Abstract

The present work studies the dramatic structures of La vida es sueño, focusing on the inaptly called «secondary intrigue» constructed around the character of Rosaura. The presence of motives typical of the comedy of intrigue within this tragedy, moreover the fact that the dramatic system is similar to the system quite often found in the «comedia de burlador», can be explained by a lecture directed backwards, that is to say, beginning from the ending. The marriage of Segismundo and Estrella, which is far from being a coincidence or a convention typical of a happy ending, is considered a fundamental element of the Calderonean inventio to which all the different parts of the tragedy necessarily have to lead, and this is how to explain the function and development of Rosaura.