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Chapter 5. Romeo and Juliet in Spain

The neoclassical versions
  • Ángel-Luis Pujante and Keith Gregor
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<i>Romeo and Juliet</i> in European Culture
This chapter is in the book <i>Romeo and Juliet</i> in European Culture

Abstract

Though the Italian sources of Romeo and Juliet had already been adapted by Golden Age dramatists in the seventeenth century, it wasn’t until the nineteenth century that Shakespeare’s version of the story began to appear on the Spanish stage. These plays, which drew heavily on the neoclassical reappraisal of Shakespeare in France and other non-Anglophone countries, have been neglected and underrated, as well as being subject to various kinds of error and confusion. Focusing on Dionisio Solís’s Julia y Romeo (1803), Manuel García Suelto’s Romeo y Julieta (1817) and the libretto for an undated operatic version, this chapter studies their relation to their most immediate sources – German in the first case, French in the second and third –, as well as the adaptations and rewritings effected to bring them into line with contemporary Spanish tastes and expectations. Rather than dismiss them as inferior or unrecognisable versions of Shakespeare, the chapter acknowledges their status as the only form of “Shakespeare” performable at the time, together with their contribution, both direct and indirect, to making Shakespeare known and to the reception and dissemination of Romeo and Juliet as one of the most widely translated plays in Spain.

Abstract

Though the Italian sources of Romeo and Juliet had already been adapted by Golden Age dramatists in the seventeenth century, it wasn’t until the nineteenth century that Shakespeare’s version of the story began to appear on the Spanish stage. These plays, which drew heavily on the neoclassical reappraisal of Shakespeare in France and other non-Anglophone countries, have been neglected and underrated, as well as being subject to various kinds of error and confusion. Focusing on Dionisio Solís’s Julia y Romeo (1803), Manuel García Suelto’s Romeo y Julieta (1817) and the libretto for an undated operatic version, this chapter studies their relation to their most immediate sources – German in the first case, French in the second and third –, as well as the adaptations and rewritings effected to bring them into line with contemporary Spanish tastes and expectations. Rather than dismiss them as inferior or unrecognisable versions of Shakespeare, the chapter acknowledges their status as the only form of “Shakespeare” performable at the time, together with their contribution, both direct and indirect, to making Shakespeare known and to the reception and dissemination of Romeo and Juliet as one of the most widely translated plays in Spain.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of contributors vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Chapter 1. Heavenly eloquence 25
  6. Chapter 2. Juliet’s balcony 37
  7. Chapter 3. Romeo and Juliet in Germany 61
  8. Chapter 4. Romeo and Juliet on the French stage 77
  9. Chapter 5. Romeo and Juliet in Spain 101
  10. Chapter 6. Judaisation in the first Hebrew translation of Romeo and Juliet 119
  11. Chapter 7. Giulietta e Romeo 139
  12. Chapter 8. Star-crossed lovers in Sweden 159
  13. Chapter 9. Romeo and Juliet  – The East Side Story 177
  14. Chapter 10. “Unveiling” Romeo and Juliet in Spain 197
  15. Chapter 11. Romeo and Juliet in British culture 227
  16. Chapter 12. A festival blockbuster 247
  17. Chapter 13. What’s in a stamp? 263
  18. Chapter 14. “In fair [Europe], where we lay our scene” 283
  19. Chapter 15. A selective timeline of Romeo and Juliet in European culture 301
  20. Index 321
https://doi.org/10.1075/sec.1.06puj

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of contributors vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Chapter 1. Heavenly eloquence 25
  6. Chapter 2. Juliet’s balcony 37
  7. Chapter 3. Romeo and Juliet in Germany 61
  8. Chapter 4. Romeo and Juliet on the French stage 77
  9. Chapter 5. Romeo and Juliet in Spain 101
  10. Chapter 6. Judaisation in the first Hebrew translation of Romeo and Juliet 119
  11. Chapter 7. Giulietta e Romeo 139
  12. Chapter 8. Star-crossed lovers in Sweden 159
  13. Chapter 9. Romeo and Juliet  – The East Side Story 177
  14. Chapter 10. “Unveiling” Romeo and Juliet in Spain 197
  15. Chapter 11. Romeo and Juliet in British culture 227
  16. Chapter 12. A festival blockbuster 247
  17. Chapter 13. What’s in a stamp? 263
  18. Chapter 14. “In fair [Europe], where we lay our scene” 283
  19. Chapter 15. A selective timeline of Romeo and Juliet in European culture 301
  20. Index 321
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