Religious Motifs In The Works Of Pedro Calderón De La Barca
Spanish societal interest in the visual arts led to notable increase in the production of live theater throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This time period, now referred to as the Spanish Golden Age of Drama, saw the rise of both secular and sacramental works in the country, and Golden Age playwrights often aimed to analyze religious motifs through a philosophical lens in their works. Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s 1635 work, Life is a Dream, attempts this merger of Christian and secular themes by equating Segismundo’s literal imprisonment with the original sin of man, a controversial tenet of Protestant sects that Calderón himself, an ordained Catholic priest, would have rejected. Calderón’s use and justification for punishment
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in Life is a Dream is therefore meant to evoke a sense empathy in the audience for Segismundo, such that as the spectators observe the unjust nature of Segismundo’s punishment, they reject Protestant heresy and a belief in original sin.
In Christian doctrine, original sin is a hereditary guilt felt by the descendants of Adam and Eve for initiating the fall of man. While based in scripture, this tenet had fallen out of favor with Catholics by the start of the sixteenth century, due to a society wide philosophical arguments that Christ’s death had redeemed man of original sin and that being born should not separate the Catholic from God. This was the conclusion of the fifth session of the Council of Trent who declared
“If any one asserts that this sin of Adam, which in its origin is one, and being transfused into all by propagation, not by imitation, is in each one as his own, is taken away either by the powers of human nature, or by any other remedy than the merit of the one mediator, our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath reconciled us to God in his own blood, made unto us righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; or, if he denies that the same merit of Jesus Christ is applied, both to adults and to infants, by the sacrament of baptism rightly administered in the form of the Church; let him be anathema” (Trent 5.1) in 1546. Protestants preached the inverse, claiming that humanity has never truly been forgiven for Adam and Eve’s act of defiance against god, and Both Martin Luther and John Calvin reaffirmed a belief in the ubiquitous nature of original sin. This debate later made it’s way into Spanish theatre, as explained by Sister M. Francis de Sales McGarry in 1937 work The Allegorical and Metaphorical Language in the Autos Sacramentales of Calderón: “the people of Spain ... used the sacramental play as a means of showing their indignation against the errors of the so-called reformers and the dishonor they paid the Eucharist” (McGarry 17). Calderón, a Roman Catholic priest, likely would have been familiar with the differing societal beliefs on original sin throughout his time as a playwright, and his affection for Auto Sacramentales suggests that he too had a part in the debate. Through biased allusions to original sin in Life is a Dream, Calderón to express a disapproval for Protestant belief and influence his Catholic audience to reject the justification of original sin.
Calderón’s begins his allusion to original sin with Segismundo’s monologue in Act I.
Segismundo, lamenting his tortured and lonely life, declares “Ah, woe is me! Ah, how wretched I am! Heaven, I seek to inquire - since you treat me this way - what crime I committed against you when I was born; though that seeing that I was born, I already realize what crime I committed” (Calderón de la Barca 4). This is a clear reference to the heredity of original sin, and the Catholic audience, who likely would have struggled to justify the hand-me-down nature of original sin, would have been reminded of their stance against the Protestant belief. Calderón continues his reference original sin as Segismundo proceeds to compare his human judgment with that of the animals, stating “the fish is born, an abortion of algae and slime, and no sooner does it find itself on the waves, like a boat of scales, than it turns in every direction, measuring the immensity of all space that it’s cold element gives it. And I, with more free will, have less liberty” (Calderón de la Barca 5). This passage mirrors two other Catholic arguments against the existence of original sin: the divine image of man, and the existence of free will. Catholics sentiment favored the belief that all humans born in God’s image, following the death of Christ, would be conceived free of sin, and therefore Segismundo’s passage questions as to how the human suffer such punishment from birth when the fish, an abortion of algae …show more content…
and slime, has been granted freedom. Secondly, Protestants had rejected the idea of “free will,” believing that since the fall of man, original sin had removed man's ability to make decisions for himself. The absence of human free will was one justification for John Calvin’s belief in a predestined salvation, and by comparing his perception of free will with that of the fish, Segismundo urges the audience to consider whether or not they believe they exhibit free will. Recognizing the free will of man then allows the audience to reject both the existence of a pervading original sin and the Protestant belief in predestination, as a result of the fall of man. By including this monologue, therefore, Calderón has established the work’s theme that the protestant belief in the original sin of man must be false.
Calderón also writes Basilio's prophecy as an allegory to the protestant justification of original sin, so that as the king recognizes the fault in his belief, the audience must acknowledge the errors of protestant thought.
