In Defense of Clotaldo: Reconsidering the Secondary Plot in Calderón's La vida es sueño

Modern criticism has expressed considerable ambiguity concerning Clotaldo, tutor to Segismundo and advisor to Basilio in Calderón's La vida es sueño. Some critics have argued that his behavior was cowardly, deceptive, and selfish, while others have insisted that he is one of the few honorable characters in the play. This debate can be addressed by observing his courageous deportment in three key scenes in the drama and by noting how Clotaldo's concern for Rosaura, his daughter, contrasts with Basilio's cruelty towards his own off-spring, Segismundo. By studying the development of these points within the framework of Segismundo's monologue in Act III, it is possible to appreciate Clotaldo's importance to the play and to one of its central thematic issues: free will versus fate.