BenaventeCalderón
Casona
Echegaray
Lope de Vega
Lorca
Molina
Benavente
Calderón
Casona
Echegaray
Lope de Vega
Lorca
Molina
Meninas by Diego Velazquez.
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Jacinto Benavente y Martinez was born in
Madrid in 1866, the son of a well known pediatrician. He began studying
law at Madrid University in 1882, but abandoned his studies in 1885 when he
inherited considerable wealth from his father. He
traveled widely throughout Europe, particularly in England, France and Russia.
His travels among the elite classes of Europe provided ample background for his
early satirical plays. Benavente's first play, El nido ajeno (1894) met
with immediate success, apparently providing audiences a salve from the
overbearing tirades they had become accustomed to from Echegaray. In
contrast, Benavente's works amusingly took aim at many social conventions,
sparing no one with his mischievous, witty satires. Benavente's most successful play during this stage
was Gente Conocida (High Society,1896) which offered a biting social commentary
on Madrid's aristocracy. Many of his plays were set in Madrid and an
imaginary Castilian town named Moraleda.
In addition to his plays, Benavente was an active journalist from 1908 to 1912, writing a weekly column for El Imparcial and also founded the Teatro de los Niños (Children's theatre) in 1909. In 1912, Benavente was elected a member of the Real Academia Española. In World War I, he sided with the Germans and his plays became increasingly conservative which drew the ire and criticism of many of his literary contemporaries. Benavente withdrew from writing in response to the attacks from 1920-24, but resumed his trade upon the receipt of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1922. Wizened by the prior experiences resulting from his unpopular views, Benavente intentionally withdrew from the public eye during the Civil War to Valencia where he quietly sustained his prolific literary pace. By his death in 1954, Benavente released an incredible 172 plays of somewhat uneven quality.
His most popular works include the feminist Cartas de Mujeres (The Letters of Women, 1893), Nido Ajeno (Other Birds Nests, 1894), La Gobernadora (The Governor's Wife, 1901), Noche de Sabado (Saturday Night, 1903), Rosas de Otoño (Autumnal Roses, 1905), Los Intereses Creados (The Bonds of Interest, 1907), Señora Ama (The Lady of the House, 1908) and La Malquerida (The Passion Flower, 1913).
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Golden Age dramatist whose legacy is only
rivaled by Lope de Vega. Although Calderón succeeded Vega by only a
generation, the contrasts between their approaches to drama are stark.
Calderón's output was understandably much smaller than that of Vega, and was
subsequently more refined and technically superior to most of Vega's
plays. However, Calderón lacked the lyrical beauty and spontaneity of
Vega, and his protagonists reflected Calderón's intolerant ideology and often
displayed a surprisingly violent nature.
Calderón (1600-1681) was educated by the Jesuits from the age of nine, and attended the Universities of Alcalá and Salamanca in pursuit of an ecclesiastical career. However, he abandoned this lifestyle to return to his city of birth, Madrid, where he lived a life of both critical success and violence. Calderón produced his first play (Amor, honor y poder) in 1623, but delayed his new career for two years to partake in the military expedition against Breda. It was after his return, that Calderón attained his first major success with the masterpiece, La vida es sueño (Life is a Dream, 1625). His success led to an invitation by the Count of Olivares to produce several lavish productions, including El mayor encanto amor, and an appointment as court dramatist following the death of Lope de Vega. In addition to writing over 100 comedies, tragedies and philosophical works, Calderón is renown for his Auto Sacramentales, which are religious works dealing primarily with the Eucharist and other religious dramas, such as El gran teatro del mundo.
Two violent incidents mar Calderón's reputation. The first was the murder of Diego de Velasco, which was perpetrated by Calderón and his oldest brother Diego. The other incident involved another brother who was wounded by Pedro de Villegas, who was the son of an actor. Calderón and several constables violated a convent where Pedro sought refuge, which happened to be where Vega's daughter, Marcela was staying. This met with the vociferous disapproval of Vega and Fray Hortensio Paravicino, whose sermon was openly mocked by a clown in Calderón's play, El príncipe constante. Despite these actions, and the birth of an illegitimate daughter, Calderón was made a Knight of Santiago, ordained a priest, and appointed the Chaplain of the New Sovereigns in Toledo, while never falling out of favor with his primary supporter, Philip IV.
