Miguel de Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Calderon de la Barca

Question 1

Who was Miguel de Cervantes? (quick bio)

Answer 1

• born in Alcade Henares
• educated at Salamanca and Madrid
• enlisted in the army in 1570; fought a naval battle and wounded his left hand
• was captured and imprisoned by Barbary pirates (it was during this time he reflected on Don Quixote)
• married a 19 year old pregnant woman at age of 37, it didn’t last
• wrote Don Quixote: the work is a picturesque model, burlesque of the artificial romances of chivalry
• joined the order of the Fransiscans
• died of dropsy and was buried by the Fransiscans

Question 2

What were Miguel de Cervantes greatest contribution to spanish theatrE?

Answer 2

his entremeses; they are praised for their vividness, concentration of action, and vivacity and individuality of their characters

Question 3

Who was Felix Lope de Vega Carpio?

Answer 3

• was a bit unstable (took after his father)
• combined erotic susceptibility with great religious fervor, developed an emotional dependence on women (as passionate in love as he was in religion)
• 1587, started writing for the stage, was very popular, gave audience what they wanted
• excelled in plays that dealt with peasant life, plays that conveyed the corporate life of a whole community
• favorite theme was of tyrannous feudal lord eventually punished by the king (Lope’s gratitude to the monarchy for ending the abuse of power of feudal lords)
• his comedias constitute a vast pangyric in praise of Spain, and the spanish way of life, especially the main priority - LOVE
• he had an insanely large number of lovers
• Marta de nevares - love of his life, they could not marry after her husband died however because he had taken a vow of celibacy when he joined the religious life

Question 4

Who was Pedro Calderon de la Barca?

Answer 4

• born in Madrid to an old aristocrati Castilian family
• attended jesuit school, went on to study law, math, philosophy at Univ. Alcala and Salamanca
• destined for preisthood by father but he said no
• 1620s he wrote La Vida es Sueno
• was appointed to be court poet and director of court theatre by Phillip IV
• was made a knight of the Order of Santiago
• later in his life after his mistress/mother of his son died, he became a priest
• continued to write until the very end of his life, he died while writing an auto sacramentale
• he wrote numerous autos and many secular plays as well