Although Pedro Calderon de la Barca was one of the greatest and most prolific playwrights of Spain's Golden Age, most of his nonallegorical "comedias" -- 118 in all -- have remained unknown. Robert ter Horst presents here the first full-length study of these works, a sustained, meditative analysis dealing with more than 80 plays, conveying a sense of the whole of Calderon's secular theater.
To approach so vast a body of literature, Mr. ter Horst examines the meaning and function in Calderon of three broad subjects -- myth, honor, and history -- the warp threads across which the playwright weaves a subtle tapestry of contrasts, dualities, and conflicts: the private person versus the public person, the inner realm versus the outer, masculine against feminine, poet against prince.
The Calderon who emerges is a consciously consummate artist whose lifelong study was the passions of the human mind and body. In addition, he is seen as a synthesizer of his Spanish literary heritage and especially as a brilliant adapter of Cervantes' insights to the stage. Robert ter Horst's profound and far-ranging analysis sheds light on many fine works previously neglected and finds new depths in such supreme achievements as "No hay cosa como callar, El segundo Escipion, " and "La vida es suefio.""