From Plato's Cave to Segismundo's Prison: The Four Levels of Reality and Experience

Author(s): Harlan G. Sturm

Source: MLN, Vol. 89, No. 2, Hispanic Issue (Mar., 1974), pp. 280-289
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2907483 .
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 280 M L N

and in the greatersymmetry of the blocks, he could also have followed

the model in the matterof the extra line, despite having departed from
the model in the waysmentionedabove.
All other "mistakes" in the works of Garcilaso may be ascribed to
errorsof the copyistsor the printers. The case of stanza 20, however,is
not so easily explained, for all editions and manuscriptsshow the same
number of lines, fifteen,instead of the expected fourteen, and the
whole stanza is sound in rhymeand sense. We are then left with two
possibilities. One is a careless mistakeon the part of Garcilaso himself.
This is perhapsnot verylikelyin view of the artistryof the man, whichhas
promptededitorsand criticsto avoid ascribingmistakesto him; instead,
they have tried to correctthe irregularitiesin his works in one way or
another,ascribingthemratherto copyistsand printers. Such an obvious
mistake as an extra line, moreover,could have been detected by the
friendswho presumablyread his works in manuscript,and who likely
commented on them to Garcilaso himself. The only other possible
explanation seems to be a purposefulirregularity, with a sort of " roman
a clef" meaning, that is to say, a secret, "ia outr6" imitation of the
model,an intentionalblunder,the trueoriginof whichwas to be clear only
to those "initiated," or to membersof a close circle of friends,or to
those who happened to come by the asymmetricalreading of the model.

DARIO FERNANDEZ-MORERA
HarvardUniversity

From Plato's Cave to Segismundo's Prison:

The Four Levels of Reality and Experience
Calder6n de la Barca's La vida es sueno, one of the mostfamousdramas
of the Spanish Golden Age, derives its basic form and much of its
metaphoricalbeauty fromthe sixthand seventhbooks of Plato's Republic,
in which Plato gives fullestexpression to the metaphor of the cave and
of man's ascent from the cave to the level of philosopher-king.
Similaritiesbetween the two works,once suggestedwith hesitation and
greeted with harsh criticism,have now been carefullyestablished,and
the Republic as antecedentforthe structureand poetryas well as much of
the philosophy of Calder6n's masterpiece can no longer be seriously
disputed.1 The degree of similarityforcesa new task upon Calderonian
1 See "
especially Jackson I. Cope, The Platonic Metamorphoses of Calder6n's
La Vida es Sueno," MLN 86 (1971), 225-41; and Michele F. Sciacca, " Verdad
M L N 281

criticism: the assessmentof Calder6n's originalityand purpose in La

vida es sueno. Is his famous drama now reduced to a derivative
discussion of the nature of reality, or was he in fact adapting his
famous source to serve an objective of his own? A close comparisonof
the Republic and La vida es sueno, along with a reading of the dramatist's
two autos sacramentalesof the same name, indicates the latter: that
Calder6n was skillfullyutilizing the basic Platonic metaphor of the
cave to dramatize a fundamentallyChristian articulation of man's ex-
perience.
In 1950, Michele F. Sciacca suggested the Platonic influence in
Calder6n's play in the concept and functionof Beauty, embodied in the
person of Rosaura. All that is beautiful is an image of "lo bello"
and leads the intellect to the contemplationof the idea. Sciacca also
offeredthe " mythof the cave " as a parallel to Segismundo'sbeginnings
in the tower and to an awakening by the force of pure beauty. In a
recent article, "The Platonic Metamorphosesof Calder6n's La vida es
sueio," Jackson I. Cope redirects our attention to the sixth and
seventh books of the Republic, as a result of his search for a source
having "a love plot wherein the protagonist,led by Beauty, spiritually
transcendsdesire...closely interwovenwith a political plot in which the
protagonistspirituallytranscendsthe temptation to tyranny."2 Cope's
argumentis supportedby his observationthat both the Republic and La
vida es sueno deal with illusion and reality,and that the structureof both
is that of dream within dream. For these reasons, Cope urges the myth
of the cave " as a sourceexplainingSegismundo'simprisonmentin his dark
tower,his education throughthe double fictionof dream as reality,his
initial tyrannyand his ultimate emergence as the philosopher-kinghis
father only appears to be."3 But while these Platonic parallels to
Calder6n's presentation are at once apparent, the implementationof
Plato's ideas in La vida es sueio remains to be considered. While
Segismundomay well be led, like Plato's cave dweller,by the experience
of beauty to the 'contemplationof the idea', it is essential to determine
both Calder6n's conception of this Ultimate Good, of which the Sun
even in Plato is only a reflection,and the significanceof the stages
of experience throughwhich Segismundois made to pass before assuming
the role of philosopher-king.
There are four stages clearly discerniblein the dramatic development
of La vida es sueno: Segismundoin his dark prison,la torre,when he is

