Literatura y crítica
Samson Agonistes
Samson Agonistes
From The Oxford Companion to English Literature, ed. Margaret Drabble.
Samson Agonistes, a tragedy by *Milton, published 1671, in the same volume as *Paradise Regained. Its composition was traditionally assigned to 1666-70, but W. R. Parker in his biography (1968) argues that it was written much earlier, possibly as early as 1647. A closet drama never intended for the stage, it is modelled on Greek tragedy, and has been frequently compared to Prometheus Bound by *Aeschylus or Oedipus at Colonus by *Sophocles: other critics have claimed that its spirit is more Hebraic (or indeed Christian) than Hellenic. Predominantly in blank verse, it also contains passages of great metrical freedom and originality, and some rhyme. Samson Agonistes (i.e. Samson the Wrestler, or Champion) deals with the last phase of the life of Samson of the Book of Judges when he is a prisoner of the Philistines and blind, a phase which many have compared to the assumed circumstance of the blind poet himself, after the collapse of the Commonwealth and his political hopes.
Samson, in prison at Gaza, is visited by friends of his tribe (the chorus) who comfort him; then by his old father Manoa, who holds out hopes of securing his release; then by his wife *Dalila, who seeks pardon and reconciliation, but being repudiated shows herself ’a manifest Serpent’; then by Harapha, a strong man of Gath, who taunts Samson. He is finally summoned to provide amusement by feats of strenght for the philistines, who are celebrating a feast to *Dagon. He goes, and presently a messenger brings news of his final feat of strength in which he pulled down the pillars of the place where the assembly was gathered, destroying himself as well as the entire throng. The tragedy, which has many passages questioning divine providence (’Just or unjust, alike seem miserable’), ends with the chorus’s conclusion that despite human doubts, all is for the best in the ’unsearchable dispose / of highest wisdom’: its last words, ’calm of mind all passion spent’, strike a note of Aristotelian *catharsis, and the whole piece conforms to the *neo-classical doctrine of unities.
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Stanley Fish on Samson Agonistes:
Heads of an answer to Fish:
- The notion of unconscious meanings, tensions in the writer’s project, unresolved conflicting intentions.... etc. have vanished from this clear-cut distinction between meaning and significance (which, incidentally, reminds me of E. D. Hirsch rather than Fish—whither Deconstruction?). But a theorization of such tensions seem to be a prime critical tool in dealing with Milton, witness e.g. the issue of Satanic parallelisms with the Parliamentarians, and the Absolutist trappings of his God in ’Paradise Lost’.
- ’9/11 terrorist bombings are out of Milton’s context, and are therefore a matter of significance, not meaning’. OK (but let me point out that discussion of significance is well within the province of the literary critic’s activity, contrary to what Fish’s closing words would seem to imply. A discussion of Milton is also a discussion of the Milton semantic complex which includes his interpretations). OK ... BUT:
- The unresolved issue of the legitimacy or legitimation of political violence, is, indeed, part of Milton’s contemporary context, as is the issue of terrorist bombings of political and ideological landmarks causing indiscriminate death. It is indeed a prominent element in the aforementioned tensions. And if 9/11 as a massacre is outside his ken, Milton was well aware of another (intended) massacre, the Fifth of September, which has some uncanny parallels to the Samson suicide bombing of the Temple of Dagon. Not as far as the suicide is concerned, perhaps, but insofar as it should have been a spectacular and symbolic massacre of infidels en masse, together with their leaders, inspired and justified by a religious rationale. Milton had written while at Cambridge a Latin exercise on the Gunpowder Plot, "In quintum Novembris, Anno aetatis 17", with appropriate Protestant glee at the discomfiture of the plotters. Now, in old age, he seems to be writing a palinode, and a justification of the political and religious violence of "thralled discontent", on second thoughts. Of course, this time God was on ’his’ side, at least on the side of that part of his brain he was aware of.
- Fish’s distinction between meaning, significance, and appropriation are therefore too neat. They are illustrative as pointers, but reality’s much more of a mess and a mesh; and intention is also a much more complex affair than he allows it to be here. Actually, the tensions and the intentions in Milton and in his poems cannot be cut off from the tensions and intentions circulating in his own context, which is not (but also is, to a certain extent) our own.
