Don Juan Manuel and La Celestina: Literary Analysis
Don Juan Manuel’s El Conde Lucanor
El Conde Lucanor, a book by Don Juan Manuel, has gained significant fame. It consists of 51 stories, reasoning, and 100 proverbs, with the aim of providing doctrine. The moral part is of great interest, as the 51 examples have a clear moral-didactic intention. In El Conde Lucanor, the author presents fictional stories through the dialogue between Count Lucanor and his advisor Patronio, who is asked for advice. The structure is as follows: the narrator introduces Count Lucanor and his advisor Patronio; then, Patronio narrates a story and concludes with a teaching, which is presented as the text’s moral.
Influences
The fairy tales have their source in Eastern and Arabic traditions, as well as in Christian sources. In European tradition, the structure is repeated, with examples used to illustrate a point.
Style
Manuel Juan is a conscious writer who expressed the intention of having his own style. He utilizes all the expressive possibilities of Castilian prose.
Variety of Topics
Some of the concerns and problems presented reflect the need for context within the era. His practices were aimed at the nobility. The topics addressed are varied and diverse.
Intention of the Work
The author aims to print a didactic moral. He believes that the entertainment and pleasure of fiction can serve as bait to attract readers who will then benefit from his teachings.
Fernando de Rojas’ La Celestina
La Celestina is one of the great literary works of our literature, both for the depth of its complexity and the perfection of its themes.
Textual Problems
The first edition is known without a title and appears in sixteen acts. A new edition, titled Comedy of Calisto and Melibea, contains verses that form an acrostic on the author’s name. Later editions are released with the title Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea, with 5 more acts, reaching 21.
Gender Issues
As a text exclusively in dialogue, without narrative descriptions, it is considered dramatic. However, due to its length and complexity, the various temporal changes, and the psychological penetration, it includes narrative elements. Its innovation involves a literary rupture with the idealization of previous literature. The originality of La Celestina makes it a capital and relevant work.
Language
The language has two registers: formal and popular. Calisto and Melibea use a formal, elaborate language with long sentences, Latinisms, and complex terms. Calisto’s servants often criticize this language. Celestina and the servants employ a popular language, full of dynamic, colloquial expressions, short phrases, and insults.
Medieval and Renaissance Themes
The work reflects the purpose of moralizing on the lovers, with their death seen as divine punishment for their disorderly life. The author leads his work with a didactic and moral consideration. The new approach includes sensuality, the pleasure of individualism, the search for paganism, and the secularization of morality. The censure of the characters’ conduct is particularly inappropriate, a concession bound to the epoch.