Estructura dramática y función de la polimetría en La cisma de Ingalaterra de Pedro Calderón de la Barca

Abstract

In the pages ahead, I examine how La cisma de Ingalaterra presents a characteristically Calderonian compression of dramatic space and time. This tragedy, which dramatizes the story of dynastic intrigue and religious division in Tudor England, unfolds almost exclusively in a courtly space, construed as a claustrophobic hotbed of conspiracy and conflict, where a succession of fateful events occurs without pause, culminating in the play's sorrowful conclusion. An analysis of the tragic drama's poetic inner workings reveals how meters accent the significance of dramatic space and time to define the principal characters and dramatic situations of La cisma, yielding echoes and intricate symmetries throughout the text.