On Staging Scenes From The Comedia

deal of a systematic sort. Among those who have discussed the subject are M. RomeraNavarro (Hisp. Rev., 1934, 269-286) and J. H. Arjona (BuI. Hisp., 1937, 120-145); their excellent studies, however, were not concerned with the literary sources of the device. The consideration of this aspect of the matter makes of the recent book by Carmen Bravo-Villasante (La mujer vestida de hombre en el teatro español, Madrid, 1955) a real contribution to the subject. The author argues that woman in male disguise in the comedia was not a manifestation of a living reality, although a few instances of real persons (most of them already known to students of the comedia) are documented. The source of the mujer disfrazada de hmnbre lies in Italian literature (Boiardo, Aristo, Tasso, Boccaccio, Bibbiena) ; it is not probable that Italian life furnished real persons for the rôle. The roots of the device go back into Classical literature and into oriental tales. Its direct entrance into Spanish literature, Miss Bravo-Villasante thinks, is through Lope de Rueda (Los engañados, Colloquio de Tymbria) and Jorge de Montemayor . After these came Lope de Vega and his school, and it was Tirso who elaborated the device to its maximum effect. In Calder ón and his followers, the device became greatly exaggerated, and its atrophy began when it finally became an ingredient of the romances de ciegos. Miss Bravo-Villasante offers an alphabetized list of 109 plays (by some thirty playwrights ) in which the mujer disfrazada appears . Other lists and tables help illustrate her book, which has basic importance for students of the comedia. Capa y Espada Conducted by the Editor • Doctoral dissertation in progress: Alvin H. Pianca, "A Critical and Annotated Edition of Lope's D. Lope de Cardona, based on the MS in the Biblioteca Nacional," University of Wisconsin (Hesse). • The Directory of the Comediantes sent out last Spring was prepared by Prof. Carlos Ortigoza of the University of Colorado. • Microfilm copies of the Bulletin of the Comediantes are now available at approximately $2. (positive for libraries and individuals .) Address Mr. Gordon Abrams, University of Wisconsin Library, Madison 6, Wis. On Staging Scenes From The Comedia John Brooks, University of Arizona Old Spanish farces and interludes have often been used for public performances by Spanish clubs and departments. They have value from the point of view of group activity . However, from the point of view of interest, intrinsic worth and propaganda for the study of Spanish literature their value is nil. Since the study of foreign languages lias been attacked by its enemies and defended by its friends, it might be well for us to put before the general public a dramatic word in behalf of Spanish literature. The Comedia of the Golden Age offers a multitude of magnificent scenes which can be staged as easily as the farces. They can also be presented out of their context with a minimum of explanation on the printed program. With these we put our best foot forward vis-à-vis the students, faculty and general public. A dramatic sequence of a few such scenes is certainly more significant and educational than the slapstick of another age. The name of Molière will guarantee in advance a favorable reception and comment among many who have never read him, but how many have even heard the names of Lope de Vega and his successors? One dramatic episode, among so many, suggests itself at once: the temptation of Jus20 tina in Calderón's Mágico Prodigioso. In addition to being intensely dramatic and dealing with the popular legend of the man who sold his soul to the devil, it contains an offstage chorus which adds the attraction of an opera. Program notes on St. Cyprian, Marlowe 's Dr. Faustus and Goethe's Faust, not to mention others, would give significance to the occasion. It is certain that Goethe was acquainted with Calderón. Shelley studied Spanish in order to read him in the original and translated scenes from this play and from Goethe's Faust. The Justina episode also illustrates the contemporary Spanish emphasis upon the dominant will, an all-prevading idea in the CoTnedia which served...