John Dryden
John Dryden
From the Oxford Companion to English Literature, ed. Margaret Drabble:
DRYDEN, John (1631-1700), educated at Westminster School under *Busby and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He inherited a small estate, but supported himself mainly by his writing. His first major poem was the Heroique Stanza's (1658) on the death of Cromwell: he later celebrated the King's return with Astraea Redux and To His Sacred Majesty. Other poems were addressed to Sir Robert Howard, whose sister Lady Elizabeth Dryden married in 1663; the earl of *Clarendon, *Charleton, and Lady Castlemaine. He also published a long poem in quatrains, *Annus Mirabilis (1667), but most os his early writing was for the theatre and included several rhymed heroic plays, The Indian Queen (1664, in collaboration with Sir Robert Howard), The Indian Emperour (1665, which has the Mexican ruler Montezuma as subject), *Tyrannick Love (1669), and The Conquest of Granada in two parts (1670). He also wrote comedies, The Wild Gallant (1663), The Rival Ladies (1664), Sir Martin Mar-all (1667, in collaboration with the Duke of *Newcastle), *An Evening's Love (1668), and a radical adaptation of *The Tempest (1667, with *D'Avenant). He was most original, however, with his tragi-comedies, Secret Love (1667), *Marriage-à-la-mode (1672), The Assignation (1672), and a second Shakespeare adaptation, *Troilus and Cressida (1679). All these plays, together with the operatic adaptation of *Paradise Lost, under the title The State of Innocence, and Fall of Man (unperformed, pub 1667) and the immensely successful Oedipus (1678, with N. *Lee), reveal Dryden's considerable interest in philsoophical and political questions. He became *poet laureate in 1668, and historiographer royal in 1670.
Dryden constantly defended his own literarypractice. His first major critical work was *Of Dramatick Poesie (1668). Subsequent essays include A Defence of an Essay (1668)(, preface to An Evening's Love (1671), Of Heroick Plays (1672), Heads of an Answer (to *Rymer, c. 1677, pub. 1711), and The Grounds of Criticism in Tragedy, prefixed to preface to Troilus and Cressida (1679). *Aureng-Zebe was his bes rhymed heoric play. The prologue, however, denounces rhyme in serious drama, and his next tragedy, *All for Love (1678), was in blank verse. Much of Dryden's criticism was devoted to the assessment of his Elizabethan predecessors, Shakespeare, *Jonson, and *Fletcher. Despite his genuine respect for their achievement, Dryden was unsparing in his enumeration of what he perceived as their 'faults', although he frequently modified his critical views and his artistic practice. This flexibility as critic and dramatist left him vulnerable to attack. He was represented as Bayes in *The Rehearsal (1671) by *Buckingham, and physically assaulted in 1679, possibly at the instigation of *Rochester. His principal opponent was *Shadwell, whom Dryden ridiculed in *Mac Flecknoe (c. 1676, pub. 1682). Other poems in which he develops his critical principles include many witty and imaginative prologues and epilogues, and poems about, or addressed to, fellow writers and artists, notably Lee, *Roscommon, *Oldham, *Congreve, and *Kneller.
The constitutional crisis of the late 1670 and early 1680s saw Dryden's emergence as a formidable Tory polemicist. His contribution to the political debate included plays, especially *The Spanish Fryar (1680), The Duke of Guise (1682, written with Lee), and the operatic Albion and Albanius (1685); his celebrated satires *Absalom and Achitophel (1681), *The Medall (1682), and a number of lines for N. *Tate's The Second Part of Absalom and Achitophel (1682), as well as a host of partisan prologues and epilogues. His interest in religion was also heightened at this time. In *Religio Laici (1682) he offers a defence of the Anglican via media. However, following the accession of James II Dryden became a Catholic and wrote *The Hind and the Panther (1687) in suport of his new co-religionists. At the death of Charles II he attempted a Pindaric *ode, Threnodia Augustalis (1685), the first of several poems in this form, notably To the Pious Memory . . . of Mrs Anne Killigrew (1686), A Song for Saint Cecilia's Day (1687), 'An Ode, on the Death of Mr Henry Purcell' (1696), and Alexander's Feast (1697), which was later incorporated into *Fables Ancient and Modern (1700). Dryden also wroter numerous witty elegant songs for his many plays.
