Essay --

Throughout the Golden Age of Spain, art and literature were used to express the events of this transitional period in European history. Love is a centralized theme that often conveys subliminal messages about moral, social, and historical issues throughout a plotline. Within pieces of literature such as Fuenteovejuna, the definition of love is questioned in each of their own different contexts. How love is defined as either selfish or selfless in Fuenteovejuna determines what message Lope de Vega is presenting to the audience. Lope de Vega was an incredible and rebellious writer for the Golden Age time period. In this period of peace, prosperity, and overall well-being, many people of Spain found his writing techniques to be revolutionary. Contrary to the typical rules of playwriting, aspects of his plays included numerous plot lines, time gaps, and the use of more than one setting. Fuenteovejuna is a great example of the newly recognized tragicomedy genre during the Golden Age of Spain. Lope de Vega presented current events throughout his works displaying his personal opinions and components of his own life that made him a revolutionary writer. His work inspired other writers to step outside the social norms of writing and produce other revolutionary pieces throughout history. The Golden Age population believed that love was godly and a strong mechanical force driving the universe in a continuous circle. This idea is clearly evident in Lope’s tragicomedy Fuenteovejuna. He uses this and other beliefs to persuade and justify to the reader a sense that love is responsible for the order in the world. Lope de Vega portrays events relating to greed, envy, and ambition. The outcomes of these events bring disharmony, represented as s... ...due to his elite background, but proves that he lacks honor compared to the townspeople due to the way he improperly uses his power. To conclude, Lope de Vega uses specific events to display the cyclic transition from selfish to unselfish love. The havoc from killing the Comendador is resolved from the town’s joint efforts of selfless acts out of love for Fuenteovejuna. In this play Lope de Vega demonstrates how characters handle these two types of love in context in order to reach out to bigger issues. The author’s revolutionary style of writing shows the use of a theme in order to address the larger picture. Fuenteovejuna is a perfect example of multiple events coming together through the connection of love. The writing style of the play expresses Lope de Vega’s feelings of love related to moral, social, and historical issues throughout the Golden Age of Spain.