Concerning butterflies and fire: some notes on coding the love process in the Calderonian universe

Abstract

Calderón places much emphasis on the stylistic elaboration of certain love passages of his comedias, which stand out through the plasticity of their metaphors. The visual component is especially striking in the sections where the lover presents a fight between maintaining decorum and surrendering to passions. Behind this idea lies the general principle of various levels of duality and contrasts, so typical of the Baroque style. The dramatist creates a highly elaborate dramatic universe in which opposing images (representing the dichotomy honor vs. love) are superimposed, thereby ―creating the idea of overabundance― in order to provoke admiration in the audience. Taking all of these aspects into account, the present paper strives to provide a stylistic and interpretative analysis of the love metaphors contained in six plays of Calderón composed between 1625 and 1634. On this occasion, we will focus on the perspectives of the masculine characters as well as their main metaphorical representations. Further, we will reconstruct the stages through which the love stories progress. Decoding the way the symbols and images of Calderón’s style are combined will make it possible to reach a deeper understanding of the comedia― while taking into account the marked influence of Baroque aesthetics.