Basilio’s prophecy begins
“Segismundo was born, giving an indication of his nature, because he killed his mother. By this cruelty he was saying ‘I am a man, since I am already beginning to repay kindness with evil.’ I, referring to my books, found in them, and in all things, that Segismundo would be the most insolent man, the most cruel prince, and the most impious monarch”(Calderón de la Barca 19).
Repaying the kindness of birth with the cruelty of betrayal is a major theme in Genesis, the Old-Testament book containing both the fall of man and the Cain’s betrayal of Able. Just as the gift of Adams conception led to the defiance of the lord, so too has Segismundo birth lead to the death of his mother, and Basilio therefore concludes that Segismundo’s birth must have been in itself some sin. Ironically, the only sin which Segismundo has committed is causing the pain of childbirth, which is explained in the bible to be the direct result of the fall of man and the manifestation of modern day original sin. In Genesis, God punishes Eve for eating fruit from the tree of knowledge proclaiming “... I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children…” (King James Bible, Gen. 3:16). The pain of childbirth was one
protestant justification for the existence of original sin, and by writing Basilio’s role to condemn Segismundo for the pain he caused his mother, Calderón references the Protestant belief that man is born with sin as a result of the fall of man.
Basilio, however, is wrong to condemn Segismundo who pardons those who had wronged him in an exhibition of human free will. The consequences of assuming a sin at birth are then laid out in Segismundo final monologue in Act III. In the monologue, Segismundo states
“My father, here present, to exempt himself from the rabid fury of my nature, made me an animal, a human beast; so that, whereas, through my gallant nobility of birth … I might have been born tractable and humble, all that was needed was that way of life … to make my manners fierce.” (Calderón de la Barca 84-5).
This passage is a critique of protestant thought on original sin, and Calderón urges the audience not to assume that the faults of man are resultant from a preexisting sin committed at birth. Instead, Calderón presents the idea that forgiveness, for instance Christ’s forgiveness, will allow humanity the opportunity to reach a happiness through salvation, and by equating being born human with being born into a gallant nobility, Calderón explains that sin of birth was created by humanity, not God.
Playwrights during the Spanish Golden Age of Drama often aimed to analyze religious motifs through a philosophical lens in their works. This is exemplified through Calderón’s critique of protestant sentiment toward original sin in Life is a Dream. In the work, Calderón attempts to equate Segismundo’s literal imprisonment with the original sin of man, a controversial tenet of Protestant sects that Calderón himself would likely have rejected. The monologues of Segismundo, as well as Basilio’s justification, both support argument that Calderón’s use of punishment in Life is a Dream is meant to evoke a sense empathy in the audience for Segismundo. As the spectators observe the unjust nature of Segismundo’s punishment, they are asked to reject Protestant heresy and a belief in original sin.
in Life is a Dream is therefore meant to evoke a sense empathy in the audience for Segismundo, such that as the spectators observe the unjust nature of Segismundo’s punishment, they reject Protestant heresy and a belief in original sin.
In Christian doctrine, original sin is a hereditary guilt felt by the descendants of Adam and Eve for initiating the fall of man. While based in scripture, this tenet had fallen out of favor with Catholics by the start of the sixteenth century, due to a society wide philosophical arguments that Christ’s death had redeemed man of original sin and that being born should not separate the Catholic from God. This was the conclusion of the fifth session of the Council of Trent who declared
“If any one asserts that this sin of Adam, which in its origin is one, and being transfused into all by propagation, not by imitation, is in each one as his own, is taken away either by the powers of human nature, or by any other remedy than the merit of the one mediator, our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath reconciled us to God in his own blood, made unto us righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; or, if he denies that the same merit of Jesus Christ is applied, both to adults and to infants, by the sacrament of baptism rightly administered in the form of the Church; let him be anathema” (Trent 5.1) in 1546. Protestants preached the inverse, claiming that humanity has never truly been forgiven for Adam and Eve’s act of defiance against god, and Both Martin Luther and John Calvin reaffirmed a belief in the ubiquitous nature of original sin. This debate later made it’s way into Spanish theatre, as explained by Sister M. Francis de Sales McGarry in 1937 work The Allegorical and Metaphorical Language in the Autos Sacramentales of Calderón: “the people of Spain ... used the sacramental play as a means of showing their indignation against the errors of the so-called reformers and the dishonor they paid the Eucharist” (McGarry 17). Calderón, a Roman Catholic priest, likely would have been familiar with the differing societal beliefs on original sin throughout his time as a playwright, and his affection for Auto Sacramentales suggests that he too had a part in the debate. Through biased allusions to original sin in Life is a Dream, Calderón to express a disapproval for Protestant belief and influence his Catholic audience to reject the justification of original sin.
Calderón’s begins his allusion to original sin with Segismundo’s monologue in Act I.
