CANDAMO, ZAMORA, AND CAÑIZARES, DRAMATISTS IN THE OLD NATIONAL STYLE.
Towards the close of the seventeenth century, the dramas of Francisco Bancas Cándamo, were particularly esteemed. Cándamo, who was an Asturian of noble extraction, received, during a certain period, a pension from Charles II. for writing for the court theatre at Madrid. He, however, died in indigence in the year 1709. His historical play, entitled, El Esclavo en Grillos de Oro, (the Slave in Golden Fetters), is still spoken of in terms of approbation in Spain.[572] It is a romantic anecdote taken from the history of the Emperor Trajan. The singular combination of the ancient and the romantic costume which this play presents, is a fault with which the author must not be reproached; for since Lope de Vega’s time the spirit of the Spanish drama required that the events of ancient history should be arrayed only in the garb of romance. But Cándamo has put into the mouth of the Emperor Trajan, a superabundance of phrases which are exceedingly dull, though conveyed in light and harmonious verse. The purely romantic scenes in which ladies and young knights appear, are the best in this drama, which, according to the Spanish classification is a heroic comedy.
Antonio de Zamora, a gentleman belonging to the court of Madrid, was particularly distinguished as a writer of comic dramas. The comedy, entitled, El Hechizado por Fuerza, (the Bewitched by Force),[573] is one of the most humorous and regular in the Spanish language. It may also be numbered among the dramas of character; at least the two principal parts, though a little overcharged, are nevertheless boldly conceived and consistently maintained. One is a fantastic old man, who continually expresses himself in a tone of sarcastic comic humour:—he makes a parade of his odd fancies, as if they were so many proofs of real wisdom; and he is induced to consent to a marriage under the idea that he is bewitched. The other comic character is an enamoured physician, who is prevailed on to take a part in the pretended bewitching, and who on his part is also outwitted by the sprightly girls whom he has assisted in playing off their trick on the old man.
Joseph de Cañizares, who likewise lived at the court of Madrid, produced a considerable number of Spanish comedies. He particularly devoted his attention to that class of dramas of intrigue, called comedias de figuròn, in which the principal character is a pretender or braggadocio, either male or female, who by dint of impudence and artifice, obtains a certain degree of credit. Among the dramas of Cañizares, the Spaniards particularly esteem his comedy, entitled, El Domine Lucas;[574] it is a drama of character, comic throughout, and of the most regular description, though it by no means departs from the Spanish national style. The title may be translated “The Pedant Squire;” for Domine Lucas, the hero of the piece, is a young country gentleman, a student of Salamanca, extremely dull and affected, and withal proud of his noble birth. With this character is very happily combined the uncle of Lucas, a brave, amiable, and sensible old gentleman; though, like his nephew, he interlards his discourse with scraps of latin from the Corpus Juris. An old domestic, who likewise has resource to latin whenever his wit fails him, is well grouped with his master’s. An excellent female pendant to the doltish hero is exhibited in the character of one of the daughters of the old uncle, who in the end is united to Lucas, while her sprightly sister, to whom the Domine was betrothed, elopes with a more agreeable lover. The traits of character in the whole of this comic picture, though by no means delicately sketched, are, nevertheless, full of dramatic spirit.
These, and other plays, by writers whose names are not in any other respect distinguished, complete the national treasure of the Spanish drama. The striking regularity which distinguishes some pieces, must by no means be attributed to the influence of French taste. It is possible that a vague idea of the regularity of the French comedy may at this time have penetrated into Spain; but among the older Spanish dramas, particularly those of Solis and Moreto, some are no less regular than the comedies of character written by Zamora and Cañizares; who, besides, did not always, any more than their predecessors, confine themselves rigidly within the bounds of regularity. In the works of these latter poets, the theatrical personages are precisely of the same cast as in the writings of the older dramatists. Young officers, who are usually represented as giddy lovers, boast of their adventures in Flanders, and sing romances to the accompaniment of the guitar. This part is the prototype of that which on the French stage was subsequently called the Chevalier. No trace of the imitation of French manners is perceptible; and, if here and there a French word is introduced, it is always with a comic signification.[575]