y suefio de 'La vida es suefio,' de Calder6n de la Barca," Clavileio 1, no, 5

(1950), 1-9. See especially pp. 6-9.
2Cope, art. cit., p. 227.
3 Ibid., p. 231.
 282 M L N

discoveredby Rosaura; Segismundo in the palace, having been drugged

and thrustinto the world of the corte for his trial sojourn among the
civilized; Segismundo after he is returned to the tower following his
experienceof the palace and of the two abrupt changes in his condition;
and the last stage, King Segismundo,the wise ruler.4 While keeping in
mind the early admonitionsof Wilson, Parker,and other critics5 about

CesAreo Bandera, in "El intinerario de Segismundo en La vida es sueio,"

Hispanic Review 35 (1967), 69-84, sees three levels-the firstcharacterized by
the firstsoliloquy, the second by his second famous monologue, and the last
stage after he is freed from the prison for the last time. " Mi prop6sito es
aqui mostrarque estos tres momentos no obedecen a una divisi6n arbitraria del
proceso transformativode Segismundo, sino que son tres divisiones clhsicas
desarrolladas por una larga tradici6n filos6fico-religiosade origen plat6nico en
uiltima instancia, pero que aparecen expuestas de manera explicita a partir
de Fil6n hasta llegar a integrarsedecisivamente en el pensamiento escolastico,
y mas particularmente en San Buenaventura," (p. 73). Prof. Bandera is
led to his excellent essay by the observations of Angel Valbuena Briones,
"El simbolismo en el teatro de Calder6n," Romanische Forschungen 74 (1962),
60-76, and Bruce Wardropper, "Apenas llega cuando llega a penas," Modern
Philology 57 (1960), 240-4 that much of the imagery and symbolism of the
opening scenes of the play are related with awakening and birth. Bandera's
analysis signals out the patristic literature, namely San Bonaventura as the
source for this aspect of the play. Admittedly influenced by Platonism, the
scholastic revaluation of platonic philosophy explains very well many of
Calder6n's relationships and much of the dramatic movement. It does not
account for the fact that Calderon's version seems to go back further, to
Plato himself and his image of the cave. Nor does it concern itself with
Plato's philosopher-king,but with mankind in general.
6 E. M. Wilson, "On La vida es sueiio," easily accessible in Essays on the
Theater of Calderon, ed. Bruce Wardropper (New York, 1965), 83-89. Wilson
warns that to compare the auto and the drama may be misleading, " for when
we return to our play we may merely reread the auto at greater length," (p.
69). His comments refer to L. P. Thomas, "La genese de la philosophie
et le symbolismedans La vie est un songe," in Melanges offertsd M. Wilmotte,
(Paris, 1910), 251-83, who reviews the ideas expressed by Alberto Lista, V.
Schmidt, as well as Krenkel and Schack, all of whom thought of the auto
as a reworking of the drama. Thomas himself asserts, "L'action est
absolument analogue dans ses parties essentielles: elle a pour objet la
creation de l'homme, sa chute, son rachat; les evenements,si diff6rentesqu'ils
paraissent parfois, sont les memes, les uns dans l'ordre reel, les autres dans
l'ordre ideal ou spirituel" (p. 271). Seemingly anticipating Sciacca and Cope,
Thomas concludes, "Dans ce but, Calder6n bouleverse notre confiance innee
en la realite de la matiere,tend h prouver,avec Platon, que celle-ci n'est qu'une
ombre de l'ideal, annonce, apres tant d'autres precurseurs,le probleme kantien
de l'essence des choses, et, tout en s'inspirant des penseurs bibliques et
chr6tiens,fait songer au Nirvana des bouddhistes,lorsqu'il touche, sans chercher
i le r6soudre, au probleme de l'Etre et du Non-Etre," (p. 285) Farinelli, also
quoted by Wilson, calls the approach "follia" objecting to Basilio being
Poder, extending Clotaldo to intelligence (entendimiento). [Farinelli, La vita
e un sogno (Torino, 1916), vol. II, p. 182.] A. A. Parker, in "The Father-Son
M L N 283

