Play Analysis: “Life is a Dream”
The play is a Spanish Golden Age[i] drama written by Pedro Calderon. The story commences at the Warsaw frontier in the countryside between Poland and Russia. Rosaura, a noble woman, dressed as a man is travelling by foot with her servant after they lose their horse. The story depicts the illusionary and dreamy nature of the world and the inconsistencies in life. The story is about a prince who is imprisoned since birth to evade an astrologer’s prediction of his rebellion. He first loses control of himself then gains it when he discovers the illusory nature of human desires and eventually masters self-mastery. The essay addresses the nature of the Spanish culture as depicted in the play, values, mores and social expectations of the society. It also explores the political character of the era.
Pedro Calderon optimises the Baroque[ii] style of art and literature that was widespread in the Spanish culture of the Golden Age. Like other Baroque literature he explores the themes of nature, Free will and fate and human character and conflicts in theology. In Siegmund’s soliloquy, he portrays the dreamy nature of life. What is life? A frenzy.He says,
What is life? An illusion,
A shadow, fiction,
And the greatest good is paltry:
Since all life is a dream,
And dreams are also dreams (Calderon, Act 2 1195-1200).
Calderon also uses another soliloquy of Siegmund to describe the human character .Siegmund says” This guilty piece of human handiwork,
And all that are within it. Oh, how oft,
How oft, within or here abroad, have I
Waited, and in the whisper of my heart
Pray’d for the slanting hand of heaven to strike
The blow myself I dared not, out of fear…”(Calderon 2003, Act 1). Most of the golden age drama had their plots built of dishonour through sexual misconduct. Life is a dream portrays this kind of scheme through Estrella and Rosaura. This scenario explains the value of honour in the Spanish society during the period.
The society valued social classes and status in the play. The nobles deemed themselves higher than the rest of the community. Astolfo secretly loves Rosaura and wears a portrait of her around his neck. However, he cannot declare his love for her because she belongs to a lower social class than him. When Clotaldo admits to them that Rosaura is his daughter and was born of a noblewoman he readily accepts to marry her.
The society in the play is experiencing religious conflicts between Catholics and astrologers. The author wrote the story when there were reforms in the dominant Catholic church that led to Protestantism. The king realises that he has imprisoned his son Siegmund for a prediction that could not be true. The rest of the state thinks that the son died, but now the King releases him from his cell at the tower. Astrologers believed in predestination where a person’s behaviour was determined by constellation while the church believed that every human being had the power of free will. The stars could shape a person’s character but not determined how it would be. When Siegmund masters his self-control he overthrows his father but also forgives him (Act 3). He learns that he is expected to do good. The stars predicted his rebellion but not his change in conduct and forgiving his father. Though the author writes the story in Poland, it mirrors the state of the Spanish community at the time.
Honour is an important value in this society. Rosaura is seeking revenge for her affront perpetrated by Astolfo; She wants to kill him so that she could regain her honour. Clotaldo, her father as she later discovers, promises to help her execute Astolfo. He does this because dishonouring another person’s child in the Spanish society meant affronting the father too. Siegmund loses his honour too when he causes chaos in the king’s presence. He fights with the servants at the palace and makes inappropriate advances towards Rosaura and Estrella. He is returned to his cells at the tower and believes the whole event was a dream. However, he regains it when he adopts proper conduct and helps the polish soldiers overthrow his father in battle after Astolfo is declared Duke of Moskovyt. He restrains himself from the desires he has for Rosaura and keeps his honour and hers too.
Calderon shows the society’s expectations of people to do good and behave well. The king expected Siegmund to act well as a prince should. The prophecy that he would be a vicious prince made him unsure so that he had to lock him up since his birth. The king is worried about putting so much trust in astronomy so he decides to release his son and watch how Siegmund would behave but his actions affirm the astrologer’s prediction, and hi throws him back to prison. Coltado informs Siegmund that all that he had done in the palace had been a dream.He also advises him that they expected him to do good even in his dream. This revelation helps Siegmund to develop a change in heart and change the destiny the astrologer had predicted. He defeats King Basilio in the battle and then forgives him for locking him up for 20 years in the prison tower. To fulfil his expectations as a responsible King, Siegmund sends the soldier who led the rebellion to prison in the tower. The scene is ironical, but he was performing his duty as a king, to punish the leader of the coup. It was also an act of exemplary leadership that the people expected of him.
