Spanish Drama Before Lope De Vega

'.f/ffi. - mm 1M fa^S^L MCf,,^ ~ \W ?Ji 4lR I ^^ . -ft^ * -a vVvv^mV d PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA EXTRA SERIES IN ROMANIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES. No. 7 SPANISH DRAMA BEFORE LOPE DE VEGA BY J. P. WICKERSHAM CRAWFORD, PH.D. PROFESSOR OF ROMANIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PHILADELPHIA 1922 PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF ROMANIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES Extra Series, No. 7 LIBRARY u IDMVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA C STo MY WIFE MAY WICKERSHAM CRAWFORD THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED PREFACE SEVENTY years have passed since the first appearance of Adolph Friedrich von Schack's Geschichte der dramatischen Literatur und Kunst in Spanien, the first part of which was devoted to a study of the predecessors of Lope de Vega, and while many critical studies have been written upon individual dramatists and many plays, not mentioned by Schack, have been discovered and published, no attempt has been made since that time to write a history of the earlier Spanish drama. Limitations of space have prevented me from attempting to write a detailed history of the Spanish drama before Lope de Vega, but I have tried to give at least an outline of the de- velopment of dramatic literature in that period. I am fully aware of the fact that the picture 'which I present is incomplete,, but it is my hope that I have succeeded in presenting here the results of the studies of my many predecessors, as well as of my own reading, and that this little book will serve as a- starting-point for further investigation in a subject that offers- so much of interest. I have limited myself to a consideration of the drama in the Spanish language, and have, therefore, paid little attention toi the plays of that period written in Catalan and Valencian. With considerable regret, I have included only the Castilian plays of Gil Vicente, and the plays in which the Castilian; element seems to predominate, and I have not even touched upon the many disputed points in the biography of the great Portuguese poet. I wish to express my gratitude to my friend and colleague, Professor Hugo A. Rennert, for his kindness in reading my manuscript. It is to him that I owe my first interest in this. 5 6 PREFACE subject, and the inspiration which I have received from his labours and from our many chats regarding our favourite Spanish dramatic poets has been a powerful incentive to me in my own studies. J. P. W. C. CONTENTS CHAPTER I THE SPANISH DRAMA BEFORE ENCINA CHAPTER II JUAN DEL ENCINA 20 CHAPTER III RELIGIOUS DRAMA BEFORE LOPE DE RUEDA 39 CHAPTER IV FESTIVAL AND PASTORAL PLAYS 65 CHAPTER V ROMANTIC COMEDY AND THE COMEDY OF MANNERS BEFORE LOPE DE RUEDA 87 CHAPTER VI LOPE DE RUEDA, ITALIANATE COMEDY AND THE FARCE in CHAPTER VII RELIGIOUS DRAMA IN THE LATTER HALF OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 137 CHAPTER VIII TRAGEDY AND LATER COMEDY 152 BIBLIOGRAPHY 183 7 CHAPTER I THE SPANISH DRAMA BEFORE ENCINA Although material is almost entirely lacking for a study of the liturgical drama in Spain, the close relationship that ex- isted between the ritual of the Spanish church and that of other countries of Western Europe, and particularly of France after the eleventh century, allows us to assume that in Spain, as elsewhere, the religious drama developed from the tropes attached to the Introit of the Magna Missa of Easter and) Christmas. To the study of the origins of the medieval liturgical drama, Castilian-speaking portions of the Peninsula con- tribute only an eleventh or twelfth-century Christmas trope 1 of a primitive type from Huesca, and two eleventh-century 2 Easter tropes from Silos. In spite of this noteworthy lack of liturgical texts, Spanish literature may claim the honor of possessing in the Auto de los Reyes Magos one of the earliest, if not the earliest religious play in a modern tongue. This composition, consisting of 146 or 147 lines, is contained in a manuscript of the Chapter Library of Toledo, now preserved at the National Library of Madrid, and on the basis of linguistic and scribal considera- tions may be ascribed to the middle of the twelfth century. It was probably performed in some church in the city of Toledo to celebrate the festival of the Epiphany. With res- pect to its origin, it is difficult to determine whether its pro- Mentioned by Karl Young, Officium Pastorum: A Study of the Dramatic Developments within the Liturgy of Christmas, Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, vol. xvii, pt. ii, 1914, p. 300n. 2 Carl Lange, Die lateinischen Osterfeiern, Munich, 1887, p. 24. 