De la comedia heroica barroca a la dieciochesca: apuntes sobre la renovación argumental del género en dos piezas sobre la Reconquista castellana

Abstract

In this paper, we address the modernization of Spanish heroic plays from the last twenty years of 18th century, from a less studied critical perspective: rewritings of traditional legendary plots. For this purpose, we comment two plays written by Manuel Fermin de Laviano: La afrenta del Cid vengada and La conquista de Madrid. First, we contextualize both plays in the theatrical reception and depiction of the Medieval legends of the Cid and Fernan Gonzalez. Then, we identify its literary resources from chronicles published in 16th and 17th centuries, to point how they introduce new dramatic constituents to both stories. At last, we offer as hypothesis how these plays could be an example of an extended trend in this period, as playwrights coetaneous to Laviano use less performed legendary plots in order to renew Spanish stage, but not compromising its heroic tradition