Astolfo is a dishonourable man. Against the societal values, he slurs Rosaura. He also dishonours Estrella when he tries to woo yet he is wearing the portrait of Rosaura around his neck. Estrella is offended by this because it injures her reputation. Siegmund later forces him to marry Rosaura to pay back for shaming her. One has to kill their offender to regain honour. The purpose of Rosaura visit to Poland was to kill Astolfo to restore her self-respect. She fought alongside Siegmund in battle so that she could have the chance to kill him.
Loyalty is another significant value the author brings up. Fife, Rosaura’s servant, proves his loyalty when he accompanies her from Muscovy to Poland across the rough terrain. He admits how much he loved his master and she too loves him. This kind of commitment expresses the kind of loyalty there was between servants and their masters. After Siegmund breaks out of jail, he asks Clotaldo to join him to fight against his father and Duke Astolfo. He opts to remain loyal to the king instead, despite that he owed Siegmund for sparing his life. Siegmund expressed his loyalty to his father when he saved his life when he won the battle. His father then declares him the heir to his throne. Siegmund also shows loyalty to his kingdom by punishing the soldier who spearheaded the rebellion. He demonstrated that he would ensure service of justice to lawbreakers. The Spanish society highly valued loyalty.
The government system was aristocratic in nature. The leadership remained in the hands of the few nobles. When the king’s son is thought to be dead, Astolfo and Estrella, who were the King’s nephew and niece, fight over who was fit to succeed King Basilio. Astolfo seeks Estrella’s hand in marriage to consolidate his power. The relationship between the noble and the lower class are not desirable. Astolfo loves Rosaura but cannot marry her because she is not of her class.
The play, though set in Poland, depicts the life and political experiences of the Spanish people during the golden age. The author explains his encounters through the struggles of the characters. Rosaura is on a journey to avenge her disrespect. The trouble she goes through to get to Poland from Muscovy shows how much the Spanish would do to preserve their reputation especially those in higher positions. She sets out on a journey through the deserted rocky mountain path and loses her horse on her way with all their belonging. She gets arrested when she stumbles on the secret tower prison. The aristocratic leaders of the Golden age would give anything to keep their status.
The play also depicts the hidden struggles for power in the Spanish political community. The Quarrel between Estrella and Astolfo over who was fit to be the next heir to the throne shows how the monarchy was in constant conflict. Owing to the increased political control Spain had gained during the Golden age, rebellion and secessions were apparent. The imprisonment of the King’s son over a prophecy that he would be rebellious illustrates how much fear the monarchy had of an imminent coup. The king ordered the imprisonment of the soldier who commenced the battle against his father when he asks for his reward. The punishment explains the strictness of the monarch in punishing those who rebelled or committed treason.
In conclusion, the author brings out the religious nature of the Spanish golden age culture. She depicts the conflicts in Christianity and astronomy and how they affected the lives of Spaniards. Calderon portrays the society as preservers of honour and loyalty. Master-servant and loyalty to the king were highly appreciated. Through the play, the reader realises the political and cultural progress during the era. The author employs the characteristic baroque style that explores themes of will and fate, the relationship between life and death and explains the human character. Through the play, the author reveals the political nature of Spain. The author shows the aristocratic features of this leadership. Estrella’s and Astolfo’s disagreement sheds light to conflict within the monarchy over succession. It also highlights the relationship between theology and politics. Pedro Calderon’s work provides a historical basis for the organisation of the Spanish society.
Works Cited
Calderon Pedro, Life is a Dream, PDF Books world,2013.
Calderón de la Barca,, La vida sueno, trans. N. Orringer,2007.
End Notes
[i] To learn more about the Spanish Golden Age refer to ‘Spain Then and Now
[ii] For more about Spanish Baroque refer to “Life Is a Dream.” World Literature and Its Times: Profiles of Notable Literary Works and the Historic Events That Influenced Them. ring the golden age.