Juan Ruiz de Alarcon: Disability and Dissonance en Golden Age Spain

Abstract

There was a silence in Spain when Juan Ruiz de Alarcon y Mendoza died. While it was reported that Lope de Vega’s funeral had lasted for nine days, there is only one notice of Alarcon’s death, printed in the August 9, 1639 issue of Avisos historicos, by Jose de Pellicer y Tovar: “Murio don Juan de Alarcon, poeta famoso asi por sus comedias como por sus corcovas” (Castro Leal 52-3) (Don Juan de Alarcon died, a poet as famous for his plays as for his humps). Even in death, Alarcon was not able to escape a corporeal tie to his work. One interpretation of the death notice in Avisos historicos might be that it frankly told it like it was; Alarcon was famous in Spanish society for his plays and his humps. People who knew him had difficulty separating his strong physical presence from his literary production, as evidenced by many references to his disability. There was always a dynamic in his life that was fueled by his physical condition. He was at all times subject to the attitudes, customs, and prejudices of the society around him. Studying his disability and its effect on his relationship to society yields a better understanding of this enigmatic writer and his literary production.