Teatro colegial en Nueva España: Texto y contexto de "El esposo por enigma (1646)." (review)

When I first received Teatro colegial en Nueva Espana: Texto y contexto de "El esposo por enigma (1646)," I was initially dismayed at the binding of the text, and I must admit that the predicament that I faced set the tone for a less-than-ideal reading experience. Every two pages needed to be cut apart at both the top and right-hand side of the page. Essentially the book needed to be destroyed, and it looked as if I would need to read the text as I would a road map. It even briefly occurred to me that this enigmatic binding technique might be an attempt to reflect the "enigma" referred to in the play's title. This, of course, was not the case, but happily my frustration was short-lived, for what I found within these torn pages was an example of superb editing, which introduced me to a text that had until then been unknown to me.

The volume is published by the Seminario de Estudios Medievales y Renacentistas (SEMYR), Universidad de Salamanca, and its editors, Emilio de Miguel Martínez and Javier San José Lera, offer the reader a most carefully prepared edition of a very interesting theatrical work representative of the theatre produced by Jesuits in seventeenth-century Mexico. The play has no known author, but the editors remark that this anonymity may have been intentional, thereby reflecting a common practice found in works belonging to the tradition of the teatro de colegio; that is to say, the author did not reveal himself, for he did not seek personal fame or glory, but rather wrote for the "esplendor del Colegio de la Orden" (49).

To approach any manuscript from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries demands a degree of patience, a sharp critical eye, and a skill in historical contextualization that not all literary critics possess, but to edit a text that has remained untouched since its creation is a challenge that few critics would even consider. Thankfully, Martínez and Lera were not intimidated by this task. Indeed, what they have done is to take an obscure theatrical work and make it easily accessible to the modern reader, and their efforts are nothing short of remarkable.

El esposo por enigma provides a good example of the teatro de circunstancias that flourished on both sides of the Atlantic during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This particular work was presented in 1646 to commemorate the visit of bishop fray Marcos Ramírez de Prado to the College of San Pedro and San Pablo in Mexico. In addition to providing this historical context, the editors further emphasize the didactic elements that defined so many plays from the Jesuit tradition. Indeed, Martínez and Lera pay particular attention to the play's allegorical content, noting that with its presentation the Jesuits likely hoped to ingratiate themselves to the bishop. Indeed, El esposo's initial laudatory intent merges with the plot, as the love between the mythological figures of Demofonte and Filis represents the love of fray Marcos Ramírez de Prado for his Church.

The introduction to the play is exhaustive, and the editors' own enthusiasm for the text is obvious in the affirmation that "esta pieza, pese a tan inequívoca dependencia de unas circunstancias tan concretas, tiene una carga importante de valores estéticos y, al tiempo, aporta un testimonio de mayor interés respecto a manifestaciones secundarias, pero comprobamos que muy poderosas" (51-52). Martínez and Lera provide a thorough historical context for the work, and point out the typical mythological conventions of the teatro de circunstancias. Moreover, the editors dedicate a significant portion of their discussion to the sophisticated language used by the characters on the stage, pointing out that "tantos dioses como nobles se expresan con el debido y palaciego decoro y que los pastores...