using the auto sacramentalwith caution in interpretingthe drama, it is

importantwith respect to the assimilationof the Platonic ideas and to
thesefourlevels to considerCalder6n's two autos of the same title; these
autos presentHombre as the protagonistin place of Segismundo,and thus
more clearly resemble Plato's work in dealing generallywith four levels
of human experience. In the auto's, the four levels of man's existence
follow the traditional Christian expression of man's position in the
universe: "pre-nacer," when man is but an idea in the mind of God;
man in the earthly paradise; man immediately after the Fall;
and the last stage, life following redemption. Modern criticism of
Plato's Republic also stressesthe philosophical importance of the four
levels, the varyinglevels of reality in the metaphor of the cave,6 and
an examination of the articulationof these stages in each of the works
serves to clarify the nature and function of Calder6n's particular
adaptation of Plato's metaphor.
Cope and Sciacca demonstratehow the lowest level in Plato, where
man sees only shadows and not reality, corresponds to Segismundo's
prison:7 Rosaura is not dressedas herself,and the other men who enter
wear masks,Segismundo'sfamous soliloquy is the poet's renditionof this
level of understanding,and illustrateswell the results of very limited
experience. It is importantto note here that when, in the third act,
Rosaura clarifies the enigma of this experience for Segismundo, she
refersto his original dwelling specificallyas a cave: " Que un bruto que
se desboca/me llevo a tu cueva adonde/tu de mirarme te asombras.
(11. 2853-5)8
What is the lowest level, or firststage, in the auto, the author's
allegorical presentationof life, dream, and existence? Man exists, in
the mind of the creator, he is an idea, a part of the total plan of

Conflict in the Drama of Calder6n," Forum for Modern Language Studies

2 (1966), 99-113,calls the approach fallacious. "The comedia provides the auto
with its allegory not with its theme; the two plays are quite differentin
meaning and each provides the complete context for its own interpretation,"
(p. 109).
6 Thomas Gould, "The Four Levels of Reality in Plato, Spinoza, and
Blake," Arion 8 (1969), 20-50.
7
Cope, op. cit., pp. 233-4; Sciacca, op. cit., pp. 6-7. The articulation of this
is dealt with well by Margaret S. Maurin, in "The Monster, The
Sepulchre,
and the Dark: Related Patterns of Imagery in La vida es suenfo,"
Hispanic
Review 35 (1967), 161-78; and by Horst Ochse, Studien zur
Metaphorik
Calder6n's (Munich, 1967).
8 Line referencesto La vida es sueno are to the edition in
Diez Comedias
del Siglo de Oro, 2nd. edition. Jose Martel and Hymen Alpern,
(New York,
1968). The nature of this "cueva" is, of course, a common articulation for
Calder6n. Ochse points out the use in the discoveryof Semiramis,
op. cit., p.
99.
 284 M L N

creation, to whom independent existence has not yet been granted.

Sabiduria, who with Poder and Amor makes up the Godhead, or Trinity,
in the second versionof the auto describesMan in his pre-birthstate:
donde sin ser,alma y vida
discurso,eleccion ni aviso
en metaforade carcel
hasta ahora le has tenido,
le sacas a luz, no menos
ingratoy desconocido
te sera el Hombre que el Angel,
poniendo en tan gran conflicto
a todo el Genero Humano. (p. 1931) 9

In the firstversionof the auto, Verbo similarlydescribesthe pre-creation

position of his heir:
a sacar no me he atreuido
al hombrede la prisi6n
donde oculto le he tenido,
que es el centrode la tierra.
En 1e,pues, esta escondido
tal informeque no tiene
alma, cuerpo ni sentido,
porque yo no le he inspirado
luzes del aliento mio.
Este, pues, que yo engendre
aca en mi mente,es mi hijo
y rey vuestro; si quereis
a sus dafiospreueniros,
yo de la pris6n obscura
os le sacare aduertido
de que porque obre por si-
le dar6 libre aluedrio. (p. 1865)

