Lo cómico y lo serio mezclado en el festejo jesuita para la Comedia de la invención de la sortija (Monforte de Lemos, 1594)

Abstract

Analysis of the two parts that make up the Comedia de la invencion de la sortija (recently discovered and added to the extant corpus of Spanish Golden Age theater) within the frame of the festivities in honor of Cardinal Don Rodrigo de Castro during his visit to Monforte de Lemos (1594). This work, which belongs to the genre of Jesuit Theater and includes numerous elements of court theater (e.g., the chivalric game of sortija), combines a serious didactic purpose with a more playful vein aimed at entertaining the audience. This is obtained through the inclusion of four interludes (entremeses) in between the scenes of the two parts in the main play as well as comic elements within those scenes themselves. The mentality of that period saw no aesthetic nor ideological contradiction between these two seemingly opposite poles; the serious and morally driven message of the play is complemented by its humorous dimension (the two aspects of theater).