How the author of "Dogs in the Manger" invented his own version of "Romeo and Juliet": Happy ending in Spanish from Lope de Vega

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Lope de Vega, the author of Dogs in the Manger, knew firsthand about love stories - happy and unhappy, about the torments of jealousy and hatred, just as he knew about the revenge of his beloved's angry relatives, expulsion from his hometown and feats of arms. Because, probably, his plays turned out to be so lively and humane, sincere that even after many centuries they remain the desired material for directors and screenwriters. True, his own "Romeo and Juliet" remains in the shadows, far inferior in popularity to the English version, despite the life-affirming and happy ending.

Who suggested to Shakespeare the idea of a tragedy about love and what does the Spaniard Lope de Vega have to do with it?

It is no secret that Shakespeare used a ready-made plot for his famous tragedy: the story of two lovers, separated by warring families and because of this, ultimately perishing, was told long before the Englishman. Apparently, it arose as a folk Italian folklore, although almost every author who created a novel or play based on this legend presented it as part of his own biography, referring himself to the number of participants in the events - of course, survivors, and therefore not the main ones.

The first known work was the story of Mazuccio Salernitano about the lovers Mariotto and Ganozza from the city of Siena. It was written back in 1476 - more than a century before the birth of Shakespeare's play. But Luigi da Porto, who embodied the same plot, created his own version, very close to the one that the world knows now, in 1524 - it was already in Verona, and the main characters were named Romeo and Juliet, and the names were Montagues and Capulet - by the way, they were taken by the author from the text of Dante's Divine Comedy.

Later, a play by Matteo Bandello appeared on the same theme, and in 1562 the Englishman Arthur Brooke wrote about Romeus and Juliet. And then he came through the Spaniard. As for which of the leading playwrights of their country - Shakespeare or de Vega - was the first to embody this plot in the text, and who was inspired by the work of another, there is still debate among literary critics. Still, most scientists agree that the genius Englishman and the genius Spaniard worked independently of each other, based on an old legend, and the similarities in the two works are due only to the fact that geniuses often think in the same way, if not the same.

Lope de Vega, Spanish playwright and poet

That Lope de Vega was indeed a genius author, perhaps the best in his native Spain, is difficult to doubt; his prose and poetry, like real masterpieces, have stood the test of time. Throughout his life, de Vega created, according to some of his biographers, a little less than two thousand plays (others consider this literary heritage still somewhat more modest), a little less than five hundred have survived to this day: not all of the playwright's texts were published during his lifetime, but autographs of a large number of manuscripts were lost. Lope de Vega's history of literary success and long fame is connected with several reasons, firstly, with the fact that his family tried to give his son the best possible education. Father, Felix de Vega, was engaged in sewing craft and dreamed of breaking out into people and providing his sons with a brilliant future. He bought the title of nobility as soon as the opportunity arose.

Lope de Vega was born in 1562 in Madrid. At the age of five, he already read and wrote in his native language and Latin, and at ten he translated the poetic works of Roman authors. At twelve, de Vega's first own play was written. He studied a lot and with pleasure, took lessons from famous poets and the best writers of his city. The young years of Lope de Vega were, as it should be, devoted not only to books, but also to matters of the heart; in 1583 he started an affair with the actress Elena Osorio, not free at that time, but willingly choosing the young de Vega. Subsequently, this connection played a dramatic role in the poet's life. Offended by Elena's departure from him four years later, he allowed himself such offensive literary attacks, declaring her venality that a Madrid court ruled to expel the impudent person from the city for ten years - as a punishment for libel.

But de Vega did not set out alone, he secretly married sixteen-year-old Isabelle de Urbina, who will be shown in his works under the name of Belize. A few days after the wedding, de Vega took part in the campaign of the Spanish navy - "Invincible Armada" against the British. When he returned, he settled with his wife and children in Valencia. All this time, as, indeed, his whole life, de Vega did not stop studying literature and improve his skills, he communicated with outstanding Spanish poets and playwrights, was friends with some and was at enmity with others. … Forced to live by his own labor, he worked as a secretary for various high-ranking owners - right up to the Duke of Alba himself.

Cheerful heroes of de Vega's works and his broken heart

In 1598, the poet's wife died. He married a second time - the daughter of a wealthy merchant. And soon a long and dramatic relationship between de Vega and actress Michaela de Lujan, a married lady, from whom, nevertheless, he had five children, began. In his works, this woman will be glorified under the name of Camilla Lucinda. And at the age of fifty, Lope de Vega suffered several misfortunes at once - his wife and beloved son Carlos died, followed by Michaela. At this difficult stage in the life of the writer and poet, his decision had to be ordained as a priest.

The last love of the Spaniard was a young girl Marta de Nevarez, to her, like his other passions, de Vega dedicated several works. But he also lost Martha, in 1632, after a long mental illness, she went blind, she died. Almost simultaneously with his beloved, de Vega buried another son, but de Vega never stopped creating new plays, sonnets, short stories, every day of his life was devoted to creativity. It was a job in which de Vega did not know holidays and days off. The result of his long literary life - which ended only with his real death in 1635 - was the emergence of the Spanish theater as a phenomenon, the emergence of classical Spanish drama. De Vega's plays will in many ways become a reference point for future playwrights, and he himself is considered the first professional Spanish writer to receive royalties for his works, although he was forced to endure editing by publishers.

In the plays of de Veguy comedy and drama coexist, he was among the first to introduce witty servants into the narrative - this would later be picked up by Moliere and Beaumarchais. And the most interesting thing is that the author of the 16th - 17th centuries managed to write texts that still have the same effect on the reader and viewer: jokes are still funny, but love and nobility are becoming the most powerful weapons - after the sword, of course., namely, this is the name of the love story described by de Vega on the basis of Italian folklore, ends happily, unlike Shakespeare's version. As in his other plays, de Vega glorifies the limitless possibilities of love, the senselessness and uselessness of enmity, the work seems both light and deep. Roselo, that is the name of the hero, was warned in time by Aurelio (who corresponds to the character of Lorenzo's brother in Shakespeare), Julia, his beloved, waits for her lover and both manage to escape, after which the head of the Castelvin family gives his consent to marry the son of Montes. The only victim in the course of the play is Otavio, who is killed in a duel with Roselo.

The Castelvins and Montesas were most likely published around 1606-1612, while Romeo and Juliet was first printed as early as 1595. When comparing the two works, de Vega is often reproached for the lack of character development: if Juliet and Romeo traveled a long spiritual path in a few days, then in the case of de Vega's heroes, no special character changes can be noticed. On the other hand, the title of the Spanish play does not concern the lovers themselves, but the clans to which they belong, but the fact that it was the families that were radically transformed by the end of the work, and without any tragic stimulus, is beyond doubt.

And here is the love story that really took place: Lovers of Teruel.