Later in the same soliloquy, Verbo refersto paradise, the second stage,
as "el humano palazio," which is also referredto later by Sabiduria
as "palazio terrenal." (p. 1867) Verbo unveils Hombre to Sabiduria,
referringto his formerlocation as "antes de nazer" (p. 1886). It is
the voice of Sabiduria which wakes Hombre (that of Gracia in the second
version of the auto), as the voice of Rosaura in the play wakes Segis-
mundo. The prision, "metafora de carcel," "cueva," "torre" will be
exchanged in the second stage for the "palazio terrenal,"-paradise.
9 Numerical references to the autos are to the
pages of Calderon de la
Barca, Obras Completas, vol. III Autos Sacramentales (Madrid, 1952), ed.
Angel Valbuena Prat.
M L N 285

In Plato's second level of reality, never reached by most men, one sees
real things, not their shadows. Although Plato elsewhere denies that even
this is "reality "-since "reality" itself is experienced only on the final
level-man here does interpret his world on the basis of real things. The
for
presence of the stars in Plato's second level is particularly important,
when man is forcibly dragged up the ascent from the cave, "first he will
see the shadows best, next the reflections of men and other objects in the
water, and then the objects themselves, then he will gaze upon the light
of the moon and the stars and the spangled heaven and he will see the sky
and the stars by night better than the sun of the light of the sun by
day." 10 This suggests the significancee of Segismundo's admittedly
common Sun-Star confusion when he enters the second level in Calder6n's
play, the palace, where he exclaims " mejor dijeras el sol..." etc. (1. 1391),
punning on Estrella's name. And, keeping in mind the first palace
entrance of Segismundo and his encounter there with Rosaura, it is also
noteworthy as a paralell that in Plato "desire (initially sexual) for a
perceptible example of beauty on the level of individual men and events
brings with it a sense that all things are really more beautiful than the
lover had previously supposed." 11
The importance of the Republic's star imagery for Calder6n's drama
has been suggested in terms of the names of Estrella and Rosaura.12
Examination of the function of this name significance, however, indicates
that Calder6n was consciously using Plato's imagery in a way peculiar to
the demands of his own more complex plot. As Clotaldo liberates
Segismundo from prison, his words "Mas fiando a tu atenci6n,/que
venceras las estrellas" (11, 1284-5) are an obvious reference to the idea,
optimistic at this point, that the prince will overcome the influence of
the stars, the astrological prediction. It was the prediction of his failure
as a ruler which had led to his confinement to assure that he would
never assume the throne. The obstacles to Segismundo's inheritance of the
throne, represented on the philosophical level by the stars, are embodied
on the literal level by Astolfo, Estrella, and temporarily by Rosaura under
the assumed name of Astrea. If Segismundo rules well, passes the test,
and overcomes the stars, Astolfo and Estrella lose their rival claims to the
throne. The three names of Astolfo, Estrella, and Astrea share the

10 Plato, The
Republic, translated by B. Jowett, (New York, 1960), p. 206.
Earlier, the suggestion is that upon being released, the prisoner will "walk
and look towards the light, he will suffersharp pains; the glare will distress
him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his formerstate he
had seen the shadows; and then conceive some one saying to him, that what he
saw before was an illusion..." p. 206.
"See Gould, op. cit., p. 25.
Cope, op. cit., p. 236.
12
 286 M L N

