Love in the 'Corral': Conjugal Spirituality and Anti-Theatrical Polemic in Early Modern Spain by Thomas Austin O'Connor (review)

Abstract

MLR, 99.3, 2004 809 difnculty.The examples consist ofauthentic journalistic and literarydiscourse in both European and American Spanish. The glossary contains definitions of grammatical concepts in both Spanish and English, the definitions being complemented by illustrative sentences in Spanish that are translated into English. This section is one of the most helpful and challenging ofthe book foruniversity-level students of Spanish. If one compares this book with the traditional Spanish grammar, the most inno? vative sections are the eight units dedicated to verbs and related concepts, as well as the verb tables presented at the end. User-friendly distinctions are drawn between transitive and intransitive verbs, while the importance of complements is stressed, encouraging the student to become aware of the various elements of sentence struc? ture and verb nuance. The differences between 'ser' and 'estar' (always a difficultarea forstudents) are presented in a clear and precise fashion, while furtherpluses are the explanations and illustrations of the verb 'gustar' and the passive voice. An excellent feature is that, in the tables, individual verbs, with their differenttenses and moods (present indicative, present subjunctive, imperative, preterite, imperfect subjunctive, imperfect indicative, future indicative, conditional, gerund, and participle), are listed with their irregular parts shaded. This allows the reader/learner to see quickly and simply which forms of individual verbs are regular and which are irregular. However, the book does have weaknesses. The levels of difncultyare not sufficiently well differentiated, so that beginners and students at intermediate level, forinstance, will be unsure which parts of the book are most suited to them. Examples of varying degrees of difnculty are grouped together, which I fear will cause some confusion. In myview, the authors would have been better advised to arrange theirmaterial in cycles, corresponding to increasing levels of difnculty. As it is, in some units there are no exercises suitable forbeginners, and in others none formore advanced students, which seems to me to invalidate the authors' claims thatthe book 'assumes littleknowledgeof grammar' (p. viii). Another weakness as faras this reviewer is concerned is that there is no vocabulary list anywhere in the book, nor any guide to pronunciation or intonation. In short, jExacto! is a reference grammar, which, through the use of a thought? ful layout and helpful visual displays, provides a user-friendly tool more suited to intermediate-level students of Spanish than to beginners. There is a clear need for this type of book, and it represents a reasonably bold attempt at filling the gap in the market. However, the results are somewhat patchy and the organization is not always sufficientlysystematic. University of Wales Swansea Maria Antonia Babi Love in the cCorral': Conjugal Spirituality and Anti-Theatrical Polemic in Early Modern Spain. By Thomas Austin O'Connor. (Iberica, 31) New York: Peter Lang. 2000. xv + 395 pp. ?44. ISBN 0-8204-4493-6. This, as few scholarly books may claim to be, is a work of love, born of a profound regard for the sacrality of marriage and its liberating potential for the human indi? vidual. Over its four hundred pages, O'Connor sets out what the Spanish Comedia could teach its audiences as regards the nature of marriage; and he does this by setting the Comedia's dramatic praxis against the theoretical debates that raged particularly at the end of the seventeenth century over the licitness of differenttypes of dramatic representation and of their setting. The work is divided into two parts. The firstoffers a taxonomy ofthe criticism levelled and abuse thrown at the theatre by its opponents: on one level, through the topics they aimed their fireat (for example, actresses were really prostitutes, plays encouraged licentiousness, and theatres gave opportunities for illicit meetings); on another, through the political significance of the campaign to 81 o Reviews have theatre banned; and finally,through the attitudes taken in general by members of religious orders to the question of theatrical licitness. The second part provides an analysis of works by major literary figures (Lope, Salazar y Torres, Sor Juana, Calderon, Cervantes (the Quixote), Tirso) which illustrate the fundamental precepts on which the codigos de amor and de honor function. In this section most notable are the discussions of Calderon's wife-murder plays...