Abstract

Juan de la Cueva's fourth play, Comedia de la libertad de España por Bernardo del Carpio, produced in Seville in 1579, holds special fascination for serious inquirers into early Spanish literature, and particularly for those drawn to the development of the Spanish national theater. This play dramatized the story of the Spanish medieval hero Bernardo del Carpio, and his defeat of the French at the battle of Roncesvalles. A closer study of the play reveals that Cueva did more than present history on the stage. The play is an affirmation of patriotic zeal, moral virtue, and religious precepts.

Cueva uses the struggle of Bernardo as a means of urging his audience to consider questions of morality and of religion. As a moralist, the dramatist presents the example of two kings — Alonso of Spain and Carlo Mano of France — whose intemperate character should not be emulated. For Cueva, Bernardo's reasoned approach to solving personal and national problems represents the golden mean. At the heart of the lesson in morality lies a subtle message that is religious in nature. The themes of sin and salvation are woven throughout the drama and give the play a distinctly religious foundation. The errors in judgment made by Alonso and by Carlo Mano are reversed at the end of the comedia when Bernardo is crowned with laurel by Marte, god of war. Through the appearance of a divine figure, Cueva reassures his audience that evil will not win and that there is hope for salvation.

pdf

Share