, nymphs, heroes, and figures inspired by Greco-Roman mythology.
• Escape from the World: Desire for moral transcendence, developed in Beatus Ille and Locus Amoenus; man feels imprisoned by the world.
• Patriotic Ideal.
• Divine Love: Union of the soul with God.