Review by Choice Review
The drama produced during Spain's early modern period, its so-called golden age, has long been a fertile field for research. The 18 well-documented essays Kallendorf (Texas A&M) has gathered represent some of the best new critical writing on this subject. These wide-ranging selections are the work of a cadre of well-established scholars, several of whom are among the leading comedia experts. Some of the contributors employ a particular theoretical perspective, such as psychoanalysis or chaos theory, and others take a more traditional approach, focusing on a single play or tracing a theme through several works. The essays examine canonical and less-known comedias, along with comic interludes and sacramental plays; they treat a variety of topics, including classical motifs, courtly love, honor, emblems, and picaresque elements. The individual essays cover some of the same ground Jonathan Thacker does in his excellent single-author work on the period, A Companion to Golden Age Theatre (CH, Nov'07, 45-1362), but whereas Thacker's volume functions more as a student-oriented manual, Kallendorf's collection is directed primarily toward specialists. It serves as a valuable guide to the present state of scholarship in the field and as an indispensable reference tool for future research. --Melvin S. Arrington, University of Mississippi
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
