Talking About Talking: Word and Deed in Calderón's El alcalde de Zalamea

Through its abundant references to discourse and its emphasis on the relationship between speech and action, Calderón's El alcalde de Zalamea makes manifest the links between self-conscious language and self-conscious theater. Calderón exploits virtually every possible way of talking about talking, presenting discourse itself as the central structuring device and organizing principle for the drama. As his characters constantly exhort one other to speak, the dramatist highlights the performative nature of language, underscoring issues such as the power of both speech and silence and the impact of wordplay that functions as virtual swordplay. Rhetorical skill plays a particularly significant role at the conclusion of El alcalde. Pedro Crespo, who has illustrated throughout the drama that he can adapt discursively to any situation, eliminates his interlocutor and then justifies his actions to the king and Don Lope, emerging as the dramatist, director, and protagonist in a play of his own-making. Crespo's deeds are not separate from his words but seem to derive from them in a kind of symbiotic union. Calderón continuously points us towards this discursive paradigm by filling his text with numerous direct references to the act of speaking. As his characters talk about talking, he reminds the readers and spectators of the drama that El alcalde de Zalamea not only explores honor, justice, and social upheaval but also self-consciously examines the making of meaning.