Historical Figure
Lope de Vega
1562–1635
Spanish playwright and poet (1562–1635)
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Biography
Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist who was a key figure in the Spanish Golden Age (1492–1659) of Baroque literature. In the literature of Spain, Lope de Vega is often considered second only to Miguel de Cervantes. Cervantes said that Lope de Vega was “The Phoenix of Wits” and “Monster of Nature”.
Timeline
The story of Lope de Vega, told in moments.
Sails with the Spanish Armada against England. His ship survives the disaster. He reportedly spends the voyage writing a poem. The Armada loses. He goes home and keeps writing plays.
Publishes Arte nuevo de hacer comedias, a treatise defending popular theater against classical rules. He argues plays should entertain audiences, not please scholars. He's producing several plays a month at this point.
Takes holy orders and becomes a priest. He's already had two wives (both dead), multiple mistresses, several children both legitimate and otherwise, and a conviction for libel. The Church accepts him anyway. He keeps writing.
Dies in Madrid at 72. He wrote an estimated 1,800 plays, of which about 500 survive. Cervantes called him a "monster of nature." His funeral procession lasted three days. Half of Madrid turned out.
In Their Own Words (7)
Dijeron que antiguamentese fue la verdad al cielo;tal la pusieron los hombres,que desde entonces no ha vuelto.En dos edades vivimoslos propios y los ajenos:la de plata los estraños,y la de cobre los nuestros.
In ancient days they said truth had fled to heaven: attacked on every side, it's not been heard of since. We live in different ages, non-Spaniards and ourselves: they in the age of silver, we in the age of brass., 1632
Lone I muse but feel not lonely,Covert solitude’s my lore;For my company I onlyWant my thoughts and nothing more.
Act I, sc. iv. Translation from John Armstrong Crow An Anthology of Spanish Poetry (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univ. Press, 1979) p. 107., 1632
But life is short: while one lives, everything is lacking; when one is dead, everything is superfluous.
Act III, sc. vii. Translation from Arthur Terry Seventeenth-Century Spanish Poetry (Cambridge: CUP, 1993) p. 118., 1632
Harmony is pure love, for love is complete agreement.
Fuenteovejuna (1613), Barrildo, Act I., 1613
Since after all, it is the crowd who pays,Why not content them when you write your plays?
Arte nuevo de hacer comedias en este tiempo, line 47. (1609). Translation from Marvin A. Carlson Theories of the Theatre (Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press, [1984] 1993) p. 62., 1609
Artifacts (15)
melts into her character so thoroughly that her nimbus of celebrity disappears
ge character, Johansson was convinced by a friend to take on the part. Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote Johansson "melts into her character so thoroughly that her nimbus of celebrity...
takes to the pulpy period atmosphere as if it were oxygen
suitable for the part. Anne Billson of The Daily Telegraph likewise found her miscast. However, CNN said that she "takes to the pulpy period atmosphere as if it were oxygen". Also in 2006, Johansson...
[the film] grows on you, largely because of the charm of ... Scarlett Johansson,
d her brother, Hunter. Her performance received positive reviews: one written for the San Francisco Chronicle noted, "[the film] grows on you, largely because of the charm of ... Scarlett Johansson,"...
convincingly conveys the awkwardness of her age and the inner pain of a carefree...
seventh role. On Johansson's maturity, Redford described her as "13 going on 30". Todd McCarthy of Variety commented that Johansson "convincingly conveys the awkwardness of her age and the inner pain...
portray kids like mall rats and not seriously ... Kids and teenagers just aren't...
e one's emotions. On finding good roles as a teenager, Johansson said it was hard for her as adults wrote the scripts and they "portray kids like mall rats and not seriously ... Kids and teenagers...
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