 
Choose another writer in this calendar:
by name: by birthday from the calendar.
TimeSearch |
Francisco de Rojas Zorilla (1607-1648) | |
|
Prolific Spanish dramatist, a member of the order of Santiago, author of tragedies, comedias, autos sacramentales, and entremeses. Rojas was noted for a new type of drama, in which an eccentric character, or a jester (el gracioso) is the most important person in the play, preparing way for the Beaumarchais's (1732-1799) famous clever servant Figaro. Rojas Zorilla's best know drama is Del rey abajo, ninguno (None But the King, No One), which was published in 1650. The story deals with a peasant who mistakenly believes that the King has violated his honor by breaking into his house and acting dishonorably toward his wife. Because he cannot move against the King, he must save his honor by killing his innocent wife. Pero en tanto que mi cuello Francisco de Rojas Zorilla was born in Toledo. His father served in the Royal Navy, and after resigning, he moved to Madrid, where Rojas grew up. Rojas studied in Toledo and Salamanca, and returned to Madrid by 1631. Early in his career, Rojas Zorilla became a close friend with Calderón, Pérez de Montalbán, and A. Coello. In the 1630s he started to gain fame as a playwright, borrowing the plots from such French dramatists as Corneille, Lesage, and Scarron. In 1635 Rojas Zorilla wrote a sonnet on the occasion of the death of Lope de Vega. His plays were produced in the new theatre in the Palace of Buen Retiro from 1640. Los Bandos de Verona (1640), dealing with the story of Romeo and Juliet, was performed at the opening ceremonies of theatre. In the same year appeared a collection of Rojas's plays. The second part of the collection appeared five years later. King Philip IV honored Rojas in 1643 by awarding him a knighthood in the Order of Santiago. This did not go without difficulties because of his racial origin - he was accused to hide the fact that he had Moorish and Jewish ancestors. The king banned between the years 1646 and 1649 all the plays after the death of his son. Rojas Zorilla died during the ban under suspicious circumstances in Madrid, on January 23, 1648. His illegitimate daughter, Francisca Bezón, became the famous actress La Bezona. Rojas was married from 1640 to Doña Catalina Yáñez de Mendoza. In his plays Rojas Zorilla emphasized humane solutions in conflict situations and challenged the aristocratic code of honor. One must listen the voice of heart and not obey blindly traditional rules of behavior. He dealt with uncommon directress with such issues as unfaithfulness, the rights of women, and the fallibility of institutions. In the tragedy To Each His Own he defended a woman's right to choose her own husband. In The Sport of Fools (written 1638) a rich and old man abandons his plans to marry a young woman, when he realizes that his reluctant bride loves a young and poor cousin. Thomas Corneille took the plot from this lively play for his Don Bertrand de Cigarral. Rojas's treatment sometimes infuriated his audiences. He wrote some 100 stage works, several of them in collaboration with Coello y Ochoa and Vélez de Guevara. Del Rey abajo ninguno (1650, None But the King) a play about punto de honor, the conflict between honor and loyalty, and in this particular story loyalty to the king and doubt's about wife's reputation. According to the 17th-century Spanish logic, if the king put a married woman to shame, it was the husband's duty make the wife to pay for it. Even if she is not the offender. The protagonist is the noble García del Gastañar, who lives a simple life in the country with his beautiful wife Blanca. When King Alfonso XI prepares war against Moors, García's substantial contribution to the effort attracts king's attention, and he decides to meet him. The king visits García's house with Count Don Mendo, who approaches in the night Blanca with questionable intentions. García confuses the king for the count, and sees no other alternative than to kill his innocent wife. "A muerte te ha condenado / mi honor, cuando no mis celos, / porque a costa de tu vida, / de una infamia me prevengo. / Perdóname Blanca mía, / que, aunque de culpa te absuelvo, / sólo por razón de Estado, / a la muerte de condeno." Bianca escapes to the mountains and eventually ends up in the care of the queen and king. García struggles with his consciousness and the code of honor. Understanding García's hesitation, Bianca offers to die. Finally the king appears on the scene, García' mistake is revealed, and Don Mendo is killed by the king. - Rojas also wrote the amusing CADA CUAL LO QUE LE TOCA, in which he unconventionally approached the feminine honor. For further reading: Don Francisco de Rojas Zorilla by E. Cotarelo y Mori (1911); Dramaturgos de la escuela de Calderón: Rojas Zorilla by F.C. Sainz de Robles (1947); Francisco de Rojas Zorilla and the Tragedy by R.R. MacCurdy (1958); Francisco de Rojas by R.R. MacCurdy (1973); McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama , ed. by Stanley Hochman (1984); 'Del rey abajo, ninguno, y la inversion venatoria del hostigamiento' in Linguistica indoamericana y Estudios Literarios, ed. by Elizabeth Luna-Traill (1992); Francisco De Rojas Zorilla Y Agustin Moreto: Analisis by Ann MacKenzie (1994) - For further information: The Conservative Nature of Time in "Del rey abajo, ninguno" - Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla - What is an honor play? - Selected works:
© 2000 |