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Alejandro Casona was born in the small
village of Besullo, Asturias in 1903. A son of teachers, Alejandro also
studied teaching at the University of Madrid where he met his future wife,
Rosalia Martin Bravo, whom he married in San Sebastian in 1928. His first
book, El Peregrino de La Barba Florida (1926), was actually a collection of
poetry, but it is for his plays that Casona is most renowned. Casona's
works represent the Spanish version of Surrealism, often exploring the relation
between the imagination and reality and the appropriate roles each should take
in society. Unlike many in the traditional Surrealist movement, Casona's
plays were generally light-hearted and refreshing which made them accessible to
audiences throughout the world.
Casona was a finalist in a literary contest held by the newpaper ABC for his work, Otra Vez el Diablo. He later won the National Prize for Literature in 1932 for Flor de Leyendas. In 1933, Casona sent his manuscript, La Sirena Varada, to Spain's most prestigious Literary Contest, the Lope de Vega which cemented his position among the elite Spanish dramatists of his era. Other notable works include Las Tres Perfectas Casadas (1941), La Barca Sin Pescador (1945), Los Arboles Mueren de Pie (1949), La Casa de los Siete Balcones (1957), Prohibido Suicidarse en Primavera (Suicide Prohibited in Springtime, 1937) and La Dama del Alba.
Like so many of his intellectual counterparts, Casona fled Spain in 1936 for France where he worked with the Comedy Company of Josefina Diaz Artigas and Manuel Collado. This group later toured Latin America where Casona elected to spend his self-imposed exile in Bueno Aires until his death in 1965.
José Echegaray y Eizaguirre, the leading Spanish dramatist of the last quarter of the 19th century, was born in Madrid, on April 19, 1832, the son of Basque parents. Echegaray spent part of his childhood in Murcia, where he attended grammar school, while his father was professor of Greek at the Institute of Murcia. The family eventually returned to Madrid where José graduated from the Escuela de Caminos (Engineering School) in 1853; and where years later he became a professor of mathematics and pure and applied physics. Several of his papers and theses in those fields were published and attracted the attention of influential scholars, businessmen, and politicians. José was regarded as the most eminent Spanish mathematician of his time. When a popular movement overthrew the Monarchy in 1868 he joined the revolutionary government and became Minister of Public Works and, later, Minister of Finance until 1874. When the Borbon dynasty was restored he withdrew from politics and devoted his efforts to literature.
Echegaray’s first play, El Libro Talonario (The Checkbook, 1874) was published under the pseudonym Jorge Hayaseca y Eizaguirre, when he was 42 years old. Later that year he won popular acclaim with “La Esposa del Vengador”, (The Avenger’s Wife, 1874). From that point on he wrote an average of two plays per year with varying degrees of success, including “En El Puño de la Espada” (At the Hilt of the Sword, 1875); and his famous “O Locura O Santidad” (Madman or Saint) which was produced in 1877 and translated into English, Italian and Swedish. Echegaray explored social issues in many of his plays including “En el Pilar y en la Cruz” (The Stake and the Cross, 1878) in which he defends freedom; “Conflicto Entre Dos Deberes” (Conflict of Duties, 1882) a title that reflects Echegaray’s entire work; and in his best-known play “El Gran Galeoto” (The Great Galeoto, 1881) in which he depicts the destructive consequences of gossip.
Echegaray is not known as a
master of prose and is often criticized for the
"cardboard" characters and "mathematical" approach in which his stories are
developed. José
relied on suspense and melodramatic verse
to compensate for his creative limitations, lack of human warmth and character
development.
Echegaray and poet Frederic Mistral were awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature
in 1904. He was elected to the Spanish Royal Academy of Literature in 1894; and
in 1912 was awarded the Order of the Golden Fleece by King Alfonso XII.
Echegaray died in Madrid in 1916. Echegaray’s work opened the way for later
dramatists, such as Benavente, and helped revolutionize Spanish drama.
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Lope de Vega is widely credited with establishing the
Spanish Theater. No Spanish writer can match Vega's literary fecundity.
Indeed, Vega claimed to have written over 1,800 plays, of which roughly 500 still exist
today. Vega stated that over 100 of his plays had been written in less than one day
each. This alone would be an impressive feat, but Vega also wrote numerous volumes
of poetry and several novels. In grudging admiration, Vega's envious contemporary,
Cervantes, referred to him somewhat derisively as the Monster of Nature.
