Abstract

Abstract

The public enactment of secrecy is part of the Spanish Golden Age culture. This article presents a research project, which pursues three objectives: 
A study of secrecy as a core characteristic of Spanish Golden Age culture, on the basis of historiographical studies, sources and cultural theories of secrecy.
 A study of Calderonian comedies of secrecy in the context of Golden Age theatre.
 A case study of the comedy El secreto a voces, including a critical edition that also explores the aesthetics of secrecy and the history of early staging in Madrid and Vienna.
 With this threefold approach we aim at a deeper understanding of both Calderón’s originality and of the secret patterns of Baroque culture.

Abstract

This article analyses how Calderón used the realm of the mine in one of his capa y espada comedies, Primero soy yo (c. 1640-1642), in order to show that it has a double use (metaphorical and theatrical) that Calderón derives from Lope de Vega’s writings. After examining the criticism on the subject, the statistical data about the different meanings of the word mina in Calderón is layed out and the focus put on its military interpretation, in order to analyse these results in comparison to those in Lope’s theater and poetry. The article analyses Primero soy yo in detail in order to explore Calderón’s innovative use of the mine metaphor, a use that underlines some general traits of his comedias cómicas. I examine this connection by showing how the mine usually appears next to references to war, to violent birth or to secrets, an association that helps to explain how Calderón conceived human passions.