In 1689 he lost both his court offices and returned to the theatre. Two of his late plays, *Don Sebastian (1689) and *Amphitryon (1690), are excellent; Cleomenes (1692) is intellectually impressive; and only Love Triumphant (1694) is a failure; but Dryden was tired of the theatre and turned to the politically less compromising work of translating. His immense and splendid achievements in this field include translations of small pieces from *Theocritus and *Horace, and more substantial passages from *Homer, *Lucretius, *Persius, *Juvenal, *Ovid, *Boccaccio, and *Chaucer, as well as the whole of *Virgil. His version of the Georgics is especially magnificent. In all these translations he made frequent but subtle allusions to his Jacobite principles. He also returned to criticism, notably in preface to the Sylvae (1685), *A Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire (1693), Dedication to Examen Poeticum (1693), and Dedication of the Aeneis (1697). His culminating and most impressive achivement both as critic and translator was Fables Ancient and Modern, which should be read as a whole, and to which 'The Secular Masque' (1700) is a wise and noble coda. He was buried in Westminster Abbey (see also RESTORATION).
Other works by Dryden include:
Plays: Amboyna (1673, a tragedy), *Mr Limberham (1679, a sexually explicit comedy), and a dramatic opera, King Arthur (1691). Poems: 'Upon the Death of Lord Hastings' (1649), Britannia Rediviva (1688), Eleonora (1696). Prose works: His Majesty's Declaration Defended (1681), Life of Plutarch (1683), Vindication of the Duke of Guise (1683), Character of St Evrémond (1692), Character of Polybius (1693), Life of Lucian (1711), translations of Maimbourg's The History of the League (1684), Bouhours' Life of St Francis Xavier (1686), Du Fresnoy's De Arte Graphica (1695).
The standard complete edition is The Works of John Dryden, ed. E. N. Hooker et al. (1956- ), 20 vols pub. as of 1997. Other editions include Sir W. *Scott's (18 vols, 1808, with life as vol. i, rev. edn. by *Saintsbury, 18 vols, 1882-93); Dramatic Works, ed. M. Summers (6 vols, 1931-2); Poems, ed. J. Kinsley (4 vols, 1948); The Poems of John Dryden, ed. P. Hammond (4 vols , 1995- ); Of Dramatic Poesy, and Other Critical Essays, ed. G. Watson (2 vols, 1962); Letters, ed. C. E. Ward (1942). See also J. A. Winn, John Dryden and His World (1987); J. and K. Kinsley (eds.), Dryden: The Critical Heritage (1971); P. Harth, Contexts of Dryden's Thought (1968) and Pen for a Party (1993).
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Notes on some works by Dryden (from the Oxford Companion):
Annus Mirabilis, a poem in quatrains by *Dryden, published 1667.
Its subjects are the Dutch War (1665-6) and the Fire of London. Prefaced by 'Verses to her Highness and Dutchess' [of York], it indicates that even in the 1660s Dryden's optimism about the monarchy, mercantilism, and the *Royal Society (of which he was a fellow) did not preclude the expression of an ironic vision of history. Queen Elizabeth II, to the bewilderment of some journalists, drew on Dryden's poem in a speech (24 Nov. 1992) referring to the fire of Windsor in that year, using the words 'Annus Horribilis'.
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Tyrannick Love, or The Royal Martyr, a heroic play by *Dryden, produced and published 1669.
Based on the legend of the martyrdom of St Catherine by the Roman emperor Maximin, it contains some of Dryden's most extravagant heroic verse. Possibly deliberately comic at times, it is also seriously concerned with contrasting Lucretian and Christian conceptions of God. It was ridiculed in *The Rehearsal, and by *Shadwell. Dryden himself satirizes its excesses in *Mac Flecknoe.
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An Evening's Love, or The Mock Astrologer, a comedy by Dryden, produced 1668, published 1671. Combining elements of Spanish intrigue comedy and fast-moving farce with sexually explicit language, it proved a commercial though not an artistic success. The plog, borrowed from M. de *Scudéry, *Corneille, Quinault, *Molière, and others, shows the exploits of two English cavaliers, Wildblood and Bellamy, in Madrid at carnival time. In the course of the play Bellamy acts the part of the eponymous astrologer, and bothe men gain Spanish wives while also helping their host Don Lopez to one. Most memorable are the scenes featuring Wildblood's spirited mistress Jacinta testing her lover in the guise first of a Moor and then of a Mulatta. Despite Wildblood's spectacular failure to remain faithful to her on both occasions, Jacinta forgives him and agrees to marry him. The preface to this play is among the most stimulating of Dryden's critical essays. He defends drama as entertainment, and replies to charges of plagiarism, offering his most explicit statement on literary appropriation to this date. The preface represents his views when he was least sympathetic to *Jonson and is therefore of importance in the dispute with Jonson's champion *Shadwell which culminated in *Mac Flecknoe.
