Life Is a Dream

In the Introduction, translator Michael Kidd addresses the cultural beliefs in Spain during the 17th century around astrology and the predictive powers of the stars. Despite the fact that scientific works by Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and Newton were available in Spain at the time at which Calderón wrote Life’s a Dream, “the Spanish view of the universe, which forms the basis for Vasily’s astrological predictions in Life’s a Dream, continued to follow that outlined by Ptolemy in the second century A.D.” (12). This ignorance of established intellectual explanations explains partially why “the pseudosciences—alchemy, astrology, chronology, the study of emblems—all flourished” (15). In the play, King Vasily discusses his attachment to these beliefs clearly, so the choice of the playwright to incorporate these beliefs in the play makes sense.

Also interesting are the choices of the characters’ names as they relate to the stars. For example, Rossaura chooses to be called the name Astraea while she is residing in the palace of King Vasily, a feminine name derived from the Greek aster, which means ‘star.’ Her name links her to Stella, whose name comes from the Latin word for ‘star,’ as Rossaura is Stella’s lady-in-waiting while residing in the palace. As well, Kidd points out that Aistulf “compares Stella’s gaze to a comet that lights up the night sky: regal and spectacular but also whimsical and fleeting, not to mention that in antiquity comets were frequently associated with calamity and especially the fall of kings” (26).