Spanish-language play by Pedro Calderón de la Barca
This article is about Pedro Calderón de la Barca's play. For other uses, see Life Is a Dream (disambiguation).
Life Is a Dream
Detail from bronze relief on a monument to Calderón in Madrid, J. Figueras, 1878
Written by
Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Date premiered
1635
Original language
Spanish
Subject
Free will, fate, honor, power
Genre
Spanish Golden Age drama
Setting
Poland
Life Is a Dream (Spanish: La vida es sueño[laˈβiðaesˈsweɲo]) is a Spanish-language play by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. First published in 1636, in two different editions, the first in Madrid and a second one in Zaragoza. Don W. Cruickshank and a number of other critics believe that the play can be dated around 1630, thus making Calderón's most famous work a rather early composition.[1] It is a philosophical allegory regarding the human situation and the mystery of life.[2] The play has been described as "the supreme example of Spanish Golden Age drama".[3] The story focuses on the fictional Segismundo, Prince of Poland, who has been imprisoned in a tower by his father, King Basilio, following a dire prophecy that the prince would bring disaster to the country and death to the King. Basilio briefly frees Segismundo, but when the prince goes on a rampage, the king imprisons him again, persuading him that it was all a dream.
The play's central themes are the conflict between free will and fate, as well as restoring one's honor. It remains one of Calderón's best-known and most studied works, and was listed as one of the 40 greatest plays of all time in The Independent.[4] Other themes include dreams vs. reality and the conflict between father and son. The play has been adapted for other stage works, in film and as a novel.
^Don W. Cruickshank, Don Pedro Calderon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009, p.78
^Brockett & Hildy, p.145
^Racz, Gregary (2006), Pedro Calderón de la Barca: Life Is a Dream, Penguin, p. viii, ISBN 978-0-14-310482-7
^"The 40 best plays to read before you die". The Independent. 18 August 2019. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
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