La Celestina: Literary Themes and Language Analysis
La Celestina: Origin, Themes, and Character
The first act of La Celestina was first published in 1499 in villages. Fernando de Rojas found the first act, attributed to an unknown author, and decided to continue it. Originally titled Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea, it was later renamed La Celestina over the years, largely due to the strength of the character Celestina. Rojas wrote the work with a moralizing intention, warning against unthinking and passionate love, with death punishing the participants. But it also marvels at the blind and uncontrollable power of love. Death is the great victor of the story, lending a medieval moralizing character to the work. Celestina is the only independent character, for she is the only one who is free of amorous passion.
Origins and Evolution of the Title
The work’s initial publication and its evolution from Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea to La Celestina highlight the impact of its central character.
Author’s Intent and Major Themes
Rojas aimed to moralize against passionate love, yet the work also celebrates love’s power. Death serves as a key thematic element and consequence.
The Character of Celestina
Celestina stands out as the sole character not driven by amorous passion, granting her unique independence within the narrative.
Context and Style
The work reflects a transitional period (15th century). It presents a theocentric mindset where Melibea and Calixto pay for their affair with death, contrasting with an anthropocentric view where the work is a hymn to pleasure, lust, and money. Though the dialogue is too extensive to be easily represented on stage, it is a defining feature.
Key Linguistic Concepts
Several linguistic concepts are relevant for textual analysis:
- Monosemy: Occurs when a signifier has a single meaning.
- Synonymy: The relation between words that have the same meaning but different signifiers.
- Polysemy: Occurs when a signifier has several corresponding meanings.
- Homonymy: Occurs if the signifier is the same for two terms.
- Antonymy: Relation between terms with opposite meanings.
- Complementary Antonyms: Negation of one term implies the affirmation of the other.
- Reciprocity: Relation where one term implies the other.
- Hyperonymy: Relation where the meaning of one word encompasses others (the hyperonym).
- Hyponymy: Relation of a word to its hyperonym (the hyponym is encompassed by the hyperonym).
Properties related to text structure and communication include:
- Coherence: A text is coherent when its component sequences can be interpreted as part of a larger unit.
- Cohesion: The property of a text that ensures information flows smoothly and is connected. Mechanisms include repetition, deixis, and replacement. Related concepts for effective communication include adaptability and fitness to communicative intent.
Grammatical Analysis: Nouns
Noun Gender
The noun is a grammatical category used to describe entities. The gender morpheme is one of the constituent noun morphemes, along with the number morpheme. Necessarily, every noun belongs to one gender or another. Examples from the text include: ‘thing’, ‘boys’, ‘schools’, ‘annos’.
Noun Number
Regarding number, the number morpheme is one of the constituent morphemes of the noun, alongside the gender morpheme. Necessarily, every noun belongs to either singular or plural number. From the standpoint of form, the plural is typically formed by adding ‘-s’ to nouns ending in an unstressed vowel (e.g., ‘years’, ‘college’, ‘thing’, ‘girl’, ‘holy’, ‘religious’). Nouns ending in a consonant form the plural by adding ‘-es’ (e.g., ‘city’). From the point of view of meaning, the singular indicates a unit, while the plural indicates plurality. An exception is the noun ‘school’, which can signify a collection of singular elements (i.e., a group of students).
Grammatical Analysis: Adjectives
Adjective Definition and Types
The adjective is a type of word used to describe qualities. Semantically, the adjective has a predicative meaning; that is, it says something about a noun. From this point of view, adjectives can be divided into explanatory (subjective) and specifying (objective).
Adjectives in Context
In the text, ‘submissive whispers’ speaks of the obedient attitude of Don Manuel, who is now supported by the angel. Explanatory adjectives add a semantic note that is not strictly necessary for understanding the noun, but simply emphasizes a quality. In this sense, ‘holy man’ and ‘quiet confession’ are two examples of this class of adjectives. The former (‘holy man’) uses an explanatory adjective. The latter (‘quiet confession’) uses an adjective that stresses insecurity, which is presented as an antithesis to Don Manuel’s character. These explanatory adjectives carry a significant subjective burden.