resonance of ASTRO. And in this context,it can hardlyby coincidence

that the name Clotaldo seems to be suggestedby Clothos (Spanish Cloto),
one of the three fates. In the Republic, as in numerous other sources,
Clothos is that fatewhich spins the threadsof life so frequentlyportrayed
in Renaissance art. Clothos, Clotaldo, is an agent of that force which
Segismundowill overcomein the fourthlevel.
The parallel to the autos in this second stage is readily apparent. In
both versions,the second level is the palace, or paradise-the settingfor
the trial. There man is required to strikea balance betweenvoluntad and
entendimiento,a balance he is unable to achieve. Entendimiento in
the auto triesto warn Man that he is about to make a fatal error. Man
misreadsor ignoresthe messagesbroughtby agents of the threeelements,
espejo (agua), espada (fuego) and a bird (air), eventuallysuccumbingto
tierra (la dorada poma). In the drama, the similarmessage is carriedby
the servant who is thrown from the balcony. His " advierte . . ." (1. 1319)
interruptedby Segismundo reflectsthe shortenedform of the Christian
warningto rememberthat God rules the universe: the " advierteque hay
muertey hay Dios" for Don Juan for example, or the "obrar bien que
Dios es Dios" of the Gran Teatro del Mundo.
The comparisonof the thirdlevel in Calder6n and Plato is fundamental
to our point, since in each this level includes the most difficult
transition,
fromthe dominationof the senses to that of the intellect. In the drama,
this is forcedupon the protagonistwho, returnedto his tower,is left to
interprethis existenceon the basis of his previoustwo levels of experience.
It is this attemptwhich gives rise to Segismundo'ssecond soliloquy. In
the auto sacramental,this transitionis the Fall of Man. In Hombre's
soliloquy reflectingupon his state, he says "El orgullo reprimamos,por
si alguna vez sofiamos,"13 and later, since he findshimselfagain in his
original state of darkness,the sun is too brightfor his unacustomedeyes:
"Si miro al sol, me da enojos, pues no me alumbra y me abrasa."14
In Plato too, beforereachingthe UltimateGood, the worthymustbe made
to descend again among the prisonersin the den, and partake of their
labors and honors."15 Of man at this level in Plato's version Gould
says: "So long as he offershis principlesas hypothesisand defendsthem
by observationsdrawn fromthe sensed level-so long as he cannot show
how theyare necessaryinferencesfroma yet higherprinciple known with
absolute certainty-thepossibilityof error must still dog him. This is
so because the world reportedonly by our sensescan never be understood
with complete certainty."16 The second descent of Segismundo to his
torrepresentsan obvious parallel.
18 Op.
cit., p. 1413.
4 Ibid.,
pp. 1428-9.
16 The
Republic, p. 210.
16
Gould, op. cit., p. 27.
M L N 287

The final transition to the highest level is also close in the two
authors. In Plato, man during his second experience of the cave must
adjust again to the sunlight,which he will now recognizeas a reflectionof
a higher reality. Gould's statement of this stage shows clearly its
relevance for our purpose: "He is still defeated by the strengthof
actual sunlight,That is, because he is puzzled by the Good and cannot,
therefore,see exactly how reality is a function of value, he can only
have hypotheses about reality of entities, like justice, that imply
value," 17 Justiceis a major common elementbetween Plato's conception
of this process and that of Calder6n, for Segismundowill rise above his
dramaticcounterpart,Basilio, in the administrationsof final justice. In
both Plato and Calder6n, as Prof. Cope points out, the fourthlevel is
that in which one is eligible to be "philosopher king." In the drama,
this is the stage at which Rosaura clarifiesSegismundo'sprevious levels,
pointing out that she was but a reflectionof reality in her earlier
appearances. Segismundo then demonstratesthrough his actions his
worthinessto rule, and assumes the throne. In the auto, the fourth
level is man's state after birth and before judgement,with his post-fall
limitationsand in addition his knowledgethat " hay muertey hay Dios."
As strikingas the similaritiesbetween Plato's and Calder6n's concepts
appear, one must not consider antecedent in concept or in form the
object of our pursuit. It may be said that Calder6n is one of the more
famous plagiarists, as seen in his adaptations of the play of other
dramatists,such as Tirso's Venganza de Tamar which becomes his
Cabellos de Absalom. However, the veryfact that the two complete acts
which he takes from Tirso are given an entirely new focus by the
addition of his own third act should make us look closely at his
objectives in adopting so much of Plato's metaphor. Calder6n follows
Plato's plot closely in the progressof his protagonistfrom darkness to
light, from the dominance of voluntad to the higher intellectus: from
near-beastto philosopher-king, and as the four stages are all part of the
progressiontoward the final state of philosopher-king, it is in termsof
thisgoal that we must examine Calder6n's version.
In general terms,the key to this sequence in Calder6n lies in his
view of the Fall and Redemption of man. We must of course not
reread the play in termsof auto, for the play is definitelynot an alle-
gory,howeverallegorical it may seem in some of its aspects. But analogies
such as those between world and stage, God and author,and creatorand
painter provide the basis for some of Calder6n's most importantwork,
among them El gran teatro del mundo, El pintor de su deshonra,both
auto and play, La devocion de la cruz, and many others. He stresses
17
Op. cit., p. 33.
 288 M L N

