-
Skip These Ads
-
Skip These Ads|
|
 |
Click here and add this page to your favorites!
|
Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: VAN-VIR |
|
|
VICENTE, GIL (147o-1540) , the father of the Portuguese drama, was born at Guimaraes, but came to Lisbon in boyhood and studied jurisprudence at the university without taking a degree. In 1493 we find him acting as master of rhetoric to the duke of Beja, afterwards King Manoel, a post which gave him admission to the court; and the Cancioneiro Geral contains some early lyrics of his which show that he took part in the famous seroes do paco. The birth of King John III. furnished the occasion for his first dramatic essayThe Neatherd's Monologue, which he recited on the night of the 7th8th June 1502 in the queen's chamber in the presence of King Manoel and his court. It was written in Spanish out of compliment to the queen, a daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, and because that language was then the fashionable medium with the higher classes. This manger-hymn, which was a novelty in Portugal, so pleased the king's mother, the infanta D. Beatriz, that she desired Gil Vicente to repeat it the following Christmas, but he composed instead the Castilian Pastoral
Glory
interest
Pilgrimage of the Aggrieved (1533) is an attack on discontent and ambition, lay and clerical. After representing the Auto da festa for the Conde de Vimioso (1535), and dramatizing the romances of chivalry in D. Duardos and Amadis de Gaula, Gil Vicente ended his dramatic career in 1536 with a mirthful comedy, The Garden of Deceptions. He spent the evening of life in preparing his works for the press at the instance of King John III., and died in 1540, his wife Branca Bezerra having predeceased him. Four children were born of their union, and among them Paula Vicente attained distinction as a member of the group of cultured women who formed a sort of female academy presided over by the infanta D. Maria.The forty-four pieces comprising the theatre of Gil Vicente fall from the point of view of language into three groups: (I) those in Portuguese only, numbering fourteen; (2) those in Spanish only, numbering eleven; and (3) the bilingual, being the remainder, nineteen in all. They are also from their nature divisible as follows: a. Works of a religious character or of devotion. Most of these are a development of the mystery or miracle play of the middle ages; and they may be subdivided into (I) Biblical pieces; (2) pieces founded on incidents in the life of a saint; and (3) religious allegories. In this department Gil Vicente reaches his highest poetical flights, and the Auto of the Soul is a triumph of elevation
Though so large a proportion of his pieces are` in Spanish, they are all eminently national in idea, texture and subject. No other Portuguese writer reflects so faithfully the language, types, customs and colour of his age as Gil Vicente, and the rudest of his dramas are full of genuine comic feeling. If they never attain to perfect art, they possess the supreme gift of life. None of them are, strictly speaking, historical, and he never attempted to write a tragedy. Himself a man of the people, he would not imitate the products of the classical theatre as did Sa de Miranda and Ferreira, but though he remained faithful to the Old or Spanish school in form, yet he had imbibed the critical spirit and mental ferment of the Renaissance without its culture or erudition. Endowed by nature with acute observation and considerable powers of analysis, Gil Vicente possessed a felicity of phrase and an unmatched knowledge of popular superstitions, language and lore. Above all, he was a moralist, with satire and ridicule as his main weapons; but if his invective is often stinging it is rarely bitter, while more than one incident in his career shows that he possessed a kindly heart as well as an impartial judgment, and a well-balanced outlook on life. If he owed his early inspiration to Juan de Encina, he repaid the debt by showing a better way to the dramatists of the neighbouring country, so that he may truly be called the father of the rich Spanish drama, of Lope de Vega and Calderon. Much of his fame abroad is due to his position as an innovator, and, as Dr Garnett truly remarked, " One little corner of Europe alone possessed in the early 16th century a drama at once living, indigenous and admirable as literature."Gil Vicente perhaps lacks psychological depth, but he possesses a breadth of mental vision and a critical acumen unknown in any medieval dramatist. In his attitude to religion he acts as the spokesman of the better men of his age and country. A convinced but liberal-minded Catholic, he has no sympathy with attacks on the unity of the Church, but he cries out for a reform of morals, pillories the corruption and ignorance of the clergy and laity, and pens the most bitter things of the popes and their court. He strove to take a middle course at a time when moderation was still possible, though, had he lived a few years longer, in the reign of religious fanaticism inaugurated by the Inquisition, his bold stand for religious toleration would have meant his imprisonment or exile , if not a worse fate. He is a great dramatist in embryo, who, if he had been born fifty years later and preserved his liberty of thought and expression, might with added culture have surpassed Calderon and taken his place as the Latin and Catholic rival of Shakespeare.Some of the plays were printed in Gil Vicente's lifetime, but the first collected edition, which included his lyrics, was published after his death by his son Luiz (Lisbon, 1562), with a dedication to King Sebastian. A second edition appeared in 1586, with various omissions and alterations made at the instance of the Inquisition. A critical edition of the text in 3 vols. came out at Hamburg (1834), with a glossary and introductory essay on Vicente's life and writings, and a poor reprint of this edition is dated Lisbon 1852. He has never found a translator, doubtless because of the difficulty of rendering his form and explaining his wealth of topical allusions. End of Article: VICENTE, GIL (147o-1540) If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/VAN_VIR/VICENTE_GIL_147o_1540_.html"> VICENTE, GIL (147o-1540) </a> |
|
|
(Previous) VICENTE YANEZ PINION |
(Next) VICENZA |
Jesus Christ Saves Ministries, P.O. Box 70696, Pasadena, CA 91117JCSM is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization. Copyright © 1997-present. |
Free & Cheap Cell
Phones |
Cheap Long Distance
Phone Service Carriers |
Talk America Local Phone Service
|
Ztel & MCI - Unlimited Long Distance
Compare
Cell Phone Plans & Companies |
International Calling Cards & Prepaid Phone Cards |
Voice Over IP Broadband Internet Phone
Service | Wireless
Phone Plans & Cheap Cell Phones
|
_____________________________________________________________________________
Online First Aid and CPR Certification . The Online Christ Centered Ministries . The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained . The Inerrancy Discussion Board . Free Email Accounts . Home Equity Loans . JasonGastrich.com . The Missions, Apologetics, and Creation Bible Conference . Young Earth Creation Science . San Diego Music Lessons . 10,000 Wise Quotes and Spiritual Sayings . Gastrich.net . Maximizing the Internet: 12 Keys to Success . Louisiana Baptist University . NKJV Web Hosting and Services . Michael Newdow . San Diego Soccer Training . Christian Guitar Lessons . Jesus Christ Saves Ministries . Eternal Security
