La creación del mundo

Abstract

William R. Manson and C. George Peale present a delightful critical edition of Luis Vélez de Guevara’s La creación del mundo, which is a retelling of the first chapters of Genesis. This monograph includes an introduction by Jonathan Thacker, a discussion of the manuscripts consulted to form this version, an outline of the play’s versification, a bibliography, and the comedia itself with detailed notes.The introduction opens with a brief discussion of how La creación del mundo’s composition date is unknown, how the play may have been staged twice in the 1610s (in Badajoz and in Lima for religious celebrations), and how possibly Vélez’s work predates Lope de Vega’s La creación del mundo y primera culpa del hombre. Thacker then proceeds with an elaborate analysis of the play, stating how it was not uncommon for playwrights to portray biblical scenes inaccurately: “Lo que puede sorprender es el hecho de que, aun en sus comedias religiosas dentro de una España contrarreformista, Vélez desviara la historia sacra por razones estéticas” (16). This section is essential for readers to be able to discern what elements of the comedia were drawn from the Judeo-Christian Bible and from ancient and medieval theologies (e.g., the medieval concept that Caín kills Abel with a donkey’s jawbone (23)), and what was purely Vélez’s invention (e.g., Caín’s death at the hand of his grandson Lamec (24)). After detailing the comedia’s contents, Thacker discusses if this play predates or not Lope’s La creación del mundo y primera culpa del hombre. Admitting that there is conflicting and insufficient data to formulate a definitive conclusion, the author argues that Vélez’s La creación del mundo was first. In addition, Thacker opines that Vélez’s version would have been a more suitable candidate than Lope’s for the possible religious celebration performances in Badajoz and in Lima, especially if both texts’ language is considered. If compared to Lope’s version, this play’s “lenguaje carece de complejidad y el mensaje didáctico se repite y se entiende sin dificultad. Es una obra conmovedora y visualmente impresionante en el tablado con efectos especiales espectaculares” (31). The next section is an account of a version of La creación del mundo that was staged in Philip IV’s court as a comedia de repente (or improvised play), perhaps during the late 1630s, and that both Vélez and Pedro Calderón de la Barca were involved. As Thacker quotes from Pedro Joseph Suppico de Morães’s eighteenth-century text: “A Luis Vélez, había hurtado unas peras don Pedro Calderón, y representándose la comedia La creación del mundo, en que hacía Calderón el papel de Adán y Luis Vélez el de Padre Eterno” (34). Since Suppico de Morães provides only snippets of this improvised production and there is no extant copy of the original play, Thacker cautiously concludes that Vélez may have borrowed language from his original work, due to similarities between the two plays (e.g., Adán addresses God as “Padre Eterno”) (35). Lastly, the introduction concludes with mentioning the set design of La creación del mundo. This play takes full advantage of many common theatrical devices, including detailed set decorations, tableaux vivants of religious iconography, trapdoors, flying machines, and even costume design. Due to all this, Thacker concludes: “En la escenificación de La creación del mundo, en suma, un autor de comedias de una compañía de título habría entusiasmado a un público del siglo XVII con la mayoría de efectos a su disposición” (39). Overall, Jonathan Thacker’s introduction complements well Vélez’s work by discussing the nuances of its contents and its (possible) history and different manifestations.This 2,217-verse comedia a lo divino is, as mentioned previously, Vélez’s portrayal of the beginning chapters of Genesis. To illustrate the play’s fidelity to and deviations from the original religious text, I present a cursory overview of the plot. Since a few of Vélez’s characters do not match up with the biblical ones (e.g., In the Bible, Seth’s son is Enos, not Enoc(h)), I have maintained the characters' Spanish names to avoid confusion. The first act recounts God’s creation of Adán and Eva, a cohort of demons who plot Eva’s temptation, the first humans’ expulsion from Eden, their subsequent suffering outside of Paradise, and a dream that both Adán and Eva share about meeting their future, diverse descendants: a Jew, a Roman, a Turk, an African, and an indio from the Americas. In the second act, Adán and Eva have four children, Caín, who was born with Alcana, and Abel, who was born with Délbora. Each pair of fraternal twins are destined to marry each other and, hence, have offspring of their own. The play continues with Caín’s mounting envy and wrath toward Abel, culminating in the latter’s death via Caín utilizing a donkey’s jawbone, while their parents receive a message of hope from Divine Love. The act concludes with God’s punishment of Caín. The final act has Caín’s grandson Lamec accidently killing him with an arrow and discussing with his two wives, Ada and Sela, his fear of God’s repercussion for having assassinated his grandfather. Since Abel’s death, Set, another son of Adán and Eva, has married his sister Délbora, and they have a son, Enoc. Along with other family members, these two men visit Adán, who is lying on his death bed, to say their final good-byes. Upon encountering Lamec and his two wives, Enoc instructs him to offer continuous sacrifices to restore himself in God’s favor, for having murdered Caín. Lamec and his wives thank Enoc and call him a “prophet.” Afterwards, as Thacker in the introduction describes, “es Enoc el que revela [to Set] un conocimiento algo confuso del futuro de la raza . . . y los planes celestiales” (25). An angel appears to Enoc, informs him that he shall be part of a divine mission, and begins to escort him to the “terrenal paraíso” (v. 2105). Lastly, a mournful Eva appears, lamenting Adán’s death. An angel descends and informs her that she will soon join him and Abel in Limbo, but also provides her with a vision of a crucified Christ and the seven sacraments. The comedia concludes with Eva joyfully reacting to the sight and the angel’s words and stating how all of humanity has descended from Adán, who is the “tronco / de todo el linaje humano / y linaje, al fin, de todos” (vv. 2215–17).In regard to the other sections of this edition, the discussion of the two seventeenth-century manuscripts that were consulted to present this version, and the play’s versification are understandably short, but clear and effective. The bibliography is extensive and includes what appears to be the most recent scholarship concerning Vélez and his comedia. The play’s footnotes discuss variations of the manuscripts’ contents, and the endnotes are helpful with deciphering the text, including its use of language, theology, and set design/machinations.Although hard pressed to find any flaws with this critical edition, I observed three issues. Firstly, throughout the comedia there are superscripts to indicate that there is an endnote. Instead of them being numbered in sequential order, verse numbers are utilized. For v. 287 (“que es la serpiente, enrosco”), there is a superscript, but I could not find the corresponding end note. There is an endnote for v. 271 and then another for vv. 317–420, but not one for v. 287. In addition, on p. 81, there is an endnote indicator for v. 660 and another one farther down the same page for stage direction labelled “S,” but in the back, the latter comes before the former, which may make readers think that the endnote for v. 660 is missing if they do not search for it. Secondly, this text would be appropriate and welcome in an undergraduate (or higher) literature course. Since this La creación del mundo is part of Manson and Peale’s series of critical editions of Vélez de Guevara’s plays, including the playwright’s biography in every text would be repetitive and would needlessly increase the number of pages. Yet, if this text were a stand-alone entity, a concise account of his life would be beneficial for students and scholars, as Vélez is generally underrepresented in survey courses. Lastly, there is the occasional typographical error, for example, “que soy humi14lde pastor” (v. 1318).With these few minor critiques aside, Manson and Peale’s critical edition of Vélez de Guevara’s La creación del mundo is an enjoyable addition to the scholarship of this playwright and his comedia. This text would be a wonderful addition to one’s personal collection, a course curriculum, and university library.