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Marriage-à-la-Mode, a tragi-comedy by *Dryden produced 1672, published 1623.
The main plot concerns a usurper's discovery that his daughter and his (lawful) predecerssor's son have been secretly reared together in rural seclusion and have fallen idealistically in love. The comic plot is a double intrigue involving two friends and their pursuit respectively of the wife of the one and the betrothed of the other. The counterpointing of these contrasting plots is particularly striking, especially as each ends anticlimactically, the lawful heir being restored to his throne in an overtly stagy manner, and the adulterous lovers failing to consummate their affairs. The play contains some of Dryden's finest songs, and embodies the principles of comic writing outlined in his preface to *An Evening's Love.
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Of Dramatick Poesy: An Essay by *Dryden, published 1668.
The essay is in the form of a dialogue between Eugenius (C. *Sackville), Crites (Sir Robert Howard), Lisideius (*Sedley), and Neander (Dryden himself), who take a boat on the Thames on the day of the battle between the English and Dutch navies in June 1665, and subsequently discuss the comparative merits of English and French drama, and of the old and new in English drama. The essay is largely concerned with justifying Dryden's current practice as a playwright. It also contains admirable appreciations of Shakespeare, J. *Fletcher, and *Jonson.
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Aureng-Zebe, a tragedy by *Dryden, produced 1675, published 1676.
The plot is remotely based on the contemporary events by which the Mogul Aureng-Zebe wrested the empire of India from his father and his brothers. The hero is a figure of exemplary rationality, virtue, and patience, whose stepmother lusts after him and whose father pursues the woman with whom Aureng-Zebe is himself in love. Apparently highly schematic in its organization, this last of Dryden's rhymed heroic plays evinces a deeply disturbing awareness of the anarchy and impotence which threaten every aspect of human life, emotional, moral, and political.
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All for Love, or The World Well Lost, a tragedy by *Dryden produced and published 1678.
Written in blank verse in acknowledged imitation of Shaespeare's *Antony and Cleopatra, it is Dryden's most performed and his best-known play. It concentrates on the last hours in the lives of its hero and heroine. In contrast to Shakespeare's play, it is an exemplary neo-classical tragedy, notable for its elaborately formal presentation of character, action, and theme. (See NEO-CLASSICISM.)
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Mac Flecknoe (c. 1676), or A Satyr upon the True-Blew-Protestant Poet, T. S., a *mock-epic poem by *Dryden published 1682, and in a definitive edition, 1684.
The outcome of a series of disagreements, personal, professional, and critical, between Dryden and *Shadwell, the poem represents the latter as heir to the kingdom of poetic dullness, currently governed by the minor writer *Flecknoe. It brilliantly exploits the crudity of Shadwell's farces (notably The Virtuoso) and critical writings; while the range of its allusions to 17th-cent. theatre demonstrates the complexity of Dryden's critical thought and, since he satirized his own work (notably *Tyrannick Love) as well as Shadwell's, his humility towards the tradition in which he was working. Mac Flecknoe was a vital inspiration for Pope's Dunciad.
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The Spanish Fryar, a tragi-comedy by *Dryden, produced and published 1681.
The serious plot is characteristically about a usurpation. Torrismond, though he does not know it, is lawful heir to the throne, and secretly marries the reigning but unlawful queen, who has allowed Torrismond's father, the true king, to be murdered in prison. The sub-plot is dominated by Father dominic, a monstrous corrupt friar, who uses the cant terms of Dissenters and who pimps for the libertine and whiggish Lorenzo. The latter is a highly dubious character, yet ironically it is through his agency that the lawful Torrismond is rescued. The woman Lorenzo is pursuing, however, turns out to be his sister. The play is like *Mr Limberham in breaching comic as well as tragic decorum and in its deeply sceptical treatemnt of religious and political orthodoxies.
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Absalom and Achitophel, an allegorical poem by *Dryden, published 1681.
