Estudios sobre el teatro espaol by Joaqun Casalduero

Review by: Carlos Ortigoza

Hispania, Vol. 47, No. 1 (Mar., 1964), pp. 196-197
Published by: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese
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196 HISPANIA
provides
a
brief, yet very adequate history
of
the Amadis de Gaula and stresses Dr. Place's
belief
(now accepted by
most
scholars)
that the
medieval
original
of the version written
by
Montalvo was not first set down in
Portuguese
or in
French,
but in
Spanish,
and was in all
probability penned
under the
patronage
of Al-
fonso XI from a
copy
of an older
"Vulgate
Amadis" which stemmed
originally
from oral
versions.
This
fourteenth-century
text
prepared
at the
court of Alfonso XI was
not, according
to Dr.
Place,
the work of a
Spaniard,
but of a
pro-
fessional writer from outside
Spain,
who was
commissioned to write it in
Spanish
for the
express purpose
of
popularizing
the
concept
of
chivalry
and the
glories
it embodied.
Of
great
aid to scholars will be the section
entitled
"Bibliografla
Descriptiva
de las
Edi-
ciones,
Traducciones
y Arreglos
del Amadis
Libros
I-IV." It contains a
complete listing
of
all editions of the novel
printed
since 1508 in
the various
languages
in which it
appeared--
Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, English,
German,
Holland Dutch and
Hebrew,
as well
as all translations and
retellings.
In the second volume Dr. Place has main-
tained the text of the
original
of 1508 with
only
the alterations and additions mentioned
above. He has written a
very
valuable section
entitled "Notas sobre el
Lenguaje
de los
Libros
I y ii,"
divided into
parts
labeled
"Fonetica,"
"Fonetica, Sintictica y Morfologia," "Sintaxis,"
and
"Semintica,"
which in combination offer
an
important
addition and
supplement
to Vol-
ume
I.
A
complete
list of errata found in Tomo
ii of Montalvo's text is
offered,
as in the case
of Tomo
I.
Other aids are a
"Bibliografla,"
forty-one pages
of "Notas
Explicativas
a los
Libros
I
y Iv,"
and an
interesting
and valuable
"indice
de Materias
Anotadas,"
which taken to-
gether may
be said to
provide
notes not found
in Volume
I,
as well as notes
apropos
to Volume
ii. An "Addenda et
Corrigenda"
for Volume ii
appears
also.
Both Volume
I
and Volume ii are
attractively
printed
with the text in double columes in
large
and clear
type.
Volume
III,
now in
press,
can be
expected soon.
Univ.
of
North Carolina
JOHN
ESTEN KELLER
VERY, FRANCIS GEORGE,
The
Spanish Corpus
Christi Procession: A
Literary
and Folkloric
Study.
Valencia: Estudios de
Hispandofla,
Tipografia Moderna, 1962, Paper.
xiii
+
160
pp.
This work about the Feast of
Corpus Christi,
one of the
greatest
festivals of the Church
year
of the Iberian
people,
draws on the ac-
counts
by
travelers and
chroniclers,
the litera-
ture of the Golden
Age,
and the erudite writ-
ings
of
past
and
contemporary
scholars. The
limits in time are fixed between 1400 and 1800.
The chapters treat the
following topics: estab-
lishment of the feast, preparations
for the
feast,
the procession viewed as a
whole,
the tarasca,
the giants and the dancers. Such details as the
music for the
processions,
the costs of
produc-
tion, the
religious
and
allegorical interpreta-
tions
given
to the various
figures,
the kinds and
antecedents of the dances-all are discussed at
length.
Note is taken of the
dichotomy
which
developed between the
liturgical
and
popular
elements: "the
employment of
grotesque figures,
of the tarasca, of scenic
representations, and
dances, superimposed upon
a
basically austere
liturgical procession." The
Spanish people found
an outlet for their
rejoicing
and enthusiasm for
allegory in this elaborate
spectacle
which was
frequently
under attack
by
the
clergy
and
moralists. The extensive notes and
useful biblio-
graphy
are
placed
at the end of the volume.
Under the
heading
of "Additional References"
are listed the titles of books and articles which
the author feels are relevant to the
subject but
which he was unable to consult. It is obvious
that
Very's book is
systematically planned and
skillfully executed. This
stimulating, compre-
hensive
study
will be useful to all who have an
interest in the
Spanish theatre, folklore, religious
practices, music,
and dance.
Indiana Univ. HARVEY L.
