Studies in Tirso, I: The Dramatist and His Competitors, 1620-1626 (review)

to Hermenegildo's mixing of love and politics (though Sancho Panza would probably call it a "mixed bag" of "berzas con capachos"), but why impose the sorry state of the Roman empire on Spanish society? Many critics will agree with Hermenegildo 's assessment of Cervantes' importance in the period of transition between the tragedians of the 1570s and 80s and the renovation of the theater by Lope de Vega. Many may also agree that, "La Numancia es la mejor tragedia aparecida en España, no ya en los tiempos anteriores a Lope de Vega, sino en toda la historia de nuestra literatura" (p. 370). In general, Hermenegildo is circumspect in his use of the considerable critical literature on La Numancia, but one misses in the bibliography and in his discussion of the themes of fame any reference to Gustavo Correa's important article, "El concepto de la fama en el teatro de Cervantes," Hispanic Review, 27 (1959), 280-302. However, Hermenegildo's criticism of the play is graced by new insights and observations . In particular, he views the unity of the Numantians as an ironic condemnation of the divisiveness of sixteenthcentury Spain caused by conflicting castes and classes; and he also sees in the play an appeal for a concept of honor that unites, rather than fractures, society. The three final chapters of the book are devoted to a "horizontal" study of the tragedies as a whole: (1) their formal elements, including structural and stylistic matters; (2) their affective elements, distributed between separate sections on "Lo sobrenatural" and "El dolor y la piedad"; (3) their human elements, including a survey of types of characters and a section on ideology (Senecan stoicism, etc.). In conclusion, Hermenegildo's La tragedia en el Renacimiento español is a major contribution to the history of Spanish drama. One may find fault with particulars in its organization, one may disagree with some of his critical judgments, one may think that he goes to excess in his socio-political approach to the interpretation of several plays, but few are likely to deny the importance of his accomplishment. It is probabl that Hermenegildo's book will serve for many years as the chief reference work on sixteenth-century Spanish tragedy. University of New Mexico Raymond R. MacCurdy ^*xí3^i KENNEDY, RUTH LEE. Studies in Tirso, I: The Dramatist and His Competitors , 1620-1626. Chapel Hill: North Carolina Studies, Essay 3. University of North Carolina, Department of Romance Languages, 1974. 394 pages. $16.00. El tomo primero de los estudios sobre Tirso de la emérita profesora Ruth Lee Kennedy es de altísimo interés para conocer la vida de la comedia antigua española. Este interés se cifra en un importante esfuerzo de descubrir y detectar los entrepaños de aquel fabuloso mundo esoéncio de la primera parte del siglo XVII. Los ocho estudios reunidos ahora revelan claramente la competencia literaria y vital que, por los años de 1620 a 1626, Luis Vélez de Guevara, Hurtado de Mendoza, Lope de Vega, Alarcón y otros hacían al arte teatral y poético de Tirso de Molina. En cuanto a la participación de Vélez de Guevara en este momento de la vida artística de Madrid es tanto, y tanto lo pondera la Sra. Kennedy en su estudio, que bien 136 pudiera con todo ello reunir unos nuevos Estudios sobre Vélez y hacer el homenaje que merece el poeta de Ecija en 1978, en el cuarto centenario de su nacimiento. Williamsen, Whitby y los ya conocidos editores de Luis Vélez debieran reunir sus esfuerzos para tan indicada ocasión. Los años de 1620 a 1626 que se estudian en este tomo son significativos porque representan el momento clave del cambio y recreación de la comedia lopesca ; hay que pensar que la primera etapa del nuevo arte de nacer comedias está terminando, ya ha dado su fruto y madurez debidos; el teatro ha quedado envuelto en las costumbres del pueblo, en sus ideas y en su folklore, y ya es parte fundamental de su vida social. El arte de Calderón, Rojas o Moreto todavía...