The essay analyzes El hechizado por fuerza (1698), the successful comedy of figurón where Antonio de Zamora parodies the belief in spells, which were supposed to be practised on Carlos II during his life. In this lively and spectacular play, the dramatist, who lived between the Baroque and the Age of Enlightenment, rather than criticizing the king, covertly represented by the superstitious and hypochondriac Claudio Rangel, aims at condemning the popular obsession for witchcraft, still current in his time. Therefore, the ideas of honour and love, which pervade Spanish 17th-century drama, and in particular Calderón’s plays, like La dama duende (1629), are totally distorted in order to amuse and surprise the audience towards the false spell through which the female protagonist Leonor compels Claudio to marry her, being helped by her maids and Fabián Carranque, a ridiculous and boastful doctor, alter ego of the physicians who always surrounded the unfortunate monarch.
Charles II and witchcraft: El hechizado por fuerza (1698) by Antonio de Zamora
Londero R.
2024-01-01
Abstract
The essay analyzes El hechizado por fuerza (1698), the successful comedy of figurón where Antonio de Zamora parodies the belief in spells, which were supposed to be practised on Carlos II during his life. In this lively and spectacular play, the dramatist, who lived between the Baroque and the Age of Enlightenment, rather than criticizing the king, covertly represented by the superstitious and hypochondriac Claudio Rangel, aims at condemning the popular obsession for witchcraft, still current in his time. Therefore, the ideas of honour and love, which pervade Spanish 17th-century drama, and in particular Calderón’s plays, like La dama duende (1629), are totally distorted in order to amuse and surprise the audience towards the false spell through which the female protagonist Leonor compels Claudio to marry her, being helped by her maids and Fabián Carranque, a ridiculous and boastful doctor, alter ego of the physicians who always surrounded the unfortunate monarch.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
