Spanish drama

Valle-Inclán and Lorca have both been very influential and important figures of the twentieth century Spanish theatre. During their time, the theatre was mainly made up of bourgeois theatregoers who did not enjoy thought provoking plays, but preferred a theatre that was conventional and contemporary. Both Valle and Lorca departed from convention and showed freedom in their style of writing, therefore earning their reputation of dramatists of utmost importance, respect and originality, who not only brought new trends to the Spanish theatre, but also embodied the signs of change and hope for the Spanish stage.

Valle’s most significant contribution to the Spanish theatre is his invention of the literary style of esperpento, which is best represented in one of his most famous plays, Luces de Bohemia. Valle created esperpento with the aim of representing the harsh realities of Spanish twentieth century society through the concave lens of grotesque deformation, so that he could present the lives of the Spaniards in the light of mockery and absurdity. During his writing of Luces de Bohemia, the Spanish society has been brought to a halt, along with the lack of political progress and social improvement, therefore this concerning political situation has influenced and steered Valle towards his literary evolution, the exaggerated grotesque, which he though was the only suitable way to represent the shocking reality and problems of Spain. In this way, he could alarm the people to terminate their complacent acceptance of this reality and he could also produce a distancing effect which renders the reader immune to the play’s purpose, thus making the artistic experience more tolerable. His experience in the killing fields was what made him t...

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...athustra is described as ‘abichado’, with ‘la cara de tocina rancio’ and ‘la bufanda de verde serpiente’ and she is mostly importantly, alluded to a ‘fantoche’. Moreover, Max Estrella shrinks throughout the play and becomes a puppet figure, which is shown in his directionless and aimless wandering throughout the streets of Madrid, emphasizing the absurdity of his life and of the Spanish society. This puppetry of the characters in the play is a source of farce, thus provoking laughter as the audience’s sudden realization of the absurdity of the string of events incites their amusement, showing the dark humour of Valle’s play. Therefore, this way of presenting his characters as helpless puppets and grotesques is Valle’s way of telling his audience that this is what the society has made humanity into, living with the lack of purpose and full of absurdity and futility.