Life Is a Dream by Pedro Calderón de la Barca

First produced:La vida es sueño, 1635; first published, 1636 (English translation, 1830)

Type of work: Drama

Type of plot: Melodrama

Time of plot: Sixteenth century

Locale: Poland

Principal Characters

• Basilio, king of Poland
• Segismundo, his son
• Astolfo, Basilio’s nephew and a duke of Muscovy
• Estrella, the infanta, Basilio’s niece
• Clotaldo, a Polish general
• Rosaura, a Russian noblewoman disguised as a man
• Fife, her servant

The Story

One night, in the wild, mountainous country between Poland and Russia, a Russian noblewoman, Rosaura, and her servant, Fife, find themselves in distress. Their horses have bolted, and they fear that they will have to complete the remainder of their journey on foot. They are traveling to the royal court of Poland, and Rosaura is disguised as a man for protection as they make their way through the barbarous frontier country. Their weary way brings them at last to a forbidding fortress. There they overhear a young man, chained to the doorway of the castle, deliver a heart-rending soliloquy in which he laments the harshness of his life. Rosaura approaches the youth, who greets her eagerly, with the excitement of one who has known little of sympathy or kindness during his brief span of years. At the same time, he warns her to beware of violence. No sooner has he spoken these words than a shrill trumpet blast fills the night. Rosaura tosses her sword to the captive before she and Fife hide themselves among the rocks.

Clotaldo, a Polish general and the keeper of the youth, gallops up to the young man. Seeing the sword in his prisoner’s hand, he orders his men to seek the stranger who must be lurking nearby. Apprehended, Rosaura explains that she and Fife are Russian travelers on their way to the Polish court and that they are in distress because of the loss of their horses. Fife inadvertently hints that Rosaura is really a woman. Clotaldo, however, is most interested in the sword, for he recognizes the weapon as one he had owned years before and that he left in the keeping of a young noblewoman with whom he had been deeply in love. He comes to the conclusion that Rosaura must be his own son, but, torn between his sworn duty to his king and his paternal obligation toward his supposed son, he decides at last to say nothing for the time being. The fact that Rosaura possesses the sword obligates him to protect the travelers and to escort them safely through the mountains.

Meanwhile, in King Basilio’s royal castle, the problem of succession to the Polish throne is to be decided. To this purpose, the king welcomes his nephew Astolfo and his niece Estrella. The problem of the succession exists because it is generally believed that the true heir, King Basilio’s son, died with his mother in childbirth many years before. The need for a decision is pressing; both Astolfo and Estrella are supported by strong rival factions that, in their impatience, are threatening the peace of the realm.

King Basilio greets his niece and nephew with regal ceremony and then startles them with the news that his son, Segismundo, is not really dead. The readings of learned astrologers and horrible portents that had accompanied Segismundo’s birth had led the superstitious king to imprison the child in a mountain fortress for fear that otherwise the boy might grow up to be a monster who would destroy Poland. Now, years later, King Basilio is not sure that he did the right thing. He proposes that Segismundo be brought to the court in a drug-induced sleep, awakened after being dressed in attire befitting a prince, and observed carefully for evidence of his worthiness to wear his father’s crown. Astolfo and Estrella agree to the proposal.

In accordance with the plan, Segismundo, who dresses in rough wolf skins in his captivity, is drugged, carried to the royal castle, and dressed in rich attire. When he awakes, he is disturbed to find himself suddenly the center of attention among obsequious strangers. Force of habit causes him to recall sentimentally his chains, the wild mountains, and his former isolation. Convinced that he is dreaming, he sits on the throne while his father’s officers and the noble courtiers treat him with the respect due his rank. When they tell him that he is the heir to the throne, he is mystified and somewhat apprehensive, but before long he begins to enjoy his new feeling of power.

Clotaldo, his former guard and tutor, appears to confirm the fact that Segismundo is really the prince. The young man then demands an explanation of his lifelong imprisonment. Clotaldo patiently explains King Basilio’s actions in terms that Segismundo might understand, but the youth, blinded by the sudden change in his fortunes, can see only that he has been grievously mistreated by his father. Declaring that he will have revenge for his unwarranted imprisonment, he seizes Clotaldo’s sword, but before he can strike the old general, Rosaura appears out of the crowd, takes the weapon from him, and reproves him for his rashness.

Segismundo, in a calmer mood, is introduced to Astolfo, whose courtly bearing and formal speech the prince cannot bear. Sick of the whole aspect of the court, he orders the guards to clear the audience hall. Again, however, he is mollified, this time by the appearance of Estrella and her ladies-in-waiting. Unaccustomed to feminine society, he behaves in a boorish manner, even attempting to embrace Estrella. The courtiers advise him to behave in a manner befitting a prince, and Astolfo, who hopes to marry his beautiful cousin, cautions Segismundo about his behavior toward the princess. Unfamiliar with the formalities of court life, Segismundo loses his patience. Holding all present responsible for his long exile, he reminds them of his exalted position and defies anyone to touch Estrella. When Astolfo does not hesitate to take her by the hand, Segismundo seizes Astolfo by the throat.

At this crucial moment in Segismundo’s test, King Basilio enters the throne room and sees his son behaving like a wild beast. Crushed, he fears that the predictions about him were accurate after all. Segismundo faces his father with shocking disrespect and presses for an explanation of his imprisonment. When the king tries to prove that the young man’s future was written in the stars, Segismundo scoffs at the folly of a man’s putting responsibility for his actions on the disinterested heavens. Then he curses his father and calls on the guards to seize the king and Clotaldo. At a trumpet blast, however, the soldiers quickly surround Segismundo himself and take him prisoner.

Having failed the test of princehood, Segismundo is drugged and returned in chains to the mountain fortress. In his familiar surroundings once more, he has full opportunity to reflect on his recent experiences. When he speaks to Clotaldo about them, the old general tells him that all had been a dream. Since the prince was drugged before he left the fortress and before he returned, he is quite convinced that he has suffered an unpleasant dream. Clotaldo assures him that dreams reveal the true character of the dreamer. Because Segismundo has conducted himself with violence in his dream, there is great need for the young man to bridle his fierce passions.

Meanwhile Rosaura, aware of Segismundo’s plight and anxious to thwart the ambitions of Astolfo, who had once promised to marry her, stirs up a faction to demand the prince’s release. The rebels invade the mountains and seize the fortress; they fail, however, to seize Clotaldo, who has already returned to the royal castle to report to King Basilio. When the rebel army carries the sleeping Segismundo out of the fortress and awakens him with trumpet blasts, the unhappy prince will not be persuaded that his new experience is real, and he doubts the assurance that he has been rescued from his imprisonment. The rebel leader finally convinces him that it would be well for him to join the dream soldiers and fight with them against King Basilio’s very real army, which is approaching.

Clotaldo is taken prisoner by Segismundo’s forces, but the young prince, remembering the advice to curb his passions, orders the old general’s release. A great battle then takes place in which Segismundo proves his princely valor and chivalric bearing. King Basilio, defeated but refusing Clotaldo’s and Astolfo’s pleas to flee to safety, in admiration surrenders his crown to his son.

As king of Poland in his own right, Segismundo orders the marriage of Astolfo to Rosaura, who has, in the meantime, been revealed as Clotaldo’s daughter. Estrella becomes Segismundo’s queen, and the young king makes Clotaldo his trusted adviser.

Bibliography

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