JOHNSON
CASALDUERO, JOAQUIN,
Estudios sobre el teatro
espaiiol.
Madrid: Editorial
Gredos, 1962.
Paper. 266
pp.
Los autores
que
forman una
parte
de este
volumen son:
Lope
de
Vega, Guillkn de
Castro,
Cervantes, Tirso de
Molina,
Ruiz de
Alarc6n,
Calder6n,
Moratin
y
el
Duque
de Rivas. Me
parecen
excelentes los
ensayos
sobre El si de
las
nihias
y el Don
Alvaro,
discretos los de Las
mocedades, El
vergonzoso,
El
Burlador, y
La
vida es
snueio, objetables
los de Ruiz de
Alarc6n
y Lope
de
Vega.
En ambos casos el sefior Casal-
duero
rebaja
su calidad maltratando
injustifica-
damente a dos ilustres
hispanistas:
Pedro Henri-
quez Urefia
y
Marcelino Menendez
y Pelayo.
Al
primero
le hace
aparecer
como
insensato
demagogo
(151-155),
al
segundo,
como
opor-
tunista (10-11).
Al referirse a la conferencia de
Henriquez
Urefia sobre la mexicanidad de Ruiz de
Alarc6n,
dice
que
"se hizo
rapidamente
famosa
y
no
por
sus meritos literarios,
sino
por
la
carga
naciona-
lista
depositada
en ella. . . . Se da uno cuenta
de
que
. .
[Henriquez Urefia]
iba a solicitar
de su auditorio las
pasiones cegadoras" (151).
"Es claro
que
nos damos
muy
bien cuenta de
que Urefia
introdujo la cuesti6n del
mestizaje
por tratarse de 61 mismo
y
de
parte
de su audi-
torio . . ." (152).
Y a este tenor
siguen despro-
p6sitos que
no deben tener cabida en un tra-
bajo
serio. Sin
embargo,
la mais
grave objeci6n
que hago
es
que
no refuta las contribuciones
valiosas
que
hizo el ilustre
hispanista domini-
cano, sino
que
se
agacha:
"Cuando entra
Henri-
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BooKs OF THE
HISPANIC
WORLD 197
quez
Urefia verdaderamente en materia es al
situarse en el terreno
psicol6gico,
terreno a donde
precisamente
no le
seguiremos, porque
en dando
con la
psicologia ya
es cantar como
querer"
(153).
Pot lo
que
toca a Men6ndez
Pelayo, cuyos
juicios
criticos sobre
Fuenteovejuna
me
parecen
acertados
y
valiosos
(cf.
sus "Observaciones
pre-
liminares,"
en
Obras, RAE,
x, pp. clix-clivii, y
en
particular
la
p. clxii),
estos
abren
el
ensayo
del sefior Casalduero
(9-10), quien
inmediata-
mente, fuera del contexto repite palabras
in-
conexas e incoherentes con las que pretende
burlarse de Menindez Pelayo bajo el fuitil pre-
texto de que se acerc6 a Fuenteovejuna
"con la
ideologia de su 6poca" (10). El sefior Casalduero
despues
de calificar los
juicios
del
gran
maestro
como "desafortunadas
piginas" (12) pasa
a
estudiar la famosa comedia de
Lope, pero
no
aporta
nada
valioso,
es
decir, repite
el
parto
de
los montes. Para Casalduero "el
protagonista
no
lo es el
pueblo
todo.
Fuenteovejuna
es la vibrante
sacudida de la
tragedia
cristiana del amor
pasi6n,
con la
mujer
como vertice y
como base los dos
hombres de diferente coraz6n"
(22).
Esta re-
ducci6n
triangular
se
repite
a lo
largo
del
ensayo:
"Este es el conflicto de la obra:
escapar [Lau-
rencia]
de su mano
[del comendador].
..
.el
cual va circunscribiendo su
figura
como amor
pasi6n opuesto
a amor casto . . ."
(15-17).
Con
esta
interpretaci6n cerrada,
a la
que entreteje
como
correspondientes polos
la ciudad
y
la aldea
(14-38),
analiza las tres
jornadas
hasta
llegar
a las escenas finales en
que
se "nos
entrega
el
sentido de la obra: la lucha
que
contra la las-
civia
y
los sentidos tiene
que
Ilevar a cabo la
mujer y
el hombre
para
unirse en el sacramento
del matrimonio" (38).
