Comedia (play)

{{Short description|Three-act play of the Spanish Golden Age}} {{Refimprove|date=October 2006}}{{Expand Spanish|date=March 2012|Tragicomedia}} {{Italics title}} In the Spanish Golden Age (Siglo de Oro) tradition, a '''''comedia''''' is a three-act play combining dramatic and comic elements. The principal characters are noblemen (''galanes''; {{singular}}: ''galán'') and ladies (''damas'') who work out a plot involving love, jealousy, honor and sometimes also piety or patriotism. Supporting characters include comical servants (''graciosos'') who assist their employers in carrying out the action.

Largely created and defined by Lope de Vega,<ref>Campbell, Jodi (2006). ''Monarchy, political culture, and drama in seventeenth-century Madrid: theater of negotiation''. Ashgate Publishing. p. 25. {{ISBN|0-7546-5418-4}}</ref> the style is defined by a mixture of tragedy and comedy. Originally referred to loosely as "tragicomedy", the name was eventually shortened to simply "''comedia''". Dr. Sebastián Francisco de Medrano, founder and president of the Medrano Academy (1616–1622), became the commissioner of the Spanish Inquisition, official censor of ''comedias''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cervantes |first=Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de |title=Favores de las musas hechos a Don Sebastian Francisco de Medrano ... |url=https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/favores-de-las-musas-hechos-a-don-sebastian-francisco-de-medrano--0/html/021e4282-82b2-11df-acc7-002185ce6064_19.html |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes |language=es}}</ref>

==See also== * ''Commedia dell'arte''

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comedia (Spanish Play)}} Category:Theatrical genres Category:Spanish Golden Age literary genres

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