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The Purgatory of St. Patrick: Pedro Calderon de la Barca
The Purgatory of St. Patrick - Pedro Calderón de la Barca. Two of the dramas contained in this volume are the most celebrated of all Calderon's writings. The first, "La Vida es Sueno", has been translated into many languages and performed with success on almost every stage in Europe but that of England. So late as the winter of 1866-7, in a Russian version, it drew crowded houses to the great theatre of Moscow; while a few years earlier, as if to give a signal proof of the reality of its title, and that Life was indeed a Dream, the Queen of Sweden expired in the theatre of Stockholm during the performance of "La Vida es Sueno". In England the play has been much studied for its literary value and the exceeding beauty and lyrical sweetness of some passages; but with the exception of a version by John Oxenford published in "The Monthly Magazine" for 1842, which being in blank verse does not represent the form of the original, no complete translation into English has been attempted.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
114 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2004
About the author
Pedro Calderón de la Barca
1,834 books299 followersPedro Calderón de la Barca y Henao was a dramatist of the Spanish Golden Age.
Calderón initiated what has been called the second cycle of Spanish Golden Age theatre. Whereas his predecessor, Lope de Vega, pioneered the dramatic forms and genres of Spanish Golden Age theatre, Calderón polished and perfected them. Whereas Lope's strength lay in the sponteneity and naturalness of his work, Calderón's strength lay in his capacity for poetic beauty, dramatic structure and philosophical depth. Calderón was a perfectionist who often revisited and reworked his plays, even long after they debuted. This perfectionism was not just limited to his own work: many of his plays rework existing plays or scenes by other dramatists, improving their depth, complexity, and unity. (Many European playwrights of the time, such as Molière, Corneille and Shakespeare, reworked old plays in this way.) Calderón excelled above all others in the genre of the "auto sacramental", in which he showed a seemingly inexhaustible capacity to giving new dramatic forms to a given set of theological constructs. Calderón wrote 120 "comedias", 80 "autos sacramentales" and 20 short comedic works called "entremeses"
Calderón initiated what has been called the second cycle of Spanish Golden Age theatre. Whereas his predecessor, Lope de Vega, pioneered the dramatic forms and genres of Spanish Golden Age theatre, Calderón polished and perfected them. Whereas Lope's strength lay in the sponteneity and naturalness of his work, Calderón's strength lay in his capacity for poetic beauty, dramatic structure and philosophical depth. Calderón was a perfectionist who often revisited and reworked his plays, even long after they debuted. This perfectionism was not just limited to his own work: many of his plays rework existing plays or scenes by other dramatists, improving their depth, complexity, and unity. (Many European playwrights of the time, such as Molière, Corneille and Shakespeare, reworked old plays in this way.) Calderón excelled above all others in the genre of the "auto sacramental", in which he showed a seemingly inexhaustible capacity to giving new dramatic forms to a given set of theological constructs. Calderón wrote 120 "comedias", 80 "autos sacramentales" and 20 short comedic works called "entremeses"
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 11, 2024
I am not sure how I found this anymore, but sometime in the past I downloaded it to my kindle. If you go to the author’s profile page, you can scroll through his works for many pages and not find it—at least I didn’t. There are 52 pages worth of his works, evidence to me of his popularity especially considering when he lived; I gave up long before reaching the end, suspecting I probably missed it. According to the book’s Introduction, The Purgatory of St. Patrick was very popular at the time it was first written and produced. As with most plays of the times, it was based on an earlier popular work, Vida, Y Purgatorio Del Glorioso San Patricio published in Madrid in 1627 by Juan Pérez de Montalbán.
The play’s author, Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Henao, was a Spanish dramatist who initiated what has been called the second cycle of Spanish Golden Age theatre. He lived in the 1600’s, the century after Shakespeare and presumably knew of and probably read the Bard’s works. Theatre was still in its infancy at that time.
The play tells the story of two men, the good Patrick and the disreputable multi-murderer, seducer and profligate Luis Enius (compared to the Owain Miles* of Ancient English poetry). It is implied that Patrick converts Ireland by means of the famous cave known through the Middle Ages as the “Purgatory of Saint Patrick”.
Luis tries several times and always in vain to reform and live a good life, but sooner or later, his hot temper gets the best of him, and he ends up in a fight, killing someone or being unable to resist a forbidden woman. Eventually all his past misdeeds come together, and he must face his final reckoning. He is given one final chance, to pass through Patrick’s cave, which can only be endured with true faith in God.
Theologically speaking, the play has its faults, but as a work of drama it is superb! In any event, I could not put it down as the writing was so excellent and I learned so much. Highly recommended!
*Owain Miles, also known as Owain or Ywain, is a knight who travels to St. Patrick’s Purgatory. His story is part of medieval English literature and is included in collections like "Owain Miles, and Other Inedited Fragments of Ancient English Poetry".
The play’s author, Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Henao, was a Spanish dramatist who initiated what has been called the second cycle of Spanish Golden Age theatre. He lived in the 1600’s, the century after Shakespeare and presumably knew of and probably read the Bard’s works. Theatre was still in its infancy at that time.
The play tells the story of two men, the good Patrick and the disreputable multi-murderer, seducer and profligate Luis Enius (compared to the Owain Miles* of Ancient English poetry). It is implied that Patrick converts Ireland by means of the famous cave known through the Middle Ages as the “Purgatory of Saint Patrick”.
Luis tries several times and always in vain to reform and live a good life, but sooner or later, his hot temper gets the best of him, and he ends up in a fight, killing someone or being unable to resist a forbidden woman. Eventually all his past misdeeds come together, and he must face his final reckoning. He is given one final chance, to pass through Patrick’s cave, which can only be endured with true faith in God.
Theologically speaking, the play has its faults, but as a work of drama it is superb! In any event, I could not put it down as the writing was so excellent and I learned so much. Highly recommended!
*Owain Miles, also known as Owain or Ywain, is a knight who travels to St. Patrick’s Purgatory. His story is part of medieval English literature and is included in collections like "Owain Miles, and Other Inedited Fragments of Ancient English Poetry".
March 22, 2025
🖊 What a long, long play! It is a whopping ten acts and filled with adventure, wit, and snappy dialogue. The author really knew how to write a hit play. I enjoyed reading this. It was an education in lengthy stage plays.
📕Published — 1627. In the public domain.
જ⁀🟢Read the e-book version on ρ𝕣ꪮ𝕛ꫀᥴ𝕥 ᧁꪊ𝕥ꫀꪀ᥇ꫀ𝕣ᧁ.
જ⁀🟣 Kindle.
༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻
📕Published — 1627. In the public domain.
જ⁀🟢Read the e-book version on ρ𝕣ꪮ𝕛ꫀᥴ𝕥 ᧁꪊ𝕥ꫀꪀ᥇ꫀ𝕣ᧁ.
જ⁀🟣 Kindle.
༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻
July 31, 2016
кальдерон довго запрягає, по дорозі городить цілу гору нелогічностей і неймовірностей (серйозно, допомагати серійному вбивці втекти із в'язниці, не припускаючи навіть, що можеш стати наступною жертвою?), але зрештою доходить до анонсованого в назві п'єси – філософської драми, кажуть, – чистилища, і воно навіть виявляється мальовниче.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews