Tirso de Molina

Tirso (de Molina)

Tirso de Molina was, with Lope de Vega and Calderon, one of the great dramatists of 17th century Spain, which produced a theatre as vital rich and as varied as its Elizabethan counterpart. The Trickster of Seville is thoroughly representative of the drama of Spain's Golden Age: a drama of fast-moving action which set its face against classical precepts, broke the unities of time and place, cheerfully mixed the serious and the comic, combined main and sub-plots, and cultivated Spanish subjects and Spanish characters. In this respect Tirso's Don Juan is of course, the most famous character in the drama of the Golden Age, as well as the first of a long line which extends through Mozart and Moliere to the 20th century.

Burlador de Sevilla Y El Convidado de Piedra

Parte ... De Comedias Verdaderas Del Maestro Tirso De Molina

Comedia Sin Fama. Amar Por Razon De Estado

El condenado por desconfiado

The story comes from the Second Book of Samuel and tells of the incestuous passion of Amnon, David's eldest son, for his half-sister, Tamar and the subsequent murder of Amnon by his brother Absolom. Amnon's lust is set in the context of complementary passions of ambition and revenge, reflected in Absolom and Tamar respectively. The play explores King David's conflict between justice and mercy when confronted with these tragic events. It is a work of constantly changing perspectives in which tragedy and comedy, instead of being simply juxtaposed, are blended in a highly original way. Tirso's play is one of the earliest treatments of a theme that has continued to be an inspiration for such modern writers as the novelist Dan Jacobson in The Rape of Tamar and the dramatist Peter Shaffer in Jonadab . Spanish text with facing-page translation, commentary and notes.

La Venganza de Tamar

Segunda parte de las comedias del Maestro Tirso de Molina

Tirso de Molina enjoys enduring popularity as a writer of irreverent comedies, though his critical reputation as a major dramatist rests largely on his more serious works.~ Don Gil of the Green Breeches as befits a high farce is much concerned with disguise, mistaken identity, role-reversal, ghosts, and trousers! Dona Juana, jilted by her lover Don Martin, follows him to Madrid, where, under the assumed name of Don Gil, he is courting the wealthy Dona Ines. Dressed as a man in a distinctive pair of green breeches, Dona Juana also masquerades as Don Gil. Don Martin is outwitted by his transvestite rival, who wrecks his schemes like a maleficent will-'o-the-wisp before leading him, shell-shocked, to the altar!~ In his lively, accurate and fluent line-by-line verse translation of this play Gordon Minter admirably conveys the unique flavour of Tirso's sparkling wit. Additionally, in his stimulating Introduction and Commentary he argues that this effervescent drama deliberately subverts the Don Juan legend to show that the Trickster of Seville's female counterpart can be just as resourceful and predatory when the restoration of her honour is at stake. The further revelation that Don of the Green Breeches has unobtrusively and unnoticed contributed an important strand to subsequent European versions of the Don Juan legend completes a scholarly reappraisal of the significance of a work too often regarded as little more than a highly amusing dramatic confection.

Tirso (de Molina)

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