Two eighteenth-century English adaptations of the Celestina : Celestina: or the Spanish bawd : a tragi-comedy; and the Bawd of Madrid.

Abstract

The introductory chapter discusses previous studies of Celestina imitations and adaptations, and the position of early Celestinesque works in Spanish literature. I then move further afield to investigate the diffusion of the Celestina in the rest of Europe, especially in England. Chapter II comments on the general influence of Spain on English literature with particular reference to the two eighteenth-century adaptations of the Celestina. Chapter III suggests some implications of the simultaneous appearance of these two adaptations. Chapters IV-VI are devoted to a closer examination of the dramatic adaptation, A Tragi-Comedy; an investigation into its sources, and the manner in which it remodels its original for the stages culminates in a discussion of the adapters' identity. Chapters VII-IX deal with The Bawd of Madrid; a biographical sketch of its author, Captain Stevens, is followed by a discussion of which version of the Celestina he used and of the sources for the description of Madrid in his first chapter. Chapter IX looks at the way he reworks the Spanish Tragi-comedia into a narrative account. I bring together in Chapter X elements from both adaptations for purposes of comparison. The final chapter shows the similarities between the fictional world of the Celestina and the environment of early eighteenth-century London, and I suggest why these English adaptations may have been particularly apposite at this time.