Eight Dramas of Calderon [Paperback]

Pedro Calderón de la Barca (Author), Edward FitzGerald (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 24, 2000

"Pedro Caldern de la Barca (1600-81) was one of the great poets and dramatists of Spain's golden age, a rival of Cervantes and Lope de Vega. His work, like that of his contemporary Velsquez, mirrors perfectly the society of his time. It also captures certain defining qualities of the Spanish mind: its strong sense of faith and honor, its mystical and romantic bias, and its finely tuned historical consciousness. Staples of Spanish golden age drama, Caldern's plays remain superb entertainment. Marking the 400th anniversary of the playwright's birth, this reissue of Edward Fitzgerald's masterful translations includes "The Mighty Magician", a Faustian story of religious conversion; "The Painter of His Own Dishonor", a tale of jealousy that reflects the strict Spanish honor code; and Caldern's symbolic and philosophical masterpiece, "Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made Of." "

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This handsomely produced volume brings together the plays published in FitzGerald's 1853 edition of Six Dramas of Caldern, plus the two works privately printed in 1865, The Mightly Magician and Such Stuff as Dreams are Made Of.Overall FitzGerald's versions are written in good Shakespearean pastiche, and eminently stageable." -- Eamonn Rodgers, Times Literary Supplement

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Spanish

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (April 24, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 025206903X
• ISBN-13: 978-0252069031
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,124,348 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bravo Calderon!, May 13, 2001

By 

Neil Scott Mcnutt (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Eight Dramas of Calderon (Paperback)

Bravo Calderon! for his masterly plays, although it is difficult to find the poetry in this translation by Edward Fitzgerald. The eight plays included in this book are: The Painter of His Own Dishonour; Keep Your Own Secret; Gil Perez, the Gallician; Three Judgements at a Blow; The Mayor of Zalamea; Beware of Smooth Water; The Mighty Magician; and Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made Of. The translations are antique from Edward Fitzgerald (1809-1883) and are reprinted here. However, they provide the only translations available for some of the minor plays that display the wonderful psychological complexity in Calderon's work. The concept of the Spanish Code of Honor causes many difficulties and conflicts that ring true to varying degrees in our own societies today. One must ask how can Fitzgerald present 8 plays in 429 pages when for example Honig presents 6 plays in 444 pages? The size of the print is slightly smaller but a careful comparison reveals that Fitzgerald grossly leaves out parts of the plays "that seemed to mar the breadth of general effect." The page count reveals significant omissions as far at the poetry of the plays is concerned. One is stunned to read the opinion of the translator in his "Advertisement" which is near the beginning of this compilation. In his defense of "so free translations" he pleads that he did not "meddle with any of the more famous plays", and that "whether real or dramatic Spanish passion, is still bombast to English ears and confounds otherwise distinct outlines of characters." Fitzgerald goes on to state that parts of the plays were "not Calderon's better self, but concession to private haste or public taste." The worst is "I have, while faithfully trying to retain what was fine and efficient, sunk, reduced, altered, and replaced much that seemed not; simplified some perplexities, and curtailed or omitted scenes..." Hopefully, we will be able to recruit a more modern translator who will capture the passion and poetry to produce a more enjoyable version in English. In the meanwhile, we can try to see through the twist given by Fitzgerald.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bravo Calderon!, May 13, 2001

By 

Neil Scott Mcnutt (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Eight Dramas of Calderon (Paperback)

Bravo Calderon! for his masterly plays, although it is difficult to find the poetry in this translation by Edward Fitzgerald. The eight plays included in this book are: The Painter of His Own Dishonour; Keep Your Own Secret; Gil Perez, the Gallician; Three Judgements at a Blow; The Mayor of Zalamea; Beware of Smooth Water; The Mighty Magician; and Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made Of. The translations are antique from Edward Fitzgerald (1809-1883) and are reprinted here. However, they provide the only translations available for some of the minor plays that display the wonderful psychological complexity in Calderon's work. The concept of the Spanish Code of Honor causes many difficulties and conflicts that ring true to varying degrees in our own societies today. One must ask how can Fitzgerald can present 8 plays in 429 pages when for example Honig presents 6 plays in 444 pages? The size of the print is slightly smaller but a careful comparison reveals that Fitzgerald grossly leaves out parts of the plays "that seemed to mar the breadth of general effect." The page count reveals significant omissions as far at the poetry of the plays is concerned. One is stunned to read the opinion of the translator in his "Advertisement" which is near the beginning of this compilation. In his defense of "so free translations" he pleads that he did not "meddle with any of the more famous plays", and that "whether real or dramatic Spanish passion, is still bombast to English ears and confounds otherwise distinct outlines of characters." Fitzgerald goes on to state that parts of the plays were "not Calderon's better self, but concession to private haste or public taste." The worst is "I have, while faithfully trying to retain what was fine and efficient, sunk, reduced, altered, and replaced much that seemed not; simplified some perplexities, and curtailed or omitted scenes..." Hopefully, we will be able to recruit a more modern translator who will capture the passion and poetry to produce a more enjoyable version in English. In the meanwhile, we can try to see through the twist given by Fitzgerald.