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CALDERON'S JOYLESS JESTER: THE HUMANIZATION OF A STOCK CHARACTER TERESA SCOTT SOUFAS Ursinus College José Ortega y Gasset has said that watching a Calderonian drama is like witnessing a bullfight since the spectator in both instances observes a rigidly ordered presentation and knows beforehand the sequence of events. What Ortega failed to recognize is that much of Calderón's greatness lies precisely in his willingness to transcend the standard patterns of Spanish Golden Age theater and, in particular, the stock categories that dominate characterization. Calderón's achievement in this area has been overlooked by scholars who have generally accepted the view that characterization is the least important of the structural components in Golden Age dramas, outranked by such elements as theme and action.' It is a mistake, however, to neglect characterization in Calderón's works, for his multidimensional figures surpass the uniform and predictable stereotypes—dama, galán, rey, and gracioso—prevalent in the plays of this period. Perhaps best representing Calderón's departure from the standardized character portrayal, the fool or gracioso is in some plays very different from the typical clown figure. 2 Traditionally jocular, intent upon seducing servant girls, and more concerned with his creature 201 202BCom, Vol. 34, No. 2 (Winter 1982) comforts than philosophical matters, the jester serves as a foil to his more idealistic master. He is «the comic servant who is a humorous parody of his master in some ways and a contrast to him in others, whose down-to-earth philosophy can form a fine continuous counterpoint to the elevated ideas of the man he serves.»3 He is usually represented as a complainer like Tarso in Tirso de Molina's El vergonzoso en palacio or as a coward like Tello in Lope de Vega's El caballero de Olmedo. An important example of Calderón's clowns who do not fit this mold is Clarín who, though a cowardly grumbler to be sure, nevertheless dies in the last Act of La vida es sueño, providing, in the process , a weighty lesson for those who think themselves clever enough to avoid their own responsibilities. The unprecedented death of a jester demonstrates Calderón's willingness to break with rigid theatrical tradition. Even more outstanding, though, is Coquin who in El médico de su honra eventually ceases to function as a clown altogether, metamorphosing into a melancholy character. Through such a portrayal, Calderón reveals his interest in developing believable human characters who are not merely stock figures. They behave instead in accordance with seventeenth-century conceptions of human psychology which are founded on the theory of the four bodily humors. Handed down through ancient and medieval teachings, the humoral theory flourished during the Renassiance in medical practices and in art and literature.' Combining psychology and physiology, the theory considers that the body is regulated by four primary substances—blood, choler, melancholy, and phlegm. It was believed that the proper balance of these humors brought mental and physical health while their imbalance caused illness. Special interest developed in melancholy during the period, prompting various authors to devote much attention to it and the temperament it was supposed to produce. Renaissance playwrights frequently portrayed melancholy traits in their dramas. Among the most famous were Shakespeare, Ben Jonson , and John Marston, whose recourse to the humoral theory in their characterizations, unlike that of Calderón, has been acknowledged by scholars of the drama. Renaissance dramatists depicted well-known symptoms of the melancholy temperament which are also described in medical, ethical and philosophical treatises of the day. Robert Burton's compendium, The Anatomy of Melancholy, is such a work as are, for example, Timothy Bright's Treatise ofMelancholy, Thomas Walkington's The Optick Glasse of Humors, and the Examen de ingenios by the Soufas203 Spaniard Juan Huarte de San Juan. In the various literary treatments of melancholy as well as in popular thinking, the term came to denote both the innate condition resulting from the dominance of the melancholic humor and the more temporary pathological state brought on by the distressing experiences and similarly characterized by an abnormal infusion of melancholy into the system. The symptoms of both...

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