Key Characters in Life is a Dream: Sigismund, Rosaura, Basilio, and Clotaldo
Key Characters in Life is a Dream
Sigismund: The protagonist and son of Basil. He is the Prince of Poland, imprisoned by his father due to prophecies. Sigismund is a complex character, presenting many nuances:
- He is a complete man who suffers an unjust punishment, the reason for which he doesn’t understand.
- He symbolizes the human condition through his monstrous character (intended to represent a being made of opposites).
Initially, Sigismund reacts according to his limited upbringing and instincts. When he awakens in the palace, he is guided by a utilitarian morality, seizing the moment and giving way to anger and confusion. Only through experience does Sigismund acquire wisdom, allowing him to control his inner animal and behave as a human being.
Rosaura: She partly plays the role of the lady, but with more complexity. As a character, she has parallels with Sigismund. There are three main similarities:
- She was abandoned by her father.
- She fights to restore her status.
- She initially appears with a monstrous character.
Some critics believe Rosaura possesses a depth of human love comparable to characters by Lope de Vega. Rosaura symbolizes the concept of honor. Her cunning allows her to recover her lost honor and clear her reputation. She is a fundamental character because she is the reason Sigismund experiences love (or an attraction to Rosaura), intuiting that her experiences in the palace and tower are real, not fiction.
Basilio: He embodies another typical role, the king. His name, Basilio, means king in Greek. He faces two conflicts:
- He is dominated by intellectual vanity (astronomy).
- He is torn between love and paternal duty to the kingdom.
Despite being king, he commits the sin of pride because his scientific knowledge prevents him from seeing beyond. He neglects the governance of his kingdom, showing arrogance by believing his knowledge and power can control the universe. Unaware of this sin, and believing he is doing good, he directly causes chaos. In trying to avoid it, he only produces more. At the time, this was said to represent diffuse responsibility. In the end, he undergoes a transformation similar to Sigismund’s. This evolution involves another character, Clarin. Ultimately, Basilio accepts and apologizes to his son. This is one of the most criticized aspects by critics. A servant dies for the king to be saved, reflecting Calderon’s aristocratic worldview.
Clotaldo: The governor of the King (responsible for Sigismund). He is a character divided by two conflicts:
- He is torn between his loyalty to the king.
- He is torn between his paternal love for Sigismund and Rosaura.
He is troubled by the conflict between his duties to the king and his paternal feelings. He remains true to the king, even though Clotaldo’s position could mean the death of Sigismund or Rosaura. This is his reward for loyalty. His psychological hesitations make him a symbol of the moral problem of the Baroque man, who is capable of sacrificing his own interests for principles that guarantee social order.