History of Spanish Literature, vol. 2 (of 3)Ticknor, George
History
History of Spanish Literature, vol. 2 (of 3)
Ticknor, George
Spanish literature -- History and criticism
The “Armelina,” which is the fourth and last of the longer pieces of
Lope de Rueda, is more bold in its dramatic incidents than either of
the others.[20] The heroine, a foundling from Hungary, after a series
of strange incidents, is left in a Spanish village, where she is kindly
and even delicately brought up by the village blacksmith; while her
father, to supply her place, has no less kindly brought up in Hungary
a natural son of this same blacksmith, who had been carried there by
his unworthy mother. The father of the lady, having some intimation
of where his daughter is to be found, comes to the Spanish village,
bringing his adopted son with him. There he advises with a Moorish
necromancer how he is to proceed in order to regain his lost child. The
Moor, by a fearful incantation, invokes Medea, who actually appears on
the stage, fresh from the infernal regions, and informs him that his
daughter is living in the very village where they all are. Meanwhile
the daughter has seen the youth from Hungary, and they are at once
in love with each other;--the blacksmith, at the same time, having
decided, with the aid of his wife, to compel her to marry a shoemaker,
to whom he had before promised her. Here, of course, come troubles
and despair. The young lady undertakes to cut them short, at once, by
throwing herself into the sea, but is prevented by Neptune, who quietly
carries her down to his abodes under the roots of the ocean, and brings
her back at the right moment to solve all the difficulties, explain the
relationships, and end the whole with a wedding and a dance. This is,
no doubt, very wild and extravagant, especially in the part containing
the incantation and in the part played by Neptune; but, after all, the
dialogue is pleasant and easy, and the style natural and spirited.
[20] It may be worth noticing, that both the “Armelina” and the
“Eufemia” open with scenes of calling up a lazy young man from
bed, in the early morning, much like the first in the “Nubes” of
Aristophanes.
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