Segismundo, lamenting his tortured and lonely life, declares “Ah, woe is me! Ah, how wretched I am! Heaven, I seek to inquire - since you treat me this way - what crime I committed against you when I was born; though that seeing that I was born, I already realize what crime I committed” (Calderón de la Barca 4). This is a clear reference to the heredity of original sin, and the Catholic audience, who likely would have struggled to justify the hand-me-down nature of original sin, would have been reminded of their stance against the Protestant belief. Calderón continues his reference original sin as Segismundo proceeds to compare his human judgment with that of the animals, stating “the fish is born, an abortion of algae and slime, and no sooner does it find itself on the waves, like a boat of scales, than it turns in every direction, measuring the immensity of all space that it’s cold element gives it. And I, with more free will, have less liberty” (Calderón de la Barca 5). This passage mirrors two other Catholic arguments against the existence of original sin: the divine image of man, and the existence of free will. Catholics sentiment favored the belief that all humans born in God’s image, following the death of Christ, would be conceived free of sin, and therefore Segismundo’s passage questions as to how the human suffer such punishment from birth when the fish, an abortion of algae …show more content…
and slime, has been granted freedom. Secondly, Protestants had rejected the idea of “free will,” believing that since the fall of man, original sin had removed man's ability to make decisions for himself. The absence of human free will was one justification for John Calvin’s belief in a predestined salvation, and by comparing his perception of free will with that of the fish, Segismundo urges the audience to consider whether or not they believe they exhibit free will. Recognizing the free will of man then allows the audience to reject both the existence of a pervading original sin and the Protestant belief in predestination, as a result of the fall of man. By including this monologue, therefore, Calderón has established the work’s theme that the protestant belief in the original sin of man must be false.
Calderón also writes Basilio's prophecy as an allegory to the protestant justification of original sin, so that as the king recognizes the fault in his belief, the audience must acknowledge the errors of protestant thought.
Basilio’s prophecy begins
“Segismundo was born, giving an indication of his nature, because he killed his mother. By this cruelty he was saying ‘I am a man, since I am already beginning to repay kindness with evil.’ I, referring to my books, found in them, and in all things, that Segismundo would be the most insolent man, the most cruel prince, and the most impious monarch”(Calderón de la Barca 19).
Repaying the kindness of birth with the cruelty of betrayal is a major theme in Genesis, the Old-Testament book containing both the fall of man and the Cain’s betrayal of Able. Just as the gift of Adams conception led to the defiance of the lord, so too has Segismundo birth lead to the death of his mother, and Basilio therefore concludes that Segismundo’s birth must have been in itself some sin. Ironically, the only sin which Segismundo has committed is causing the pain of childbirth, which is explained in the bible to be the direct result of the fall of man and the manifestation of modern day original sin. In Genesis, God punishes Eve for eating fruit from the tree of knowledge proclaiming “... I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children…” (King James Bible, Gen. 3:16). The pain of childbirth was one
protestant justification for the existence of original sin, and by writing Basilio’s role to condemn Segismundo for the pain he caused his mother, Calderón references the Protestant belief that man is born with sin as a result of the fall of man.
Basilio, however, is wrong to condemn Segismundo who pardons those who had wronged him in an exhibition of human free will. The consequences of assuming a sin at birth are then laid out in Segismundo final monologue in Act III. In the monologue, Segismundo states
“My father, here present, to exempt himself from the rabid fury of my nature, made me an animal, a human beast; so that, whereas, through my gallant nobility of birth … I might have been born tractable and humble, all that was needed was that way of life … to make my manners fierce.” (Calderón de la Barca 84-5).
This passage is a critique of protestant thought on original sin, and Calderón urges the audience not to assume that the faults of man are resultant from a preexisting sin committed at birth. Instead, Calderón presents the idea that forgiveness, for instance Christ’s forgiveness, will allow humanity the opportunity to reach a happiness through salvation, and by equating being born human with being born into a gallant nobility, Calderón explains that sin of birth was created by humanity, not God.
Playwrights during the Spanish Golden Age of Drama often aimed to analyze religious motifs through a philosophical lens in their works. This is exemplified through Calderón’s critique of protestant sentiment toward original sin in Life is a Dream. In the work, Calderón attempts to equate Segismundo’s literal imprisonment with the original sin of man, a controversial tenet of Protestant sects that Calderón himself would likely have rejected. The monologues of Segismundo, as well as Basilio’s justification, both support argument that Calderón’s use of punishment in Life is a Dream is meant to evoke a sense empathy in the audience for Segismundo. As the spectators observe the unjust nature of Segismundo’s punishment, they are asked to reject Protestant heresy and a belief in original sin.