Romeo and Juliet in Seventeenth-Century Spain:Between Comedy and Tragedy

This article aims to offer a contribution to the study of some re-writings of the story of Romeo and Juliet in seventeenth-centu-ry Spanish theatre. On the one hand, I will focus on the story of the two young lovers from a comedic perspective, as in the case of Lope de Vega’s Castelvines y Monteses and in Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla’s Los bandos de Verona, whose title reveals a strong link with the city of Verona. In both comedies, the protagonists survive and there is a happy ending. On the other hand, I will also con-sider a comedy with a tragic ending that testifies to the success in Spain of the story of the two Veronese lovers, showing a new taste and sensitivity on the part of Spanish audiences. A case in point is Cristóbal de Rozas’ Los amantes de Verona, where the tragic end of the two lovers, Aurisena and Clorisel, no longer reflects family conflicts between the Capulets and the Montagues, but, more gen-erally, political rivalry between the factions of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. The three plays also reveal profound differences in the representation of the power exercised by the lord of Verona.