his perception of the similaritybetween the fall or failure of an

individualand the universalizedmythof the Fall, and it cannot be ignored
that in what is presumedto be a more reflectivemood he rewrotethe idea
of theplayin universaltermswith Hombre as protagonistto stage the Fall
itself.
In La vida es sueno it is the series of stages of experience through
which Calder6n leads his protagonistwhich demonstrateshis assimilative
genius. Through the rathercontriveddevice of the imprisonmentand the
ingenious inventionof the dream potion, Segismundohas been subjected
to the same conditions,insecuritiesand revelationsas those experienced
by all mankind in the Fall. We are not to equate Segismundo with
Everyman, for he, like Plato's protagonist, achieves the state of
philosopher--king because he is exceptional, belonging to the select few
who are qualified forearthlyrule. But he gains a profoundknowledgeof
the Fall and of its implicationsfor his own experience preciselybecause
of the similaritiesbetween the two. Perhaps the greatestemphasis on
the portrayal of Segismundo's lesson is on experience itself. This is
emphasizedby the contrastto Basilio, whose knowledgeis not like that of
Segismundo,as it is derivedfrombooks, not fromactual experience. The
referencesto Basilio as a bookish man. are numerous, and many are
pronounced by the King himself. His only real lesson in the drama is
occasioned by the death of Clarin, whose dyingwords " mirad que vais a
morir/siesta de Dios que murais" cause Basilio to reply,
Que bien (ay cielos) persuade
nuestroerror,nuestraignorancia
a mayorconocimiento
este cadaver que habla
por la boca de una herida
siendo el humor que desata
sangrientalengua que ensefia. (11. 3090-3100)
"La boca de una herida " is one of Calder6n's favored images for its
metaphoric expression of actual experience.l8 Segismundo appears in
contrastto his fatheras most worthyto be philosopher-king, not because
he has knowledge of the fall of man, but because he has learned it
throughexperience.
It is in the stresson experienceas the best teacherthat the conclusions
of Plato and Calder6n coincide. Plato is explicit in saying that he
rules best who has himselfpassed throughall the stages of experience,
while Segismundo in the drama is the only one who actually has the
18 From La devoci6n de la cruz, ed. A. Valbuena Briones, Madrid,
1959) p. 293.
Julia says to Eusebio, "y quisiera hallar disculpa/en las lagrimas que viertes/que
al fin heridas y ojos/son bocas que nunca mienten."
M L N 289

experience.l9 Calder6n is of course not the only writerto see in Plato's

image a universal truthabout realityand man's condition, nor the first
to express it in Christian terms. Elements of Platonic phisosophyhad
long before been incorporated into Christian thought,notably by St.
Augustine. But Calder6n's achievement is the dramaticallysuccessful
utlization of the platonic metaphor for human experience in his
fundamentallyChristianplay.

Universityof Massachusetts HARLAN G. STURM

F. Garcia Lorca y Granada

La geografiade una estetica

Poquisimos son los poetas que han sido identificadostan estrechamente

con su patria o su provincia natal como el poeta granadino Federico
Garcia Lorca. Desde nuestra primera introducci6n a este poeta tan
hondamente espaiol y a la vez universal, hemos venido oyendo y
hablando de su calidad de "cantor de la raza," de su pintoresquismoa
lo andaluz, y de la fuertedosis de granadinismoque tifie su obra. Y
tambien desde los mismos principios de nuestro conocimientodel poeta
andaluz hemos venido tratandode disminuirsu fama de poeta agitanado
y de desmentir tal postura por lo que tiene de superficialidad,de
facilidad, y, a fin de cuentas, de puro regionalismo intrascendente.
Muchos son los criticosque se han encargado de demostrarque el gitano
si es un tema y nada mas, y el propio Federico nos ofrece toda una
galaxia de objeciones al respecto en su correspondencia particular y
en sus declaraciones publicas, insistiendoen que aunque parezca ser al
contrario,no es ni nunca fue un simple cantor de valores 6tnicos o
regionales. Repetir aqui esas objeciones seria recalcar lo ya obvio y
archiconocidoentre los lectoresque han leido a fondo la obra lorquiana
en sus multiples niveles de comprensi6n. Sin embargo, es el poeta
mismo quien nos dice que su Romancero es un libro de "Romances de
varios personajes aparentes, que tienen un solo personaje esencial:
Granada..." y que entre esos varios personajes aparentes es el de
Soledad Montoya el mas caracteristico, el mas representativode esa pena
abstracta, andaluza-en efecto, granadina-que imbuye su obra mas
divulgada. Nosotrosdariamosun paso mas, sugiriendoque ese papel que
Lorca atribuyea su Granada en el Romancero no se limita a su obra mas

19
Cope, op. cit., p. 240.