Mélanges de la Casa de Velázquez (Apr 2012)
Algunas calas en el tratamiento del modelo trágico por el joven Calderón
Abstract
This article explores some aspects of Calderón’s tragic plays of the decade 1623-1633 from a diachronic and inter-textual viewpoint The works considered include Judas Macabeo, La gran Cenobia, La devoción de la cruz and La vida es sueño. A comparative analysis of these plays shows that the young Calderón progressively experimented with different forms of tragedy; an early stage during which he eschewed the type of tragic drama practised by his contemporary Lope and revived elements typical of Renaissance tragedy was followed by a stage of greater maturity in which he assimilated and re-worked the kinds of intrigue formerly used by Lope, of which La vida es sueño is one of the most accomplished. A comparison with Lope’s subtexts shows, among other things, how originally Calderón assimilated and handled the Aristotelian paradigm of tragedy.
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