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Article PRESENT STATE OF THE SPANISH THEATRE. ← Page 2 of 5 →
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Present State Of The Spanish Theatre.
long and languishing conversations , said , throwing down the book , ' What a deal of wit ill employed ! To what purpose is aii this dia- - ¦ ' Jogue , since they are together ? ' - The father cf the Spanish theatre was Lopes de Rueda , a native of Seville , and a gold-beater by profession . Cervantes , who in his youth had scan him perform , speaks highly of his pieces . ( My taste /
says he , ' war . not then suiHciently formed to judge of his verses ; but . by those which have remained in my memory , and upon which I reflected at a maturer age , I am not afraid to assert , that Lopes was as good an author as he was an actor . We were not then acquainted with the machinery new necessary , nor with the challenges the Moors gave to the Christians , and which are now . so common ; we
saw no figures rise from underground , by means of a hole in the stage , nor angels borne upon clouds , to come to visit us ; the simple ornament of the theatre was an old curtain , behind which two or three musicians sung , with accompaniments , some ancient romance . ' Lopes de Rueda imitated , in his pieces , the satirical manner of Plautusand the simplicity of Terence ; he was highly . applauded by
, his cotemporaries , and dying at Cordova , was interred as a man of distinguished talents , in the cathedral of that city . In four of his comedies , printed in 1567 , the editor observes , that' several passages , which gave offence by their freedom , have been erased from them ; " which , with some other circumstances , ssems to . prove this impression of his works to have been given a few j ^ ears after his
death . There was but little art in these first p ieces of the Spanish theatre ; but the language is natural , and is remarkable for a pleasing softnesi and simplicity . The titles of the four comedies of Lopes de Rueda are , Eujemia , Armeliua , Los Eg ' anados ( the Deceived ) and Medora . The same volume contains dialogues and pastorals , the place of which is now occupied by what is called el enlremes , or the interlude .
Juan Timoneda , and Alonso de la Vega , were the successors and imitators of Lopes de Rueda . They also wrote with simplicity , but admitted too much intrigue , and too large a portion of the marvellous , into their comedies . Timoneda introduced several allegorical persons into his Marie , in which he treats of the birth of Christ , and the conception of the Virgin . The poet Vega employed enchantments . Their works are very scarceandfor the most pairvery
, , , imperfect . The four comedies , entitled Florinea , Selvagia , Celestbia , and Eufrosine , had already appeared . The two last we have read , the others are very scarce . Celestitia has been translated into Latin , and into French under the title of Caliste et Melibee . These pieces were not written for representation ; Celestina has twenty-one actsand
, contains scenes admirable for their simplicity , truth of character , and morality ; the latter would be excellent were it not sometimes expressed in too free a manner . Eufrosine was translated from the Portuguese into Castilian ; tlie edition we have seea was of 173 s , in which
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Present State Of The Spanish Theatre.
long and languishing conversations , said , throwing down the book , ' What a deal of wit ill employed ! To what purpose is aii this dia- - ¦ ' Jogue , since they are together ? ' - The father cf the Spanish theatre was Lopes de Rueda , a native of Seville , and a gold-beater by profession . Cervantes , who in his youth had scan him perform , speaks highly of his pieces . ( My taste /
says he , ' war . not then suiHciently formed to judge of his verses ; but . by those which have remained in my memory , and upon which I reflected at a maturer age , I am not afraid to assert , that Lopes was as good an author as he was an actor . We were not then acquainted with the machinery new necessary , nor with the challenges the Moors gave to the Christians , and which are now . so common ; we
saw no figures rise from underground , by means of a hole in the stage , nor angels borne upon clouds , to come to visit us ; the simple ornament of the theatre was an old curtain , behind which two or three musicians sung , with accompaniments , some ancient romance . ' Lopes de Rueda imitated , in his pieces , the satirical manner of Plautusand the simplicity of Terence ; he was highly . applauded by
, his cotemporaries , and dying at Cordova , was interred as a man of distinguished talents , in the cathedral of that city . In four of his comedies , printed in 1567 , the editor observes , that' several passages , which gave offence by their freedom , have been erased from them ; " which , with some other circumstances , ssems to . prove this impression of his works to have been given a few j ^ ears after his
death . There was but little art in these first p ieces of the Spanish theatre ; but the language is natural , and is remarkable for a pleasing softnesi and simplicity . The titles of the four comedies of Lopes de Rueda are , Eujemia , Armeliua , Los Eg ' anados ( the Deceived ) and Medora . The same volume contains dialogues and pastorals , the place of which is now occupied by what is called el enlremes , or the interlude .
Juan Timoneda , and Alonso de la Vega , were the successors and imitators of Lopes de Rueda . They also wrote with simplicity , but admitted too much intrigue , and too large a portion of the marvellous , into their comedies . Timoneda introduced several allegorical persons into his Marie , in which he treats of the birth of Christ , and the conception of the Virgin . The poet Vega employed enchantments . Their works are very scarceandfor the most pairvery
, , , imperfect . The four comedies , entitled Florinea , Selvagia , Celestbia , and Eufrosine , had already appeared . The two last we have read , the others are very scarce . Celestitia has been translated into Latin , and into French under the title of Caliste et Melibee . These pieces were not written for representation ; Celestina has twenty-one actsand
, contains scenes admirable for their simplicity , truth of character , and morality ; the latter would be excellent were it not sometimes expressed in too free a manner . Eufrosine was translated from the Portuguese into Castilian ; tlie edition we have seea was of 173 s , in which