Hacia La vida es sueño como speculum reginae: Isabel de Borbón en la corte de Felipe IV

Mattza Hacia La Vida book cover

Carmela Mattza. Hacia La vida es sueño como speculum reginae: Isabel de Borbón en la corte de Felipe IV. Editoral Vebum, 2014.

This book proposes that Life is a dream , as well as containing a political subtext about the expected behavior of the supreme male authority, it is also the bearer of a mirror with a message for the female power figure. In this sense, the present study discusses to what extent in this emblematic Calderonian comedy there is also a vision about the power that takes into account Queen Isabel de Borbón, the first wife of Felipe IV.

For this purpose, the presence and use of classical mythology in this comedy are analyzed with special care taking into account the way they appear and are used in the rest of the Calderonian production prior to 1644. In addition, different types of relationships are evaluated that they give account of the capacity of leadership of the queen, the popularity of its image and the great appreciation that by her was had not only in the court and the kingdom, but also in the rest of Europe and the transatlantic territories.

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