A
pesar
de
que
el tema
de la lascivia del comendador se
repite por
todo
el
ensayo (17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,
29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 38, 39, 43, 44),
disen-
timos absolutamente de la
forma triangular y
"sentido"
que
da el sefior Casalduero a esta obra
maestra. Pidnsese
que hay
lo menos una cin-
cuentena de comedias
lopinas cuyo
conflicto lo
forman la
mujer casta,
el hombre lascivo
y
el
galin puro, pero
s61o
hay
una
Fuenteovejuna.
Cierto
que
a veces disentimos de
algunos juicios
de don
Marcelino, pero
en este
caso, si no lleg6
al fondo de
Fuenteovejuna,
si
que
lo vislumbr6.
Por falta de
espacio dejare
el asunto
para mejor
oportunidad.
La
Uiltima objeci6n grave que hago
se refiere
al desenlace. Para el sefior Casalduero la comedia
termina con la
reuni6n de Laurencia
y Fron-
doso "teniendo como fondo el tormento de todo
el
pueblo." Aqui termina la comedia, pero,
como sucede con frecuencia . . . todavia
hay
un
segundo
final. Los
Reyes aparecen
de nuevo..."
(38). No, Fuenteovejuna
tiene
s61lo
un final
y
estA construida como monolito al
que
no sobra
ni falta
nada, y
de ella no "se puede quitar
miembro /
que
del contexto no derribe el todo"
(Arte nuevo). Si
Fuenteovejuna hubiera termi-
nado con la reuni6n de los esposos, habria care-
cido de la validez universal
que
la inviste. Los
reyes
son meros
portadores
accidentales del valor
moral cristiano, justicia
social
que,
a
pesar
de
arraigadas
costumbres o ancestrales
privilegios
reconoce la
dignidad
de las
personas y
condena
la irresponsabilidad
moral del
que
tiene el
poder
y
no
gobierna
bien. Este es el sentido
que para
mi
claramente
resplandece
de la lectura atenta
de
Fuenteovejuna.
Indiana Univ. CARLOS ORTIGOZA
VEGA CARPIO, LOPE DE,
A
Paleographic Edition
of Lope de Vega's Autograph Play
"La Nueva
Victoria de D. Gonzalo de Cordoua." Ed.
Henry Ziomek. New York: Hispanic
Insti-
tute in the United States, 1962. 211 pp. $6.
Any
critical edition of one of the
relatively
large
number of
Lope
de
Vega's autograph
plays
still available is a welcome contribution to
our first-hand knowledge
of his actual
way
of
writing plays.
The
present paleographic
edition
helps
to fill this need with a comedia which,
though
not
outstanding
in dramatic
qualities,
offers a
good
illustration of
Lope's technique
in
dramatizing contemporary
events with the double
aim of
glorifying Spain
and her
military
heroes
on the one
hand,
and of
entertaining
the
audience in the
capa y espada style
on the other.
La nueua victoria de D. Gonzalo de Cordoua
is a comedia de circunstancias
composed by Lope
in
eighteen days
as a sort
of
chronicle
play
after
the battle of
Fleurus,
near Brussels
(August 29,
1622),
in which the
great-great-grandson
of the
Gran
Capitin
and
younger
brother of
Lope's
Maecenas,
the Duke of
Sessa, distinguished
him-
self
against
the Protestant forces
(though
his
victory
was less
complete
and his
rble
less
promi-
nent than
Lope pretends).
But it is in the skill
with which
Lope
succeeds in
bringing
to
life
with melodramatic force the
not-too-exciting
military events,
intertwined with love
plots
of
his own
fancy,
that the main interest of the
play lies,
as Prof. Ziomek
has
clearly
shown in
his Introduction.
The
paleographic transcription
is
quite
accu-
rate, although
the editor has seen fit to
accept
Menendez
y Pelayo's punctuation
without even
giving
evidence that the
Spanish
scholar fol-
lowed the
autograph
MS. In two instances at
least
(vv. 414, 1248),
that
punctuation spoils
the sense. There is some
inconsistency
in re-
taining Lope's
accentuation
(or
lack of
it)
and
capitalization,
while not even
mentioning
his
punctuation,
however
arbitrary. Very useful, too,
are the rather substantial variants from the four
printed (1637, 1641, 1777, 1902),
but one
misses some comments on the main differences
between these editions and on their mutual re-
lationships.
The editor does not even raise the
important question
of whether the various edi-
tions are based on his
autograph
MS or on
some
stage copy,
as was often the case and as
the
many
omissions and additions
(especially
in
stage directions)
would
suggest.
This content downloaded from 132.248.197.151 on Mon, 26 May 2014 15:21:42 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions