Optical illusions: Directing the audience’s perspective in Spain’s golden age theatre

Abstract

As with many changes of government, Philip IV's succession to the Spanish throne in 1621 carried with it an inherent sense of hope. The young monarch and his loyal minister, the Count-Duke of Olivares, assumed control to miraculously turn aside Philip III's reckless course towards destruction and to regain Spain's former glory. At least that was the image that the ambitious, fledgling monarchy wished to portray to an audience who was all too willing to believe. The monarchy's discourse proclaimed stability and prosperity for the Spanish empire, an empire straining against debt, corruption, foreign and domestic wars, continuing religious strife, and rapidly changing demographics. In this cosmetic environment, interpreting signs both on a national and an individual level became increasingly important. Theatre, as an institutionalized art form, was regulated by the government and promoted a common language ( castellano) and a commonly understood semiotics of theatre in a common place (los corrales). The theatre therefore had the opportunity to disseminate a dominant discourse—the Count-Duke of Olivares's rhetoric of renovation—to an extensive viewing public. However, relegating the comedia to the status of an ideological tool that maintained order and social norms does not recognize its full potential. Theatre functions to draw attention to and magnify certain aspects of society, and these aspects were not necessarily the same ones championed by the Crown. This study will consider how Golden Age theatre, particularly during the years of Olivares's influence (1621–1643), directed the public's perspective by focusing on the openness of signs and their potential manipulation. The optical illusions created by certain characters' performance opened a space where non-conformist discourse and social criticism could be interpreted by those who had learned to see beyond the signs.