Guillén de Castro (review)

Hipólito de Vergara Vergara, Hipóhto de. See: TIRSO DE MOLINA, Iscla-Rovira. Gil Vicente Diez Borque, José María, See: JUAN DEL ENCINA. Vicente, Gil, Farces and Festival Plays, ed. Thomas R. Hart, Eugene: University of Oregon Press, 1972. Young, Richard ?., "Gil Vicente's CastiHan Debut," Segismundo, 8 (1972), 25-50. Virués *Blüher, Karl Alfred, "Virués' Dramaturgie des desengaño" See: MISCELLANEOUS , Schalk. * An asterisk is used to mark items not yet verified by the compiler. Because there are bound to have been items missed or omitted in the process of compiling this bibliography, will anyone who notes such please notify the compiler so that future bibliographies may be more complete? I am indebted to professors Warren T. McCready and James A. Parr for assistance in preparing the present listing. Reviews WILSON, WILLIAM E. Guillen de Castro. New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1973. 166 pp. $5.95. Although the author frequently admits that Guillen de Castro is of lesser stature than Lope or Calderón, he nonetheless correctly stresses the importance of Castro in the development of the Comedia; his influence on Lope, Calder ón and Moreto; his contribution as the source (in his Cid dramas) of French tragedy beginning with Corneille ; as well as Castro's leadership in the so-called Valencian School. It is interesting that thus far, of that group, only Virués has been the subject of a book and only now, some three and a half centuries after Castro's death, do we finally have a volume devoted exclusively to Giullén de Castro. The translation of Castro's titles leaves something to be desired. For example, Engañarse engañando stresses process whereas The Deceiver Deceived foreshadows result; similar criticism could be made of Wilson's The Impoverished Seeker of Royal Favor for Castro's El pretender con pobreza. Other examples include Wilson's own interpretation rather than translation of titles, such as the Cervantes-based El curioso impertinente as Dangerous Curiosity and La fuerza de la sangre as Kinship's Powerful Call. Moreover, since nearly all his plays have never been translated, one questions the utility of improvising translations at all. The "Selected Bibhography" goes far beyond references to Castro and his works and serves as a useful guide for the general reader and novice in the field of the Comedia, and although the author's intended readers are those "who are in the early stages of their study of [the Comedia]," there is Httle here that is not on required Hsts for students at such a stage. Unfortunately , the difference between works dealing with Castro, as opposed to the much larger number of entries which barely, if at all, mention him (e.g., Rodriguez Marin's edition of Don Quijote , Schevill and BoniUa's edition of Cervantes' complete works or A. A. Parker's The Approach to the Spanish Drama of the Golden Age) is not made clear, the bibliography being divided merely into four categories: editions, 82 articles, dissertations and books. On the other hand, many of the bibliographical entries are succinctly and accurately summarized in brief annotations, a helpful guide where these are provided. With regard to typographical errors, I spotted only one, which happens to be my own middle initial in the bibliography on p. 154. The opening chapter, "Castro's Life and Work," is the shortest and says nothing of note that others have not said previously. Similarly, chapter 2, "Summaries and Sources," takes a handful of plays, spends most of the time summarizing plots and appropriate portions of source material (ballads, the Classics, Cervantes and, to some extent, historical events). The point is well made but merely restates through plot summaries and comparisons what is either known or seems obvious, namely that Castro's plot technique was to adapt such sources to the Lope de Vega style of theater. The third chapter, "Castro's Versification and the Dating of his Plays," is a good lesson on Spanish versification, especially as apphed to the Comedia and particularly by Castro, but is essentially a summary of Bruerton's work and adds nothing new but lengthy translations of the examples chosen, which causes one to...