Irony and Theatricality in Tirso de Molina (review)

64BCom, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Summer 1996) to those of us interested in the history of Spanish theatre. Every volume of the series has provided me with bits ofinformation immediately pertinent to my own research area. I am sure that many others have benefitted from material made accessible through this series. Nor should we overlook the "entertainment " value of these volumes in the glimpses they afford us of what went on behind the curtain. Actor complaints, some justified, some not; political rivalries; accountants seeking fiscal responsibility yet stonewalled at every turn; royal/official whims and vagaries: all reminding us that theatre then was as subject to outside factors as is theatre ofthe present. It is unfortunate that there is a tendency today to minimalize the value of archival research and the efforts of those who pursue it. Yet, where would we be, and what would we do without such research? The general title of the series to which this volume belongs is Fuentes para la historia del teatro en España. When the ultimate History of Spanish Theatre is written, it will have been made possible in large part by the patience, diligence and professionalism ofProfessors Varey, Shergold, and Davis. Karl C. Gregg University of Arizona Albrecht, Jane. Irony and Theatricality in Tirso de Molina. Ottawa Hispanic Series 16. Ottawa: Dovehouse Editions, 1994. Paper. 201 Pp. $14.00 In this study of the importance of Tirso's use of irony, Albrecht chooses ten plays for analysis, five comedies: El Aquiles, El vergonzoso en palacio, Don Gil de las calzas verdes, La celosa de sí misma, and Marta la Piadosa and five plays called ironic tragedies and tragicomedies: La venganza de Tamar, El burlador de Sevilla, El condenado por desconfiado, La mujer que manda en casa and La prudencia en la mujer. Each is briefly analyzed in the light of theories concerning irony examined in the introduction. The final chapter relates the concept ofirony to drama in general, then to the comedia in particular, then draws conclusions concerning Tirso's use ofirony as a defining element in his theater. The first chapter gives a well-researched chronological overview ofdefinitions of irony in literature, both as a linguistic tool and as a philosophical "irony-as-world-view." Its use in drama is shown to have both similar and more genre-specific manifestations. In the comedies, these include playwithin -a-play, characters who theatricalize themselves and their problems, overt references to theatricality, and the doubling and inversion ofthe role- Reviews65 play or disguise convention. In the analysis of the comedies, each of these varied ironic structures is shown to have the effect of creating another layer of illusion, while breaking the theatrical illusion. This, in turn, reminds the audience ofthe artificiality ofthe theatrical experience, and thus returns the viewers to a social reality wherein they must decide for themselves the truth or fiction of what they are viewing. In El Aquiles, not only does the hero's disguise as a woman invert the woman-dressed-as-a-man convention, the whole drama becomes a comic demythologizing of the ur-drama, the epic story of a hero. The multiple disguises and role playing ofEl vergonzoso en palacio, Don Gil de las calzas verdes, and La celosa de sí misma, as well as the characters' own comments, not only draw attention to their own ludicrous behavior but mock the conventions of the disguise-plot play. Albrecht 's reading ofMarta la piadosa is, in this reviewer's opinion, the most original of the analyses. This comedy turns on the old "unsuitability-of-the suitor" convention, but makes of the protagonist not only a comic heroine, but an object of satiric irony. The play therefore illustrates the critical vein in Tirso's dramaturgy while demonstrating a satiric subgenre ofcomedy. It is Albrecht's opinion that "Tirso incorporated more irony in tragedy after he mastered its use in comedy." For example, the graciosos, as in the comedies, comment on themselves, their own position in the play, other characters, and the play itselfin a sort of choric role where they mirror both the audience and the author's dual role as creator and observer of the creation . The most...