History and Myth: Politics and Autobiography in the Construction of Lope's El sol parado

ABSTRACT

This article offers a political and autobiographical interpretation of Lope de Vega's El sol parado, a historical drama first published in 1621 that features Pelayo Pérez Correa, a thirteenth-century Portuguese military leader during the Spanish Reconquest. This article offers internal and intertextual evidence to suggest that the play may have been composed c. 1592 to 1595, at a time when Lope was a member of the literary court at the House of Alba, which helps explain some puzzling events within the play. The play is also analyzed in connection to the Spanish annexation of Portugal in 1580 and the defeat of the Invincible Armada in 1588, to show how Lope tries to link current events to foundational Spanish myths to foster Spanish identity at a time of upheaval.

KEYWORDS:

• Chronology
• early plays
• El sol parado
• House of Alba
• Lope de Vega
• miracles
• myth and history
• political interpretation

Notes on contributor

Fernando Plata is Professor of Spanish at Colgate University. He has published the book Ocho poemas satíricos de Quevedo (1997) and three critical editions of sacramental plays by Calderón: La primer flor del Carmelo (1998), El pastor Fido (2003), and La vida es sueño (2012). He is a coeditor of the festschrift Estudios de filología y retórica en homenaje a Luisa López Grigera (2000) and was guest editor of the 2005 issue of the journal La Perinola on “Women and Love in Quevedo.”