9 I0 SPANISH DRAMA BEFORE LOPE DE VEGA totype is a play in French or a liturgical text of the Officium Stellae such as was used at Limoges, Rouen, Nevers, Com- piegne and Orleans in the twelfth century, and which might have been introduced into Spain by the Benedictines of Cluny. If its source is really one of these Latin texts, the author derived from it merely the arrangement of incidents, and treated his material with independence, originality and dramatic sense. Instead of the five lines recited by the Magi, in several of the liturgical texts, before their meeting with Herod, we find three monologues in the Spanish play, amounting to fifty-one lines, in which the author attempts to give some individuality to the Wise Kings by describing their doubts as to whether the new star in the heavens really betokens the Saviour's birth. The following scene, in which the Magi confer with one another concerning the meaning of the star, is not found in any liturgical text. Furthermore, the gifts of the Magi are spoken of as a means to identify the Christ Child. He will choose gold if a king of this world, myrrh if he is a mortal man and incense if he is King of Heaven. These occur in the Hymnus Epiphaniae of Pruden- 1 tius, a few stanzas of which were included in the Breviary. In the third scene they appear before Herod who, on learn- ing the object of their quest, bids them go and search for the new King, and when they have found Him, to bring him word again so that he may go and worship also. When left alone, Herod becomes the ranting tyrant who appears in so many later plays and summons his scribes and astrologers to in- terpret for him this mystery. They fall into a dispute and the play breaks off abruptly. We may assume that at least one scene, namely, the Adoration of the Christ Child by the Magi, has been lost. Like the Old French and Latin pieces of like character, it has a rich metrical structure with ennea- syllabic and heptasyllabic verses and Alexandrines as the pre- vailing measures. 1 A. Bonilla y San Martin, Las Bacantes, o del origen del teatro, Madrid, 1921, p. 72. THE SPANISH DRAMA BEFORE ENCINA 1 1 An oft-quoted law of the Siete Partidas* (1256-1263) gives us valuable information concerning religious plays in Spain about the middle of the thirteenth century. After prohi- biting certain abuses that will be discussed later, the law expressly declares that members of the clergy are permitted to present (faser) plays (representaciones} that deal with the birth of Jesus and the announcement of the angel to the shep- herds, the Adoration of the Magi and the Resurrection. Such Christmas, Epiphany and Easter plays were allowed with reasonable restrictions, and their function as a vehicle of religious instruction is clearly recognized. The words of the text indicate that these plays contained dialogue and were accompanied by a crude attempt at acting, and the ban laid upon performances in small towns or for the sake of gain, seems to prove that they were composed in Spanish. The history of the religious drama during the two hundred years that followed upon the Siete Partidas is shrouded in almost complete obscurity. Not a single Castilian play is known to have been composed during those two centuries that wit- nessed the unfolding and culmination of the English miracle plays and the French miracles and mysteres. Furthermore, even the few allusions to dramatic performances during that period that have been discovered, refer almost entirely to Catalan and Valencian territory. For example, a document of the year 1360 informs us that it was customary for the canons of the Cathedral of Gerona to perform on Easter a 2- play called Las ires Marias. A primitive Christmas repre- sentation is first mentioned at Valencia in 1432 and dialogue 3 was introduced by the year I44O. It is well known that Corpus Christi day was celebrated throughout Western 1 Las Siete Partidas del Rey don Alfonso el Sabio, vol. i, Madrid, 1897, pt. i, tit. vi, ley 34. 1 Schack, Historia de la literatura y del arte dramatico en Espana, vol. i, p. 224. 1 For early religious shows at Valencia, see Henri Merimee, L'Art dramatique a Valencia, Toulouse, 1913, pp. 1-19. I2 SPANISH DRAMA BEFORE LOPE DE VEGA Europe in the first half of the fourteenth century by a procession in which religious bodies and guilds escorted the Host through the streets, and Catalan and Valencian documents attest the popularity of that festival. Sacred scenes were sometimes represented, as for example, the Sacrificio de Isaac and Sueno y venta de Jacob, by the beneficiaries of the 1 Cathedral of Gerona on Corpus Christi day, I3OO, and re- ferences to the Corpus procession at Valencia date back to 1355.

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