The Tragedy of Calisto and Melibea: An Analysis of La Celestina

Introduction to La Celestina

La Celestina, published in Burgos in 1499, consists of 21 acts of varying length and was written by Fernando de Rojas. The dramatic action is divided into a prologue and two parts.

Plot Summary

The action begins when young Calisto, chasing a hawk in the garden, casually encounters Melibea, with whom he falls in love. Fascinated by her beauty, he declares his love, but she violently rejects him. Given Melibea's rejection, Calisto hires an old bawd, Celestina, who, with the help of Calisto's servant, secures the young woman's surrender. Blinded by greed, Celestina refuses to share the reward obtained for her services, leading to her murder and execution. The young lovers, wildly devoted to the enjoyment of their love, continue until a fortuitous fall ends Calisto's life. A desperate Melibea then commits suicide.

Main Characters

• Calisto

  Displayed as withdrawn and melancholy at times, impassioned and enraged at others. He is insecure, lazy, selfish, and amoral.

• Melibea

  A more complex and attractive character than Calisto, she at first violently rejects him, then hesitates, and finally gives herself to him without question.

• Celestina

  The archetypal bawd. Dominated by the passion of greed, she pursues one goal: to acquire wealth. She mobilizes all her natural gifts: foresight and sagacity, cunning and improvisation skills, the ability to manage people, and the art of seduction and deceit.

• Sempronio

  A servant attached to his master through strictly economic relations. He is false, unfair, cowardly, and violent. Pármeno initially shows loyalty to Calisto, but later, hurt by his master's ingratitude and pressured by Celestina, he becomes just another Sempronio.

• Alisa

  Melibea's mother, she is proud and arrogant but foolish.

• Pleberio

  Melibea's father, he is solicitous, tender, and affectionate, yet overconfident and careless.

• Centurio

  A comic character, he is a cowardly, braggart soldier.

Key Themes in La Celestina

• Love

  Shown as an uncontrollable and overwhelming passion that destabilizes individuals' minds, leads to moral disorder, and ultimately destroys and kills.

• Greed

  Another passion that maddens the servants and obfuscates Celestina's understanding, ultimately resulting in death.

• Fortune

  Portrayed as a blind, random, and arbitrary force, responsible for human tragedies.

• Time

  The characters are acutely aware of time's irreversibility, which pushes them towards a frantic enjoyment of the moment. This sense of transience explains the obsessive precision with which time is measured.

• Death

  Rojas presents death as a simple cessation of existence.