Life Is a Dream

In the introduction, Michael Kidd, the translator, provides background information. He divides this information into four categories: the history of Spain at the turn of the century (1600), the literary form of the Spanish comedia, biographical details of the playwright, and an analysis and interpretation of the play itself.

Spain at the turn of the century was characterized by three features of society: “religious intensity, inequality before the law, and a deep sense of national pride” (1). Kidd specifies the importance of these three characteristics, explaining that “they forcefully underpin the ideology of Calderonian Spain” (1). The Spanish Inquisition and other religious events like the re-conquest of Granada and the “[c]ostly religious wars between Catholics and Protestants” (2) were a significant influence on Spanish identity at this time. As well, Kidd notes that though “the distribution of power was not equitable” (3), and “the king was the ultimate arbiter in cases of injustice” (3), “[r]emarkably free discussion of political affairs was tolerated” (3). Thirdly, Spain’s nationalism was “bound to a profound sense of manifest destiny” (5); though Spain’s strength as a world power did not endure, Spaniards could look back “with nostalgia” (6). Kidd also mentions the influence of the “pseudosciences—alchemy, astrology, chronology, the study of emblems” (15). These studies “became the prime expression of the creative energies that no longer found an outlet in philosophy, the natural silences, or even theology” (15), which explains why astrology plays such a significant role in a play that's representative of its time period.

According to Kidd, “[c]omedia is a generic term used to refer to Spanish secular drama” (15). Before Calderón wrote his plays, his predecessor, Lope de Vega, established that “[t]he themes of love and honor are particularly privileged, and tension between the two often gives rise to the plays’ basic conflicts” (16). Lope de Vega’s influence is clear in the themes of love and honor as they appear in Life’s a Dream. Kidd also makes connections between Spanish drama and “the principles of Aristotelian theory” (17), which means that “elements such as costume, scenery, and special effects were secondary” (17) to plot, suggesting that the staging of the play would have been “extraordinarily simple” (18).

The playwright, Calderón, was born in 1600, “to noble parents in Madrid, the third child of six” (20). While Calderón studies to become a priest, his mother “dies giving birth to her last child (which also dies). The event may be behind the horrific description of Sigismund’s birth in Life’s a Dream” (20).

When Calderón’s father dies, he engages in “a fight with his stepmother over the inheritance” (20) and decides to change the course of his career, abandoning his religious future to study law, history, theology, and philosophy at the University of Salamanca. In the summer of 1621, Calderón and his brothers “are accused of murdering a servant of a high constable” (21), and they are convicted and fined. Eight years later, “[a]n enraged Calderón pursues the assailant of one of his brothers into the Convent of the Trinitarians in Madrid” (21); this incident is used by the court as “a pretext to attack playwrights” (21). In 1636, only a few years before the start of “a difficult period for playwrights” (22) due to political unrest in Spain, Calderón publishes his most important works, “in which Life’s a Dream is assigned first place in the order of plays” (22). In 1651, Calderón “suffers a serious illness, witnesses the deaths of both of his brothers as well as his mistress, and decides to be ordained a priest, belatedly fulfilling his father’s wishes” (22). He writes “short allegorical plays based on Catholic theology” (22) from this time until his death in 1681.

In Kidd’s analysis and interpretation of the play, he focuses on “an intense interrogation of the boundaries of traditional social and familiar roles, giving pride of place to the themes of love, honor, and vengeance” (23). By drawing comparisons between Life’s a Dream and the myth of Oedipus, Kidd draws attention to the story of a father who, “in attempting to avoid fulfillment of a prophecy that predicts his overthrow by his own son, ends up precipitating the events he wishes to avoid” (24). Kidd expresses surprise in his analysis of Rossaura, “one of the play’s more complex characters” (25), that she “has not generated more critical interest” (25). He compares Rossaura to several of “Shakespeare’s most famous comic heroines” (25) and credits her actions for “highly captivating drama [that] […] might even be taken as a sign that Calderón believed in some degree of equivalency between the sexes” (25). Politically, the play “demonstrates the vulnerability of the institution of monarchy in the early modern era” (27). Kidd points out that King Vasily exhibits his foolishness by allowing “astrological predictions [to] determine the prince’s barbaric education” (27). Ultimately, the king “is punished for his foolishness with a civil war that divides the country” (27).