'La verdad que adoro es la que niego': symbolism and sophistry in Calderón's 'La cisma de Inglaterra'
This essay provides an extensive analysis of the development of the dominant sets of poetic imagery in Calderón’s Henry VIII play, La cisma de Inglaterra. Enrique and Ana Bolena knowingly distort the standard symbolism of ascent and descent, and of the sun, with a view to manipulating their interloc...
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Johns Hopkins University Press
2016
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| _version_ | 1797082097769250816 |
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| author | Norton, R |
| author_facet | Norton, R |
| author_sort | Norton, R |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | This essay provides an extensive analysis of the development of the dominant sets of poetic imagery in Calderón’s Henry VIII play, La cisma de Inglaterra. Enrique and Ana Bolena knowingly distort the standard symbolism of ascent and descent, and of the sun, with a view to manipulating their interlocutors (and sometimes deluding themselves), presenting a false impression of their characters and their motives. The distorted symbolism is deployed in sophistical arguments set out by individuals who, aware of the truth, nonetheless elect to deny it. The relativisation of the truth content of traditional symbolism is shown to be one of a range of elements in La cisma that justify the assertion that sophistry is an idea prevalent enough in the play to be acknowledged as a fundamental theme, underplayed by previous critics. The essay identifies these elements and provides evidence that recourse to sophistry and imposture was considered by Rivadeneira—Calderón’s source for the play—to be a prominent characteristic of the historical King Henry and to have provided the fragile ideological foundations for the English Schism. It is suggested that these findings, together, cast some doubt upon the accuracy of Alexander A. Parker’s description (in The Mind and Art of Calderón) of the dramatist’s portrayal of Henry VIII as “extraordinarily compassionate.” |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T01:23:24Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:911f3c5e-feb7-482f-bcef-c2b889b230a8 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T01:23:24Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Johns Hopkins University Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:911f3c5e-feb7-482f-bcef-c2b889b230a82022-03-26T23:16:35Z'La verdad que adoro es la que niego': symbolism and sophistry in Calderón's 'La cisma de Inglaterra'Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:911f3c5e-feb7-482f-bcef-c2b889b230a8EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordJohns Hopkins University Press2016Norton, RThis essay provides an extensive analysis of the development of the dominant sets of poetic imagery in Calderón’s Henry VIII play, La cisma de Inglaterra. Enrique and Ana Bolena knowingly distort the standard symbolism of ascent and descent, and of the sun, with a view to manipulating their interlocutors (and sometimes deluding themselves), presenting a false impression of their characters and their motives. The distorted symbolism is deployed in sophistical arguments set out by individuals who, aware of the truth, nonetheless elect to deny it. The relativisation of the truth content of traditional symbolism is shown to be one of a range of elements in La cisma that justify the assertion that sophistry is an idea prevalent enough in the play to be acknowledged as a fundamental theme, underplayed by previous critics. The essay identifies these elements and provides evidence that recourse to sophistry and imposture was considered by Rivadeneira—Calderón’s source for the play—to be a prominent characteristic of the historical King Henry and to have provided the fragile ideological foundations for the English Schism. It is suggested that these findings, together, cast some doubt upon the accuracy of Alexander A. Parker’s description (in The Mind and Art of Calderón) of the dramatist’s portrayal of Henry VIII as “extraordinarily compassionate.” |
| spellingShingle | Norton, R 'La verdad que adoro es la que niego': symbolism and sophistry in Calderón's 'La cisma de Inglaterra' |
| title | 'La verdad que adoro es la que niego': symbolism and sophistry in Calderón's 'La cisma de Inglaterra' |
| title_full | 'La verdad que adoro es la que niego': symbolism and sophistry in Calderón's 'La cisma de Inglaterra' |
| title_fullStr | 'La verdad que adoro es la que niego': symbolism and sophistry in Calderón's 'La cisma de Inglaterra' |
| title_full_unstemmed | 'La verdad que adoro es la que niego': symbolism and sophistry in Calderón's 'La cisma de Inglaterra' |
| title_short | 'La verdad que adoro es la que niego': symbolism and sophistry in Calderón's 'La cisma de Inglaterra' |
| title_sort | la verdad que adoro es la que niego symbolism and sophistry in calderon s la cisma de inglaterra |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nortonr laverdadqueadoroeslaqueniegosymbolismandsophistryincalderonslacismadeinglaterra |