En busca de la justicia social: Estudios sobre el teatro español del siglo de oro (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS Weiner, Jack. En busca de ¡ajusticia social: Estudios sobre el teatro espa ñol del siglo de oro. Potomac: Scripta Humanística, 1984. Cloth. 150 pp. A number of studies on the Golden Age theater view the Spanish Comedia as the handmaid of an oppressive regime. For that reason alone, the title of this book is tantalizing enough. An enquiry into a concern for social justice as expressed in the theater could set out to examine social issues from many angles and perhaps elucidate to what extent playwrights reflected or defied contemporary thought and attitudes. In the event, despite Dr. Weiner's claim that 'este enfoque de justicia es lo que une todos los estudios de este libro' (Introduction) , the purpose would seem to be simply to bring together seven quite disparate essays rather than to open up new perspectives on the Comedia. Of these essays, four deal with the limpieza de sangre question, one with attitudes to the American native and one with adultery. The last chapter does not concern the theater at all but traces the ups and downs of the career of Juan de Horozco Covarrubias. Justice is taken as being a more or less tolerant attitude to Jews, Indians and women. Of the chapters dealing with the theater four adopt the thematic approach , taking up respectively Esther (chapter 1), Cyrus (chapter 3), Tobias (chapter 4) and Jacob and Esau (chapter 5) . Chapter 2 potentially offers more in that it makes a move to address a little studied concern : the enforced conversion of the native Indian, to which negative attitudes are expressed in two early comedias by Lope and one late 17thcentury play. Chapter 6 briefly examines four 16th-century translations of Plautus' Amphytrion which, given that they are translations, not surprisingly follow the model in their lighthearted treatment of adultery. The last chapter sets out to show, on the basis of historical documents, 257 258BCom, Vol. 38, No. 2 (Winter 1 986) how Juan de Horozco's career problems were due solely to his converso background. In another context the 26 questions and the witnesses' answers pertaining to Horozco's eligibility to the See of Agregento would make fascinating reading. It would be hard not to see this book as a disappointment to its potential readers. Those who are still looking for thematic studies will find instead lengthy synopses of plays supported by overly frequent footnotes and followed by a surprisingly summary conclusion. For those seeking pointers for their own further research, the bibliographic references are not always apposite to the text (cf. p. 69, notes 2 & 3) or are absent, as in the case of the provenance of documents transcribed in chapter 7. Other references are given by name of author and page number in the body of the text, a practice that can only be justified when the reader can easily trace the full reference. In this respect, they would also keenly regret the absence of any bibliography either at the end of each chapter or at the end of the book. In this collection of essays, Dr. Weiner has offered us a great deal of information which, if developed, would have been put to better purpose in separate articles. Louise Fothergill-Payne University of Calgary Moseley, William W., Glenroy Emmons, and Marilyn Emmons, comps. Spanish Literature, 1500-1700: A Bibliography of Golden Age Studies in Spanish and English, 1925-1980. Westport, CT. and London, England: Greenwood Press, 1984. $75. The present volume is intended as a research tool «for the generalist and the advanced student rather than the specialist» (p. ix) . While the first two intended users will find this bibliography helpful in beginning their background research, the specialist will also find it useful, though l'mited. The reason for including only material published or translated into English or Spanish is that these two languages will be ordinarily the languages of the intended users. Therefore, the specialist or student conversant with German, French, Italian, etc., would be well advised to continue careful perusal of the PMLA's Annual Bibliography. Moreover , the bibliography does not include material on La Celestina, work ...