Examples of Baroque Literature

The baroque literature It is the set of literary works that were produced in the Baroque, the cultural historical period that took place in Europe and Latin America in the 17th and early 18th centuries. For example: The Buscón, by Francisco de Quevedo.

The Baroque emerged after the Renaissance and, although it continued to use some classical ideals of art, it marked a break with the period. previous, because it was characterized by reflecting a pessimistic vision of the world and by having an artificial, overloaded, complex and airtight

This artistic current developed in different countries, but had greater weight in Spain, since coincides with the end of the Spanish Golden Age, that is, with the period of greatest literary splendor of this country.

• See also: baroque poems

Characteristics of baroque literature

The main characteristics of baroque literature are:

• Context. The context is characterized by a deep demographic, economic, social and political crisis and influenced the conception that artists had of the world and, therefore, in literary works.
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• Style. The style is ornamental, artificial and overloaded, because the aim was to experiment with new forms and avoid reality. In addition, many works have a satirical or sarcastic tone regarding what they represent.
• Topics. The themes are pessimism, death, the passage of time, the transience of life, disappointment, Greco-Latin mythology, the world upside down, history, honor, honour, the light-dark opposition, love, religion, life as a dream, as war or as an artifice, among others.
• topics. The topics were taken up from the Renaissance and the Middle Ages. Some of them are Carpe Diem (seize the day)tempus fugit (time runs away) and memento mori (remember you will die).
• Language. The literary language of this time was renewed both in the syntax as in the terms used with the inclusion of neologisms, foreign words Y cultisms.
• Rhetorical figures. The most commonly used figures of speech are hyperbaton, the hyperbole, the metaphor and accumulation, because they allow the creation of an overloaded, artificial and complex work.

genres of baroque literature

Baroque literature comprises three genres: the poetry, theater and narrative.

baroque poetry

Baroque poetry is characterized by artificiality and renewal and not seeking to imitate nature. During this period, Renaissance compositions continued to be used, such as the sonnet and the silva, but others were introduced, such as the romance and the letrilla.

In addition, the poems can be classified into two major aesthetic currents, which are not so different, but have their particularities:

• the culteranismo. It is the current in which the renewal of style and aesthetics predominates, since educated expressions, a complex syntax and a large number of rhetorical figures are used. For example: "Allegory of the brevity of human things", by Luis de Góngora.
• the conceptism. It is the current in which the renewal of the expression of ideas predominates, therefore, the meaning of the words is modified and the syntax is similar to that of the current language. For example: “Soul is from the world Love; Love is mind”, by Francisco de Quevedo.

• See also: baroque poems

baroque theater

The baroque theater is characterized by breaking with the Renaissance precepts. This change was proposed by Lope de Vega in new art of comedy and suppose:

• The abandonment of classical Aristotelian units. The units of place, time and action are left aside as supports of the plausible, since the works can take place at different times and places.
• The mixture of the tragic and the comic. The classic division of theatrical subgenres is abandoned, since elements of the tragedy and of the comedyFor example, in a play there may be noble and commoner characters.
• The decrease in the number of events. The acts of the play are reduced from five to three and correspond to the beginning, middle and end of the plot.
• The adequacy of decorum. Each character in the play speaks and behaves according to their status or social role.
• The use of verse. Almost all speeches are in minor art or major art verse depending on the genre, the moment of the work and the character who speaks.

baroque narrative

In this period, two types of novels:

• Italian-type novellas. They are short stories with a moralizing objective and can deal with various topics of reality or love. For example: Exemplary novels, by Miguel de Cervantes.
• the picaresque novels. They are more realistic than the other novels of the time, since they autobiographically narrate the life of a rogue and function as a satire and criticism of society. For example: The Life of the Buscón, by Francisco de Quevedo.

examples of baroque literature

examples of baroque poetry

1. Fragment of "The Arcadia", by Lope de Vega (1562-1635)

O precious freedom,
not compared to gold
nor to the greater good of the spacious earth;
richer and happier
that the precious treasure
that the southern sea between its mother-of-pearl closes!
With weapons, blood and war,
with lives and fame
conquered in the world;
sweet peace, deep love,
that you remove evil and call us to your good:
in you alone it nests
gold, treasure, peace, good, glory and life.

When of the human
darkness, I saw from heaven
the light, beginning of my sweet days,
those three sisters
that our human veil
weaving they lead through uncertain paths,
my hard sorrows
traded in glory
that in freedom I possess,
with always the same desire,
where you will see for my happy story
who else will read in it,
that is sweet freedom the least of it.

1. "Sonnet CDXLIX", by Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645)

If you fell, don Blas, the seraphim
they fell from the high hierarchies;
and how many festivals there are fall on their days;
and because rents fall, there are quads.

Well, how much that three nags fall,
by the stained and the hungry harpies?
If you want to remedy it, spend on lees
what you spent on mean lackeys.

As if they fell, it pisses them off
see you fall and there is no balcony without fail,
that the bull forced him to draw his sword.

Shut up and guard, as I wait and shut up;
that he will fall from his ass, if he pleases her,
who so many falls from his horse.