A *mock-biblical satire based on 2 Sam. 13-19, it deals with certain aspects of the Exclusion crissi, notably the intrigues of the earl of Shafesbury and the ambition of the duke of Monmouth to replace James duke of York as Charles II's heir. Various public figures are represented under biblical names, notably Monmouth (Absalom), *Shaftesbury (Achitophel), the duke of *Buckingham (Zimri), Charles II (David), *Oates (Corah), and Slingsby Bethel, sheriff of London (Shimei). The poem concludes with a long speech by David vigorously but paradoxically affirming Royalist principles, and asserting his determination to govern ruthlessly if he cannot do so mercifully.
In 1682 a second part appeared, mainly written by N. *Tate. However, it contains 200 lines by Dryden, in which he attacks two literary and political enemies, *Shadwell as Og an *Settle as Doeg.
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The Medall, a poem by *Dryden, published 1682.
The earl of *Shaftesbury, who is represented in *Absalom and Achitophel and possibly in *Mr Limberham, was acquitted of charges of high treason in 1681, and a medal was struck to commemorate the event. Dryden's response includes savage attacks on Shaftesbury himself, the City, and the Commons. It predicts with some accuracy the constituted instability which was to beset the country in the ensuing 30 years. *Shadwell and Samuel Pordage (1633-?91) both wrote replies.
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Religio Laici, a poem by *Dryden, published 1682.
Written in defence of Anglicanism against Deist, Catholic, and Dissenting arguments, Religio Laici combines an exalted recognition of religious sublimity with a defence of a 'layman's' reasonable and straightforward religious attitudes. The poem's operning lines, beginning 'Dim as the borrow'd Beams of Moon and Stars', are among the finest Dryden wrote.
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The Hind and the Panther, a poem by *Dryden, published 1687.
Dryden became a Catholic in 1685, and the poem represents an attempt to reconcile Anglican and Catholic political interests, while at the same time defending Catholic doctrine. The first part describes various religious sects under the guise of different beasts, and in particular the Catholic Church and the Church of England as the Hind and the Panther respectively. The second part is occupied with arguments about church authority and transubstantiation, issues full of political as well as ecclesiological implications. This leads into the third part, which constitutes half the poem, and is designed to recommend a political alliance between both Churches and the Crown against Whigs and Dissenters. It contains two celebrated fables, that of the swallows and that of the doves. However the balance of the latter, and so of the whole poem, may have been upset by James II's Second Declaration of Indulgence, which appealed to dissenting protestant sects over the heads of the Anglican establishment.
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Fables, Ancient and Modern, by *Dryden, published 1700.
Verse paraphrases of tales by *Ovid, *Boccaccio, and *Chaucer are interspersed with poems of Dryden's own, and together with the preface, in itself one of the most important examples of Dryden's criticism, they compose themselves into an Ovidian and Catholic meditation on the place of nature, sex, and violence in the flux of history.
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Don Sebastian, a tragi-comedy by *Dryden, produced 1689, published 1691.
The play is based on the legend that King Sebastian of Portugal survived the battle of Alcazar. He and the princess Almeyda, with whom he is in love, are captured by Muley Moloch, who spares their lives until he discovers that they have secretly married. In love with Almeyda himself, he orders Dorax, a renegade Portuguese nobleman, to execute Sebastian, but Dorax, once Sebastian's favourite, refuses to do so. Muley Moloch is killed in a revolt, but Sebastian and Almeyda then discover that their marriage is incestuous, and they renounce each other and their thrones. However, they do not renounce the memory of their love, which is subsumed in ecstatic and total submission to the decrees of an inscrutable Providence. Counterpointing this main plot is a notably erotic and earthy sub-plot. The play is Dryden' most complex dramatic treatment of a number of important political, sexual, and religious themes.
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Amphytrion, a comedy by *Dryden, produced and published 1690.
Adapted from the comedies of *Plautus and *Molière on the same subject, it represents the story of Jupiter's seduction of Alcmena in the guise of her husband Amphytrion. In this he is aided by Mercury, who is disguised as Amphytrion's slave Sosia. The cruel abuse of mortal love by the gods is in striking contrast to the play's uninhibited eroticism. The same story was adapted by *Giraudoux in his Amphytrion 38 (1929).
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A Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire, by *Dryden.
