Architecture and the Comedia

J. D. Merriman («The Parallel of the Arts») warns critics away from impressionistic analogues between literature and the arts while advocating analysis of the formal aesthetic principles common to the various genres. A study of 17th century Spanish architecture illumines certain aspects of the Comedia: the tendency of using architecture to create framing devices for human actions, with an attendant preoccupation with symmetry; and the constant juxtaposition of structural elements of diverse and contrasting stylistic registers to create texture. (DMG)