‘국민연극’ 이전의 로뻬 연극에 대한 고찰 -『발렌시아의 광인들』을 중심으로-

Abstract

There has not been any significant study on Lope’s early drama prior to Spain’s 17th century ‘Teatro nacional’ that had been led by Lope. Therefore, it would be noteworthy to study his other aspects as a rookie play writer through his earlier plays that seem to be quite distant from his other works we are more familiar with. For this purpose, Los locos de Valencia deserves some attention. It is estimated to be written in 1590 and it contains many clues that can teach us about Lope’s early drama prior to ‘Teatro nacional’. The character, ‘gracioso’ which ‘Teatro nacional’ created and Lope and his followers had clearly established, takes on various missions beyond simple humor and wit. Interestingly, such character which is probably the most standard throughout ‘Teatro nacional’ is not present in Los locos de Valencia. However, it is not completely absent. The main character, Floriano who acts as a mental patient under the name, Beltrán displays certain characteristics of ‘gracioso’. We can conclude that Floriano is assuming partial ‘gracioso’’s role here. In other words, the main difference in Lope’s early plays is that ‘Teatro nacional’’s ‘gracioso’s and the male character’s symmetrical and dual characteristics are not present. Moreover, one subjective characteristic is the carnival insanity of Bakhtin that are described in several parts of the play. As an example, the satiation of meat or related inferior metaphors, various sexual implications and degradation of noble values in order to explain Bakhtin’s carnival concepts are found throughout the play. However, one of the biggest carnival characteristics of this play is that Lope is portraying ‘inverted world’ through Valencia’s mental hospital. This world is represented by two female and male characters that deny and ridicule patriarchal authority and utmost governmental power or overturn of the social hierarchy between hospital chairman’s daughter, Fedra and her maid, Laida. As the world comes back to normal at the end of a carnival, such ‘inverted world’ also returns back to the beginning state of the play. However, the utopia that was depicted in the play would have left the deep impression onto the audiences. Here, we can detect the fundamental difference between the comedy of ‘Teatro nacional’ and that of Lope’s early plays. In short, the first comedy is experienced by audiences when they witness the ideal society that they dream of without direct assimilation to the dramatic situations while the latter draws the audiences into the situations where they sometimes directly participate and experience the actual reformation. Therefore, the latter is blunter with reformative comedy characteristics.