The Discourse was published with The Satires (1693) of *Juvenal and *Persius, translated by various hands, among them Dryden's. Less impressive for its scholarship (which is not, however, negligible) than for its broad sense of the principles underlying literary and social history, it distinguishes between 'Varronian', 'Horatian', and 'Juvenalian' satire in a way that has considerably influenced criticism of Dryden's own satirical works and that of his Augustan successors.
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Mr Limberham, or The Kind Keeper, a comedy by *Dryden, produced 1679, published 1680.
The play was banned by royal decree after three performances and has been execrated since, but Dryden nonetheless thought highly of it. The title role is possibly based on *Shaftesbury. Limberham is an impotent masochist, who is cuckolded by the oversexed hero Woodall, to whom every woman in the play succumbs. In this Woodall (who has been brought up abroad and is under an assumed name) is enthusiastically abetted by his unknowing father, Aldo. By implication the play attacks the patriarchism of a sexually corrupt court, the blind hedonism of the nobility, and the hypocrisy of Dissenters.
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San Isidoro sobre el teatro
San Isidoro sobre el teatro
Del libro XVIII.42-51 de las Etimologías de San Isidoro de Sevilla, hacia el año 600. El estado del teatro a principios del siglo VII—observemos que se habla en pasado, mayormente; era cosa de antes y de paganos. La exposición sigue a Tertuliano, que escribió De spectaculis hacia el año 200. El tratado de San Isidoro sitúa a los espectáculos teatrales después de las competiciones deportivas y antes de las peleas de gladiadores en el anfiteatro.
42. Sobre el teatro
1. Teatro es el lugar en que se encuentra un escenario; tiene forma de semicírculo y en él todos los presentes observan. Su forma fue inicialmente circular, como el anfiteatro; después, de medio anfiteatro se hizo un teatro. El nombre de theatrum le viene del espectáculo mismo, derivado de theoria, porque en él el pueblo, colocado en los lugares elevados y asistiendo como espectadores, contemplaba los juegos. 2. Al teatro se le denomina también "prostíbulo", porque, terminado el espectáculo, allí se prostituían (prostrare) las rameras. Se llama también lupanar por esas mismas meretrices que, a causa de la frivolidad de su prostituido cuerpo, reciben el nombre de lupae (lobas), pues "lobas" son llamadas las prostitutas por su rapacidad, ya que atraen hacia ellas a los desdichados y los atrapan. Pues los paganos establecieron lupanares para que allí se expusiera al público el pudor de las infelices mujeres y sufrieran deshonra tanto los que allí acudían como quienes en aquel lugar se prostituían.
43. La escena
La escena era el lugar situado en la parte inferior del teatro; tenía la apariencia de una casa dotada de una tribuna, tribuna que se denominaba orchestra y en la que cantaban los actores cómicos o trágicos, y donde bailaban los histriones y los mimos. El nombre de escena es de origen griego: se denomina así porque presentaba el aspecto de una casa. Por idéntico motivo, entre los hebreos, la dedicación de los tabernáculos se llamaba skenopégia, por la semejanza que éstos tenían con una casa.
44. La orchestra
La orchestra era la tribuna de la escena; en ella podía actuar el bailarín o representar dos personas en una disputa. A ella subían los poetas cómicos o trágicos a rivalizar en los certámenes. Y mientrs unos cantaban, otros hacían pasos de danza. Los que se dedicaban al arte escénico eran los tragediógrafos, comediógrafos, músicos, histriones, mimos y danzarines.
45. Sobre los tragediógrafos
Los tragediógrafos son los que, con verso triste y ante el público espectador, contaban las antiguas hazañas y delitos de reyes criminales.
46. Sobre los comediógrafos
Los comediógrafos son los que, con sus palabras y sus gestos, cantaban hechos de personas particulares y representaban en sus comedias los estupros de las doncellas y los amores de las prostitutas.
47. Sobre los músicos
Thymelici eran los músicos de la escena, que iniciaban el canto con sus instrumentos musicales, de ordinario liras o cítaras. Se les denominaba thymelici porque antiguamente cantaban subidos en la orchestra, en lo alto de la tribuna, que era llamada thymele.
48. Sobre los histriones
Los histriones son los que, vestidos con ropas femeninas, imitaban los gestos de las mujeres impúdicas. Asimismo, con sus danzas representaban historias y hechos ocurridos. Se les llama histriones porque este tipo de actores fue traído de Histria; o porque representaban comedias urdidas con diferentes historias, como si se les dijera historiones.
