Spanish Renaissance Literature: Poets and Prose

Renaissance Literature in Spain

The Renaissance

The Renaissance, the historical period following the Middle Ages, originated in Italy and spread throughout Europe. This era exalted earthly life and embraced vitalism, epitomized by the phrase carpe diem. Knowledge became a means of human improvement, giving rise to humanism. Renaissance values, particularly among the bourgeoisie, were disseminated through the printing press. The Renaissance individual sought direct communication.

Renaissance Poetry

Garcilaso de la Vega

Garcilaso de la Vega's small body of work (38 sonnets and 3 eclogues) focuses almost exclusively on love. To express his feelings, he often employs classical mythology and the literary motif of the locus amoenus. Garcilaso introduced verses and stanzas from Petrarch and other Italian poets into Spanish poetry. Key imported metrical forms include the hendecasyllable, sonnet, lira, and silva.

Fray Luis de León

Fray Luis de León's main theme is a yearning to escape the world and find spiritual peace, a quest he ultimately fails to fulfill. He also advocates for a stoic attitude, urging the avoidance of passions. He suggests several paths to achieve this, including life in the countryside and music.

St. John of the Cross

St. John of the Cross explores the joyous union of lovers as a symbolic representation of the soul's encounter with God. Through love poems, he articulates the ineffable mystical experience. These texts belong to the genre of mystical literature.

Renaissance Prose

Lazarillo de Tormes

Lazarillo de Tormes is a mock autobiography narrated in the first person by Lázaro, who recounts his life story.

Structure

• Treatises 1-3: Lázaro's origins and his service to his first masters: a blind man, a priest of Maqueda, and a ruined squire.
• Treatises 4-6: Lázaro's situation seemingly improves as he no longer begs or suffers hunger. His masters are now a mercenary monk, a bull seller, and a chaplain.
• Treaty 7: Lázaro is an adult, married to a maid of the archpriest. The novel ends with the implicit acceptance of his situation.

Characteristics of Lázaro

• Born to dishonorable parents.
• Motivated by hunger and the desire to thrive.
• Forced to defend himself in a hostile world.
• Undergoes an evolution and loss of innocence.

These characteristics make Lázaro an antihero. Lazarillo de Tormes is considered the first modern novel.

Key Themes

• The obsession with honor.
• The corruption of the clergy.