1. Fragment of "On the stony shore", by Luis de Gongora (1561-1627)

On the rocky shore
of the cloudy Guadalmellato,
that to the clear Guadalquivir
he pays her tribute in clay,
guarding some skinny mares,
in the shade of a rock,
with hand on wrist
Pastor Galayo was there;
poor and shelterless shepherd
for the ice of May,
no more than being broken
from the trunk to the top.
gruffly complained
Of Love, which has killed him
in the middle of the loins
with a harpoon from a roof,
for the beautiful Teresa,
nymph that she has always kept,
shores of Neighborhood,
glazed animals,
daughter of parents who were
shepherds of this cattle,
the one, shore of Esgueva,
the other, shore of Darro.
Of this, then, Galayo walked
stiffly in love,
throwing from the burning chest
hammered riggers.
Don't feel so much disdain
with which she was treated
how much the terrible absence
she ate half a side of it;
although to console
took out from time to time
a cord of her hair,
and woven by his hand,
so delicate and curious,
so curious and delicate,
that if the cord is tomiza
her hair is esparto.

1. Excerpt from "Foolish Men Who Accuse", by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz (1648-1695)

Foolish men you accuse
to the woman without reason,
without seeing that you are the occasion
of the same thing that you blame:

yes with unparalleled eagerness
you solicit her disdain,
why do you want them to do well
if you incite her to evil?

fight their resistance
and then, with gravity,
you say it was lightness
what the diligence did.

Apparently wants the boldness
of your crazy look
the boy who puts the coconut
and then he is afraid of her.

You want, with foolish presumption,
find the one you are looking for,
for intended, Thais,
and in possession, Lucrecia.

What humor can be weirder
that he who, lacking advice,
he himself tarnishes the mirror,
and feel that it is not clear?

With favor and disdain
you have the same condition
complaining, if they treat you badly,
making fun of you, if they love you well.

1. "Sonnet of Parthenic Triumph", by Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora (1645-1700)

If celestial, if candid, if pure
it is ethereal lily to the shining Sun,
when pardoning Delos for his East
privileges its beauty intact,

how could the blur of impure shadow
desecrate your exception? how indecent
villain thorn horrify fiery
the snowy light that even in Delos lasts?

If in the shadow there is no shadow, if in the idea
the stain is missing, not wanting the Day
that his cradle be less than light,

how the Original? How could
being impure with ugly guilt,
Mary's shadow being of light?

examples of baroque theater

1. ovejuna, by Lope de Vega (1562-1635). In this comedy, a story of love and rebellion of the people is represented and a satirical criticism is made of people with power.
2. The life is dream, by Pedro Calderon de la Barca (1600-1681). This work tells the story of Sigismund, a prince who is deprived of his freedom by order of his father, the king, who suspects that his son will be a tyrant and that he will steal his throne. In addition, the work focuses on highlighting the topic of life as a dream.
3. The Trickster of Seville and Stone Guest, by Tirso de Molina (1579-1648). This work tells the story of don Juan, a young man who seduces, falls in love and then teases women.
4. The suspicious truth, by Juan Ruiz de Alarcón y Mendoza (1581-1639). It tells the story of a young man, Don García, who with deceit wants to make Doña Jacinta, the young woman he loves, fall in love with him.
5. Entre bobos anda game, by Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla (1607-1648). This work tells a story of love affair whose main character is Don Lucas de Cigarral, a dishonorable and very rich man.

examples of baroque narrative

1. Don Quijote of La Mancha, by Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616). This novel was written in the Baroque, although some literary critics believe that it belongs to the end of the Renaissance, and tells the story of a man, Alonso Quijano, who after reading many chivalric books, goes crazy and believes that he is a Knight.
2. Exemplary and loving novels or Spanish Decameron, by María de Zayas y Sotomayor (1590-1647). This work is a set of different stories that allow us to reflect on social reality and on the role of women.
3. The Guzman of Alfarache, by Mateo Aleman (1547-1614). This picaresque novel narrates the autobiography of a man who, since he was born, had to overcome difficult situations and moments. In addition, this work has a tone of social criticism and moralizing.
4. The Dorothea, by Lope de Vega (1562-1635). It is a novel that is written in dialogues and that narrates the failed love story of two young people, Fernando and Dorotea.
5. The critic, by Baltasar Gracian (1601-1658). It is a novel that tells the story of Critilo and Andrenio with a satirical and moralizing tone. The two protagonists meet when Critilo is shipwrecked on the island where Andrenio is. Later they are rescued and travel to different parts of Europe, where they overcome different adversities.

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Follow with:

• Literary trends
• short plays
• Poems of Romanticism
• lyrical poems
• Tragicomedy
• Narrative genre

References

• Garrido Jimenez, A. (June 22, 2021). The baroque lyric. Conceptism and culteranism. commons Available in: commons
• Loprete, C. A. (1984). Spanish literature. PlusUltra.
• Torres Rodrguez, M. J. (June 22, 2021). Characteristics of theater in the Renaissance and Baroque: subgenres and formal and thematic aspects. commons Available in: commons