Forum

FORUM TO THE EDITOR: The matter of whether or not Doña Ana was physically seduced by Don Juan in El burlador de Sevilla has been cogently argued by José M. Ruano de la Haza recently, BCom, 32 (1980) 131-33, from the point of view of the characters' actions and motivations. Utterances of the characters cannot always be accorded decisive weight in interpretation, as Ruano de la Haza points out, because one function of language is to limit understanding (if it is desired by the speaker to distort the truth or to add a mystery). In a play, also, not only do the characters use language to one another in what should be a credible way; the playwright conveys information to the audience primarily through the use of language. The situation, though, is another factor to be considered. The burlas relating to Doña Ana, Doña Isabela, Aminta, and Tisbea are the specific incidents or situations in the play through which the character of Don Juan as burlador is made patent. The variety of situation displayed through similarities and differences may well be a factor worthy of consideration. This variety may be viewed by means of a tabular presentation. 175 0\ Location Station Suitor Opinion as to who Ruse Success of burla Isabela Naples (Italy) urban noble Octavio Octavio (she is told by Don Juan that it is a nameless man) Disguise as Octavio Tisbea Tarragona (Spain) rural commoner independent (Anfriso) Don Juan (his name was told to her by Catalinón) Promise of marriage Complete Ana Seville (Spain) urban noble de la Mota de la Mota (but she realizes it is not he) Disguise as de la Mota Aminta Dos Hermanas (Spain) rural commoner Batricio Don Juan (he tells her he is not her Batricio) Lie about Batricio Complete to SO O S <% So " .a Forum177 Examination of the table suggests that a greater variety is obtained if the burla is successful in the case of Doña Isabela, and not in the case of Doña Ana; otherwise, the two burlas connected with the noblewomen are very similar. Thus, the table may be read in support of the conclusion of Ruano de la Haza. If the four burlas are thought of in pairs: Doña Isabela and Doña Ana in opposition to Tisbea and Aminta, —it is possible to argue that in neither of the cases where the success seems to be dubious should there be a different outcome , that is, either both Isabela and Ana are successful in avoiding physical seduction, or the opposite. In life, presumably the question-marks would be removed as far as the actuality is concerned. In literature, however, the question-marks may remain, as a stimulus to the curiosity of the audience and also as a reminder that human beings, in general, do not have enough omniscience to come to valid decisions as to the moral guilt or innocence of their fellow mortals. The issue is made more complex by the fact that dishonor, in accordance with the Golden Age code, would be present in each case, whatever be the technical result of the burla. EDGAR C. KNOWLTON, JR. University of Hawaii at Manoa TO THE EDITOR: A brief visit to Madrid in May 1981 provided an unexpected bonus: a production of one of Calderón's autos sacramentales, in the church of San Francisco el Grande. The work chosen to commemorate the third centenary of the poet's death was La cena del rey Baltasar, performed by the Compañía Lope de Vega and directed by José Tamayo. It was planned to coincide with Madrid's annual fiestas de San Isidro. A colorful program not only listed the cast, ballet, choirmembers, instrumentalists , and behind-the-scenes staff, but also offered an editorial translated from L 'osservatore romano on the occasion of the performance of La cena del rey Baltasar at the Vatican. The last, glowing lines of the undated editorial were: De nuevo, ante las piedras gloriosas de las Catedrales, en las plazas llenas de historia y en los bellos rincones del suelo español, los versos clásicos que cantan la maravilla de la Virgen Madre o los pasajes bíblicos, han vuelto a esa nación enriquecidos por los medios más espectaculares de la escenografía moderna. El teatro español busca de esta forma conservar para la gloria 178Bulletin ofthe Comediantes de su historia y para la admiración de sus espectadores, estas representaciones en las cuales, la palabra se convierte en música y el espectáculo en liturgia, como un homenaje viviente al gran misterio de la catolicidad. Another panel of the program guide contained an effort by Hans Flasche of the University of Hamburg to sum up the stature and distinctions of Calderón. The final panel named the Ministerio de Cultura—Dirección General de Música y Teatro, and declared that La cena del rey Baltasar would be performed «en catedrales y monumentos» in thirty-six cities in Spain. A neatly printed insert, written by Padre José Isorna, spoke of the importance to the playwright of his Franciscan religious orders, and welcomed the public to this Franciscan church. The cathedral, however, was en obras, and spectators had to sit in a rather narrow area between towering metal scaffolds. The performance itself, once under way, became absorbing; acting, lighting, ballet, and music were all superior. The ballet group was elaborately costumed, as—given the location and subject matter—one might expect. Music was chosen from the works of De Falla, Parada, and Moreno-Buendia—hardly seventeenth-century composers , but the passages selected were appropriately sedate and stately. Choral selections, more numerous than the manuscript requires, came from invisible portions of the transept and echoed beautifully through the soaring vaults of the cathedral. Unfortunately, the huge, white beard of Daniel the prophet diminished the clarity of his speech, and the lines of all the actors were somewhat lost in the reverberations of an excessively loud amplification system. Lighting effects were cleverly done, leaving one to wonder how the handwriting on the wall could have been half so successfully created in Calderón's day. A letter to the editor of a Madrid daily newspaper took director José Tamayo to task for an introductory remark about bringing the seventeenth century auto «back to the cathedral.» The writer declared that even the religious drama in the seventeenth century had long since been moved to the plazas and corrales, and that the only reason La cena del rey Baltasar could even now be performed in the church—notwithstanding its desecration by repair work—was that the scene dealing with the profaning of the sacred vessels had been considerably toned down. My own reading of the auto reveals little difficulty except perhaps that inside the church there might be a brazen quality in a choral stanza, naming two of the abstract characters and repeated later, which declares, Esta mesa es este día altar de la Idolatría, de la Vanidad altar, pues le sirven sin ejemplo el cáliz, vaso del templo, Forum179 en que bebe Baltasar. My evaluation of the two or three hundred in attendance was that it was, indeed, an ilustre senado: professors, teachers, musicians, graduate students, and so on. Children and people appearing to be from the neighborhood were absent. ROBER T R. MORRISON Southern Missionary College ...