Space, Drama, and Empire: Mapping the Past in Lope de Vega's Comedia

By Javier Lorenzo

Book Overview

Spanish poet, playwright, and novelist F lix Lope de Vega (1562-1635) was a key figure of Golden Age Spanish literature, second only in stature to Cervantes, and is considered the founder of Spain's classical theater. In this rich and informative study, Javier Lorenzo investigates the symbolic use of space in Lope's drama and its function as an ideological tool to promote an imagined Spanish national past. In specific plays, this book argues, historical landscapes and settings were used to foretell and legitimize the imperial present in Hapsburg Spain, allowing audiences to visualize and plot, as on a map, the country's expansionist trajectory throughout the centuries. By focusing on connections among space, drama, and empire, this book makes an important contribution to the study of literature and imperialism in early modern Spain and equally to our understanding of the role and political significance of spatiality in Siglo de Oro comedia.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1684484928
• ISBN13: 9781684484928
• Release Date: September 2023
• Publisher: Bucknell University Press
• Length: 202 Pages
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher