Calisto's Dream and the Celestinesque Tradition
A Rereading of Celestina
By Richard Castells
144 pp., 6 x 9, appends., notes, bibl
-
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-8078-9253-4
Published: January 1995
Buy this Book
This title is not eligible for UNC Press promotional pricing.
Distributed for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Romance Studies
Fernando de Rojas’s Celestina, written in the late fifteenth century, opens with an enigmatic conversation between Calisto and Melibea, which has puzzled scholars trying to resolve the apparent contradictions in the work as a whole. Ricardo Castells supports the idea that the scene represents Calisto’s dream about his beloved Melibea. In this study, Castells examines later Celestinesque works as a lens through which we might better understand Celestina. Castells focuses on Calisto's creative use of borrowed text and speech, and contends that Melibea demonstrates a surprisingly strong and consistent personality. He argues that Celestina’s role is somewhat diminished in Rojas's continuation of the text as a result of this greater independence in Melibea’s character.
About the Author
Ricardo Castells is assistant professor of Spanish at Florida International University.
For more information about Richard Castells, visit
the
Author
Page.