A concept of the masses, or populace, conveyed a positive connotation in both Biblical and Renaissance literature. During Spain's Golden Age (seventeenth century) writers, especially didactic dramatists, tended to register negative and prejudiced attitudes toward the common folk and to regard them as "masa inculta" or uncultured masses. Primarily,…

Across the centuries the heroes in dramatic works develop and play out action along the same lines, although the dramas may have been created by different authors and may reflect various eras and cultures. A case in point is a comparison of the two Spanish plays "El Caballero de Illescas" by Lope de Vega (1602) and "Los Intereses…

A manuscript dated 1651 and now housed at the National Library in Florence, Italy, suggests that the document may be the first Italian adaptation of the Spanish drama, "El burlador de Sevilla y Convidado de Piedra" ("The Deceiver of Seville"). The Spanish tragedy, written in 1630 by Gabriel Tellez, known as Tirso de Molina,…