Staging the State in Calderón’s “Argenis y Poliarco”

Calderón adapted Barclay’s best-selling political romance Argenis (Paris, 1621) with the title Argenis y Poliarco sometime between 1626 and 1636, the date of its first recorded performance. It was first printed in 1637, in the Segunda Parte of his plays. In comparison with other works from that col...

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Autor principal:	Julian Weiss
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	CA EN ES
Publicado:	Universitat de Girona; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona 2016
Materias:	Pedro Calderón de la Barca John Barclay staging political theatre French literature - Italian literature - Spanish literature - Portuguese literature PQ1-3999
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/98c3767673a34c7b94c3bbc59536532c
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:98c3767673a34c7b94c3bbc59536532c2021-12-05T10:14:32ZStaging the State in Calderón’s “Argenis y Poliarco”10.5565/rev/studiaaurea.2071988-1088https://doaj.org/article/98c3767673a34c7b94c3bbc59536532c2016-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://studiaaurea.com/article/view/207https://doaj.org/toc/1988-1088 Calderón adapted Barclay’s best-selling political romance Argenis (Paris, 1621) with the title Argenis y Poliarco sometime between 1626 and 1636, the date of its first recorded performance. It was first printed in 1637, in the Segunda Parte of his plays. In comparison with other works from that collection, such as El médico de su honra or the two comedias palaciegas, El mayor encanto amor and El galán fantasma, Argenis y Poliarco is virtually unknown, with only a few critical studies and one recent edition by Alicia Vara López (2015). This edition, coupled with the renewed interest in Barclay’s neo-Latin romance, should inspire critical reconsideration of a play that appeared in a transformative moment in Calderón’s career. After reviewing the scholarship on how Calderón transformed the romance into his distinctive theatrical idiom, I investigate the play’s political meaning and challenge the view that Argenis y Poliarco is above all a palatine play about love. While it is true that Calderón simplifies the plot, by eliminating or pushing offstage the overtly political action and by cutting Barclay’s disquisitions on good government, I argue that the political element is not suppressed. It is, rather, recast in theatrical terms. Calderón’s skillful stagecraft constitutes a dramatic representation of a European political order marked by ambiguity, plurality and contingency, where the destiny of a state is determined in large measure by what happens beyond its borders. Julian WeissUniversitat de Girona; Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaarticlePedro Calderón de la BarcaJohn Barclaystagingpolitical theatreFrench literature - Italian literature - Spanish literature - Portuguese literaturePQ1-3999CAENESStudia Aurea: Revista de Literatura Española y Teoría Literaria del Renacimiento y Siglo de Oro, Vol 10 (2016)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	CA EN ES
topic	Pedro Calderón de la Barca John Barclay staging political theatre French literature - Italian literature - Spanish literature - Portuguese literature PQ1-3999
spellingShingle	Pedro Calderón de la Barca John Barclay staging political theatre French literature - Italian literature - Spanish literature - Portuguese literature PQ1-3999 Julian Weiss Staging the State in Calderón’s “Argenis y Poliarco”
description	Calderón adapted Barclay’s best-selling political romance Argenis (Paris, 1621) with the title Argenis y Poliarco sometime between 1626 and 1636, the date of its first recorded performance. It was first printed in 1637, in the Segunda Parte of his plays. In comparison with other works from that collection, such as El médico de su honra or the two comedias palaciegas, El mayor encanto amor and El galán fantasma, Argenis y Poliarco is virtually unknown, with only a few critical studies and one recent edition by Alicia Vara López (2015). This edition, coupled with the renewed interest in Barclay’s neo-Latin romance, should inspire critical reconsideration of a play that appeared in a transformative moment in Calderón’s career. After reviewing the scholarship on how Calderón transformed the romance into his distinctive theatrical idiom, I investigate the play’s political meaning and challenge the view that Argenis y Poliarco is above all a palatine play about love. While it is true that Calderón simplifies the plot, by eliminating or pushing offstage the overtly political action and by cutting Barclay’s disquisitions on good government, I argue that the political element is not suppressed. It is, rather, recast in theatrical terms. Calderón’s skillful stagecraft constitutes a dramatic representation of a European political order marked by ambiguity, plurality and contingency, where the destiny of a state is determined in large measure by what happens beyond its borders.
format	article
author	Julian Weiss
author_facet	Julian Weiss
author_sort	Julian Weiss
title	Staging the State in Calderón’s “Argenis y Poliarco”
title_short	Staging the State in Calderón’s “Argenis y Poliarco”
title_full	Staging the State in Calderón’s “Argenis y Poliarco”
title_fullStr	Staging the State in Calderón’s “Argenis y Poliarco”
title_full_unstemmed	Staging the State in Calderón’s “Argenis y Poliarco”
title_sort	staging the state in calderón’s “argenis y poliarco”
publisher	Universitat de Girona; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
publishDate	2016
url	https://doaj.org/article/98c3767673a34c7b94c3bbc59536532c
work_keys_str_mv	AT julianweiss stagingthestateincalderonsargenisypoliarco
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Staging the State in Calderón’s “Argenis y Poliarco”

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