49. Sobre los mimos
A los mimos se les denomina así, con un término griego, porque son imitadores de las cosas humanas. Tenían su propio guionista; éste, antes de que se representase la acción mímica, narraba el argumento. Y es que los poetas componían las comedias de tal modo que pudieran adaptarse perfectamente al movimiento del cuerpo.
50. Sobre los danzarines
Varrón afirma que los danzarines recibieron el nombre de saltatores derivándolo del árcade Salio, a quien Eneas llevó consigo a Italia, y que fue el primero que enseñó a danzar a los jóvenes nobles romanos.
51. Qué se representa y bajo qué patronato
Es de todo punto evidente el patrocinio de Líber y de Venus en las artes escénicas y en todo lo propio y privativo de la escena, como son los gestos y flexiones del cuerpo. En efecto, ofrendaban a Líber y a Venus la sensualidad, unos por el sexo, y otros, disolutos, por el fasto. Por su parte, todo cuanto se desarrolló mediante la palabra y el canto, los instrumentos de viento y las liras, tiene como patronos a los Apolos, las Musas, las Minervas y los mercurios. Tú, cristiano, debes aborrecer este espectáculo del mismo modo que aborreciste a sus patronos.
1. Teatro es el lugar en que se encuentra un escenario; tiene forma de semicírculo y en él todos los presentes observan. Su forma fue inicialmente circular, como el anfiteatro; después, de medio anfiteatro se hizo un teatro. El nombre de theatrum le viene del espectáculo mismo, derivado de theoria, porque en él el pueblo, colocado en los lugares elevados y asistiendo como espectadores, contemplaba los juegos. 2. Al teatro se le denomina también "prostíbulo", porque, terminado el espectáculo, allí se prostituían (prostrare) las rameras. Se llama también lupanar por esas mismas meretrices que, a causa de la frivolidad de su prostituido cuerpo, reciben el nombre de lupae (lobas), pues "lobas" son llamadas las prostitutas por su rapacidad, ya que atraen hacia ellas a los desdichados y los atrapan. Pues los paganos establecieron lupanares para que allí se expusiera al público el pudor de las infelices mujeres y sufrieran deshonra tanto los que allí acudían como quienes en aquel lugar se prostituían.
43. La escena
La escena era el lugar situado en la parte inferior del teatro; tenía la apariencia de una casa dotada de una tribuna, tribuna que se denominaba orchestra y en la que cantaban los actores cómicos o trágicos, y donde bailaban los histriones y los mimos. El nombre de escena es de origen griego: se denomina así porque presentaba el aspecto de una casa. Por idéntico motivo, entre los hebreos, la dedicación de los tabernáculos se llamaba skenopégia, por la semejanza que éstos tenían con una casa.
44. La orchestra
La orchestra era la tribuna de la escena; en ella podía actuar el bailarín o representar dos personas en una disputa. A ella subían los poetas cómicos o trágicos a rivalizar en los certámenes. Y mientrs unos cantaban, otros hacían pasos de danza. Los que se dedicaban al arte escénico eran los tragediógrafos, comediógrafos, músicos, histriones, mimos y danzarines.
45. Sobre los tragediógrafos
Los tragediógrafos son los que, con verso triste y ante el público espectador, contaban las antiguas hazañas y delitos de reyes criminales.
46. Sobre los comediógrafos
Los comediógrafos son los que, con sus palabras y sus gestos, cantaban hechos de personas particulares y representaban en sus comedias los estupros de las doncellas y los amores de las prostitutas.
47. Sobre los músicos
Thymelici eran los músicos de la escena, que iniciaban el canto con sus instrumentos musicales, de ordinario liras o cítaras. Se les denominaba thymelici porque antiguamente cantaban subidos en la orchestra, en lo alto de la tribuna, que era llamada thymele.
48. Sobre los histriones
Los histriones son los que, vestidos con ropas femeninas, imitaban los gestos de las mujeres impúdicas. Asimismo, con sus danzas representaban historias y hechos ocurridos. Se les llama histriones porque este tipo de actores fue traído de Histria; o porque representaban comedias urdidas con diferentes historias, como si se les dijera historiones.
49. Sobre los mimos
A los mimos se les denomina así, con un término griego, porque son imitadores de las cosas humanas. Tenían su propio guionista; éste, antes de que se representase la acción mímica, narraba el argumento. Y es que los poetas componían las comedias de tal modo que pudieran adaptarse perfectamente al movimiento del cuerpo.
