Showing papers in "Hispanic Review in 1978"

El infernal arcano de Félix de Montemar

Abstract: APENAS cabe hablar de cualquier aspecto de El estudiante de Salamanca (1836-1840)-su asunto tradicional, su ambiente fatidico, su desdichada heroina, sus personajes secundarios, su plan narrativo, su asombrosa polimetria, etc.-salvo en relaci6n con la descomunal figura que Espronceda ha trazado en el irreverente estudiante y burlador, don Felix de Montemar. Antih6roe (mis bien que heroe) del poema, Montemar se distingue, entre todos los personajes del romanticismo espaiiol, como el mas poderoso y, a su modo, el mas profundo. Lo dificil es que ese poder y esa profundidad siempre han parecido estribar en no se sabe que aspecto indescifrable del caracter del protagonista y aun del ambiente de toda la obra.

Magic in "La celestina"

Abstract: rELESTINA'S use of magic to strengthen and extend her ac-tivities as go-between has long been the subject of controversy. However, it was not until P. E. Russell published his "La magia como tema integral de la Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea" 1 that a strong case was made for its role as central to the dramatic action. The majority of critics before Russell tended to minimize the element of magic, either by writing it off as superfluous or by ignoring it entirely. Those few commentators who took Celestina's witchcraft more seriously (mainly the so-called "German critics"), failed to present their case with the rigor necessary to make it convincing. With this in mind, Russell proceeded to demonstrate the importance of sorcery and witchcraft in fifteenth-century society. He made it plain that, generally, the men of Rojas' time believed in the efficacy of magic, while moral and ecclesiastical authorities warned of its dangers. At the same time he offered a close textual analysis in support of his contention that magic is a vital element in the work. In the light of this contribution, any Celestina study dealing with magic must of necessity allow for the fact that, in Rojas' world, magic played a greater role in the understanding of natural phenomena than it does for the modern reader. If we are to disagree with Russell, we must acknowledge his lucid, point by point demonstration of Celestina's use of a diabolical pact to capture the will of Melibea: we must not ignore the evidence that Rojas has planted to make us believe (if only provisionally), along with

Another look at the metrics of Santillana's sonnets

Abstract: GERALD Brenan, in his Literature of the Spanish People, has dedicated one sentence to the sonnets of the Marques: "In his sonnets ... [Santillana] was moderately successful in introducing the Italian hendecasyllable.'" X This statement sums up succinctly almost all that has been written on the subject. Lapesa refers to Santillana's hendecasyllables as having "un aspecto de tentativa inmadura," 2 and again: "sus endecasilabos fluctuian entre el todavia no y el ya, entre la inmadurez y el logro." J. B. Trend's brief introduction to his selection of sonetos fechos al itdlico modo is chiefly concerned with making the same point.4 The object of this article is to re-examine this position.5 The widely-held view that Santillana's sonnet-writing was a deliberate, though not wholly successful attempt to introduce the Italian metre into Spain seems to me to be based on a misunder-