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A critical study of Calderon de la Barca's "El astrologo fingido". / Ann Williams
Swansea University Author: Ann Williams
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Abstract
Calderon’s El astrologo fingido is a little-known play that deserves wider recognition. My study begins by discussing the text of the play, and suggesting why it would have appealed to contemporary audiences. I go on to identify general influences as well as specific sources, and then consider the p...
| Published: |
2003
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| Institution: | Swansea University |
| Degree level: | Master of Philosophy |
| Degree name: | M.Phil |
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa43206 |
| Abstract: |
Calderon’s El astrologo fingido is a little-known play that deserves wider recognition. My study begins by discussing the text of the play, and suggesting why it would have appealed to contemporary audiences. I go on to identify general influences as well as specific sources, and then consider the play in relation to the corral theatre for which it was written. I show how the structure of El astrologo fingido, though influenced by aesthetic considerations, owes much to the need to engage and hold the attention of the audience. Characterization has traditionally been viewed as an aspect of the comedia worthy of consideration only in relation to the themes. I analyse the characters in this light, but also discuss whether they amount to more than pure representations of abstract ideas. I analyse the play’s language and imagery, and other striking features of the style, in relation to the themes, and I show how the style contributes to El astrologo fingido's success as a lively, humorous and dramatic play. I identify the various metrical forms used, and suggest how these are matched to the content and mood of individual scenes and speeches. I consider the principal themes of the play, and compare Calderon’s exploration of them here with his treatment of them in other plays, particularly La vida es sueno. El astrologo fingido inspired a succession of direct adaptations, and influenced many other works in several European countries. 1 note the extent of the play’s influence, and attempt a more detailed study than has been previously undertaken of the relationship between Elastrologo fingido and Part II Book II of Mile de Scudéry’s Ibrahim, and then between Calderon’s play and Thomas Corneille’s Le Feint Astrologue. Finally, I attempt to establish that El astrologo fingido merits greater attention than it has received hitherto. |
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| Keywords: |
Spanish literature |
| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |