Fernando de Rojas
Fernando de Rojas (circa 1465-1541) is recognized as the author of "La Celestina," an influential work in Spanish literature often regarded as the first realistic novel of the nation. This prose drama, which unfolds in a dialogue format, explores complex themes of love and social dynamics through its vivid characters, including the scheming go-between Celestina and the romantic Calisto. Rojas, believed to have been born in Montalbán, completed the work during his studies at the University of Salamanca, where he reportedly wrote the acts of the play in rapid succession. His background is somewhat mysterious; he was identified as a converso, suggesting a possible Jewish heritage, and his parents may have been forced converts to Christianity. Despite the uncertainty surrounding his life, Rojas's literary contributions were both pioneering and widely celebrated, with "La Celestina" experiencing immense popularity through numerous editions and translations across Europe. Rojas's reluctance to publicly claim the work may have stemmed from his legal career or concerns about societal perceptions of authorship in his time. His legacy endures, reflecting the intricate interplay of cultural and social themes in early modern Spanish literature.
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Subject Terms
Fernando de Rojas
Spanish novelist
- Born: c. 1465
- Birthplace: La Puebla de Montalbán, Castile, Spain
- Died: April 1, 1541
- Place of death: Talavera de la Reina, Spain
Biography
Fernando de Rojas (ROH-hahs) is believed to be the author of the Comedia de Calisto y Melibea, or La Celestina, an extended prose drama in dialogue that is considered Spain’s first realistic novel and is one of the gems of its national literature. Rojas nonetheless remains a shadowy figure. Evidence that he wrote this novel lies mainly in an acrostic of the 1502 edition (the “Sevilla edition”), which gives his home as Montalbán. He was probably born there about 1465 (although some scholars have argued that he may have been born in Toledo). A prefatory letter declares that while he was a student at the University of Salamanca he “found” the first act and finished the other fifteen acts of the 1499 Burgos edition at the rate of an act a day during a vacation period.
Modern scholarship has turned up a few more facts and made some deductions. In 1525, Alvaro de Montalbán, accused of relapses into the practice of the Jewish faith, claimed that his daughter had married the converso Fernando de Rojas, author of La Celestina. Converso need not mean that Rojas was a new convert to Christianity; indeed, it is probable that his parents had been forced to convert and that he was born and brought up in the Christian faith. When he died in April, 1541, he was a member of the religious order of La Concepción de la Madre, and in his will he directed that his body be buried in the church of the Monastery of Talavera. In 1584 his grandson sought documents to prove he was an hidalgo, or man of pure Spanish blood traceable back through his great-grandfather.
Whoever he was, Rojas wrote a work much admired for its realistic character drawing. Not only are the lower-class characters true to life, including the go-between Celestina, but even flowery Calisto, the lover, is a typical Petrarch-inspired galán. Why Rojas himself did not claim the book as his own can only be surmised. Perhaps as a lawyer he did not want to be known as a dabbler in fiction. Certainly he did not fear the Inquisition, either as a Jew, since documents proved he was respected, or as an author, since the censors never questioned his novel until 1640, long after his death. La Celestina, tremendously popular, went through 120 editions in thirty-five years, with translations into Italian (1506), German (1520), and French (1527).
Bibliography
Burke, James F. Vision, the Gaze, and the Function of the Senses in “Celestina.” University Park: State University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001. A revisionist reading of Rojas’s play based on medieval theories of perception.
Castells, Ricardo. Fernando de Rojas and the Renaissance Vision: Phantasm, Melancholy, and Didacticism in “Celestina.” University Park: State University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000. Considers Rojas and his work in its historical context.
Dangler, Jean. Mediating Fictions: Literature, Women Healers, and the Go-Between in Medieval and Early Modern Iberia. Lewisburg, Pa.: Bucknell University Press, 2001. A specialized study of women’s roles in Renaissance Spanish fiction, including that of Rojas.
Dunn, Peter N. Fernando de Rojas. Boston: Twayne, 1975. Provides a good overview of the work and what is known of Rojas.
Fraker, Charles F. Celestina: Genre and Rhetoric. London: Tamesis Books, 1990. Interesting, if somewhat specialized, study.
Hartunian, Diane. “La Celestina”: A Feminist Reading of the Carpe Diem Theme. Potomac, Md.: Scripta Humanistica, 1992. Interesting, if somewhat specialized, study.
Snow, Joseph T. “Celestina” by Fernando de Rojas: An Annotated Bibliography of World Interest, 1930-1985. Madison, Wisc.: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, 1985. A useful research tool.