Vega was born in Madrid in 1562. Little is known of his early years, other than the fact that he was fluent in both Spanish & Latin by the age of five, and dictated poetry to older boys, since he was not yet able to write himself. Although one would naturally assume that Vega spent much of his time writing, the fact is that Lope was equally renowned as a womanizer, and was married twice. Vega's scurrilous lifestyle undermined his ambitions and even resulted in exile and imprisonment at various points in his life. Despite his reputation, Vega entered the priesthood in 1614, although even this profession was unable to dissuade him from pursuing various illicit affairs.
Many of Vega's works are semi-autobiographical, in which he offers a surprisingly harsh assessment of his own weaknesses and a sometimes exaggerated account of his many affairs. La Dorotea (1632) is his most popular novel which related his impetuous affair with Elena Osorio, the wife and daughter of actors.
However, it is Vega's plays which have immortalized him in Spanish culture. Although his themes covered the breadth of imaginable genre's, Vega was at his best when relating historical or religious traditions from Spain with drama, passion and lyrical beauty. Vega's most famous play, Fuente Ovejuna (1612-14?) relates a historical incident exemplifying peasant honor and rural justice upon a tyrannical leader. Other notable plays include Peribáñez (1605-8?), Lo Fingido Verdadero (Acting is Believing, 1621), El Rey (1620-3?) and El Caballero de Olmeda (1615-26?). Lope de Vega died in 1635.
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Biographical information on Lorca is contained in Lorca's Poetry profile. Although Lorca is best known as
a poet, his contributions to the theatre should not be overlooked. In fact, Lorca's
limited dramatical output is the finest modern Spain has to offer. Lorca's brother,
Francisco, relates to us that Lorca loved plays even in early childhood. The first
toy Lorca bought with his own money was a miniature theatre, and he spent countless hours
inventing plays for both this and the family's toy marionettes. Lorca would also
create plays for which he recruited family members, maids and nurses whom he often
dressed up in outlandish costumes.
However, Lorca's poetic mindset is clearly evident in all of his dramatical works, which are an astonishing blend of lyrical poetry, music and drama. Lorca's plays represent an intriguing combination of traditional Spanish customs and myths, along with a more international, French Surrealist style, and they offer a curious glimpse into the Spanish psyche. In 1931, the Republican government sponsored Lorca's traveling company, La Barraca. This troupe traveled by truck throughout Spain performing primarily classical plays by other Spaniards, some of which Lorca "revised" for modern audiences.
Lorca's dramatical works include: The Butterfly's Evil Spell (1919), Los Titeres de Cachiporra (The Billy-Club Puppets, 1922-25), La Zapatera Prodigiosa (The Shoemaker's Prodigious Wife, 1930), Amor de Don Perlimplín con Belisa en su Jardín (The Love of Don Perlimplín and Belisa in the Garden, 1931), Doña Rosita la Soltera (Doña Rosita, The Spinster, 1935), Bodas de Sangre (Blood Wedding, 1933), Yerma (1934), and La Casa de Bernarda Alba (The House of Bernarda Alba, ca. 1934).
This dramatists greatest contribution to literature was the introduction of the legendary character, Don Juan, in El Burlador de Sevilla (The Rogue of Seville, 1630). Tirso de Molina, was the pseudonym used by Friar Gabriel Tellez who was born in Madrid in 1571. Some critics claim that he was the illegitimate son of the Duke of Osuna. This famous Spanish dramatist was educated at the University of Alcala. Molina joined the Order of Mercy in 1601 and served in various cities throughout Spain and Santo Domingo. He became a well known theologian, a Chronicler in 1637, and Prior of the Monastery of Soria in 1645.
When the Council of Castile censured him for depicting vice in too vivid a manner, Molina stubbornly refused to ever write again. Fortunately for posterity, the prolific dramatist had already managed to write over 400 plays (of which only 86 are still extant) in this incredibly brief period of time before his self-imposed retirement. Molina's works cover a broad range of subjects from traditional folk legends like Los Amantes de Teruel (The Lovers of Teruel, 1635), religious (El Condenado por Deconfiado, 'Condemned for Being Untrusted', 1635) and palace plays such as El Vergonzoso en Palacio, 1621.
Molina's works are characterized by an adept blend of the comic with the tragic, and were populated with well-rounded characters which demonstrated his inherent understanding of human psychology. Molina was friends with Lope de Vega and their approach to the theatre is quite comparable, although it would be unfair to claim that either writer simply emulated the other. Tirso de Molina died in 1648.
