Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Rojas Zorrilla, Francisco de
(1607-1648)
Spanish dramatist
Born in T
OLEDO
, the son of a minor officer,
Rojas Zorrilla had an intermittent career as
a university student and then settled in
M
ADRID
(1631) and devoted himself to lit-
erary activities. His facility as a poet first
gained him access to court circles, and his
ability to work well with others made him
the collaborator of C
ALDERÓN
DE
LA
B
ARCA
and other leading dramatists of the period
in a substantial number of works for the
stage. In 1635, now working largely on his
own, he produced no less than seven plays,
and his status, as well as his income, rap-
idly rose.
Rojas was often regarded as more rigor-
ous in the moral standard reflected in his
plays than were some other dramatists,
though he could introduce a tolerant note,
as when he allowed a seduced wife to be
forgiven and reconciled with her husband
in
Cada cual lo que le toca
(To each his own),
much to the surprise and indignation of
many Madrid playgoers. He enjoyed sati-
rizing fools rather than miscreants and is
the principal creator of the
figurón
charac-
ter in the 1645 play
Entre bobos anda el juego
(Gaming among fools). This “pompous
fool” type would be a recurrent presence in
later Spanish drama, as well as in that of
other countries.
Ironically Rojas is best known for
Del rey
abajo ninguno
(None below the king), pub-
lished under circumstances that have raised
doubts about its authorship. While his
untimely death contributed to the uncer-
tainty, it is now generally accepted that he
is the author of this drama in which a
nobleman, García del Castañar, living far
from the court as a farmer, is affronted by a
by many critics to be second only to the
Don
Quixote,
of M
IGUEL
DE
C
ERVANTES
, in the
pantheon of Spanish literature. It has been
variously described as the first novel pub-
lished in Spain, or perhaps even anywhere
in Europe. It is certainly strikingly different
in its use of distinctive characters, each with
his or her own language appropriate to
social class and role. This alone sets it apart
from earlier European literature, mostly
versified and undifferentiated in its lan-
guage. Indeed, it has been hailed as the first
truly modern work of literature and the
first distinctive literary product of the
Renaissance. Scores of Spanish editions
were published during the 16th century
alone, and it was translated into all the
major European languages during that
time. Many writers, including William
Shakespeare and Cervantes himself, are
believed to have been influenced by it.
Originally titled the
Comedia
(later
Tragi-
comedia
)
de Calisto y Melibea,
after its doomed
young lovers, the topic soon became known
as
La Celestina
after the memorably amoral
old woman who facilitates the contact
between the lovers and is the true central
character of the story. Along with Calisto's
servants and their girlfriends, La Celestina
provides an insight into the mentality, class
conflicts, and personal aspirations of the
lower orders in Renaissance Spain, in sharp
contrast to the high-flown rhetoric of Cal-
isto and Melibea.
La Celestina
(which has sometimes been
described as a drama rather than a novel)
is not merely the forerunner of modern
Spanish literature but a work of original-
ity and distinctive artistic virtues in its
own right. It is all the more ironic, there-
fore, that its author has remained so shad-
owy a figure.
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