Abstract
Though Gil Vicente was court dramatist for Manuel the Fortunate and for John III of Portugal and wrote his short dramatic pieces primarily for performance at court festivals, he recognized the worth of reproducing in his dialogue the rich and racy speech of the common people, and whenever possible he availed himself of all sorts of folk-lore material. Thus, we find him weaving ballads into his dialogue, ornamenting his plays with lyrical passages inspired by traditional songs and dances, and making use of games, superstitions, incantations, terms of abuse, and other popular elements. Gil Vicente, then, antedates Juan de la Cueva in his employment of ballad verses in the dialogue, and so becomes the first to essay a practice which later, under the genius of Lope de Vega, made popular poetry an integral part of the Spanish comedia.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: PMLA/Publications of the Modern Language Association of America
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