50. Sobre los danzarines
Varrón afirma que los danzarines recibieron el nombre de saltatores derivándolo del árcade Salio, a quien Eneas llevó consigo a Italia, y que fue el primero que enseñó a danzar a los jóvenes nobles romanos.
51. Qué se representa y bajo qué patronato
Es de todo punto evidente el patrocinio de Líber y de Venus en las artes escénicas y en todo lo propio y privativo de la escena, como son los gestos y flexiones del cuerpo. En efecto, ofrendaban a Líber y a Venus la sensualidad, unos por el sexo, y otros, disolutos, por el fasto. Por su parte, todo cuanto se desarrolló mediante la palabra y el canto, los instrumentos de viento y las liras, tiene como patronos a los Apolos, las Musas, las Minervas y los mercurios. Tú, cristiano, debes aborrecer este espectáculo del mismo modo que aborreciste a sus patronos.
Nota de los editores José Oroz y Manuel A. Marcos: "Todo este capítulo, con muy ligeras variantes, está tomado literalmente de Tertuliano (De Spectaculis 10.8-9). La edición de E. Castorina, en este pasaje de Tertuliano, recoge flexu; aunque—indica en la nota—"se podría aceptar también fluxu". Y continúa, en la nota, la exposición de las razones por las que prefiere flexu frente a fluxu, pese a que en los mejores códices de Isidoro se encuentra fluxu, y sólo en los deteriores encontremos flexu. Aduce la autoridad de Quintiliano (2,13,9) y Fírmico (Math. 6,30,9). En favor de fluxu señala Séneca (De tranq. animi 17,4), Apuleyo (Met. 11,,8) y Arnobio (6,12). Pese a todo, se incluna por flexu. Frente a litteris, de Tertuliano, encontramos lyris en Isidoro, número 2." San Isidoro de Sevilla, Etimologías. 2 vols. Ed. José Oroz Reta and Manuel-A. Marcos Casquero. Introd. Manuel C. Díaz y Díaz. 2nd ed. Madrid: BAC, 1993.
—oOo—
Vagabundos de las estrellas
domingo, 1 de noviembre de 2015
Vagabundos de las estrellas
Una nota sobre algunos aspectos de la narrativa de Jack London, en especial El vagabundo de las estrellas, desde la perspectiva de la narratología evolucionista y cognitiva. La consciencia del sentido de la evolución por parte de London tiene varias consecuencias para la teoría y práctica del anclaje narrativo en sus ficciones, en particular en el establecimiento de conexiones explícitas entre la Gran Historia y la praxis narrativa del autor.
Vagabundos de las estrellas
English Abstract:
Star Rovers
A note on some aspects of Jack London’s fiction, particularly The Star Rover, from the standpoint of evolutionary and cognitive narratology. London’s awareness of the significance of evolution has a number of consequences for the theory and practice of narrative anchoring in his fictions, particularly in the building of explicit connections between Big History and the writer’s narrative praxis.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 6
Keywords: Jack London, Big History, American fiction, Historicity,
The paper appears in the following SSRN eJournals and repositories:
| eJournal Classifications (Date posted: October 22, 2015) |
AARN Subject Matter eJournals |
| AARN Subject Matter eJournals |
| CSN Subject Matter eJournals Cognition & Culture: Culture, Communication, Design, Ethics, Morality, Religion, Rhetoric, & Semiotics eJournal - CMBO |
John Webster - The Duchess of Malfi [BBC, 1972]
Jueves, 29 de octubre de 2015
John Webster - The Duchess of Malfi [BBC, 1972]
The Duchess of Malfi. Dir. James MacTaggart. Based on John Webster's play. Cast: Eileen Atkins - The Duchess; Michael Bryant - Daniel de Bosola; Charles Kay - Ferdinand, Duke of Calabria; T.P. McKenna - The Cardinal; Gary Bond - Antonio Bologna; Jean Gilpin - Julia; Jerome Willis - Delio; Sheila Ballantine - Cariola; Tim Curry - a madman. BBC TV, 10 Oct. 1972. Online at YouTube (Lothriel) 15 May 2010.*
https://youtu.be/M3NT4lnanTk?list=PL8FB3F193D8BF98F3
2016