Abstract

This article examines two Calderonian characters, King Basilio from La vida es sueño and Liríope from Eco y Narciso, both of whom are parents who have imprisoned their children from birth. The motives and extenuating circumstances of these parent-jailers are the focus of discussion, and the effects of incarceration on Segismundo and Narciso are also explored. The trauma caused by Basilio's loss of his wife Clorilene, who died during childbirth, and by Liríope's rape and abandonment, is seen to have created situations in which these parents imprison their children as defensive controlling reactions to cope with their traumatization. The fatalistic prophecies regarding their children intensify Basilio's and Liríope's sense of fear and apprehension, but their eventual release of their children from captivity points toward their underlying parental devotion and signals their first steps toward recovery as traumatized parent-jailers. (DLS)

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