El mayor encanto, amor , de Calderón

Calderón's mythological play El mayor encanto, amor was first performed at court in 1635. It still merits attention, not only for the row that developed between Calderón and the Italian set-designer Cosme Lotti, but also because of the presentation of the protagonist Ulises as an effeminate Greek hero. Is he a glorification or a veiled criticism of the reigning Habsburgs? For an answer to this question, and in order to understand the play's message, one must not neglect the ludic nature of certain passages in the dramatic action that derive from medieval amatory casuistry. For example, the dilemma that Ulises and Arsidas discuss in the presence of Circe—whether to pretend or to dissemble (‘fingir o disimular’)—lifts the lid on the mores and malaise at the court of Philip IV, yet at the same time is pure entertainment. In other words, Calderón writes with a full awareness of the problems of his time, but never neglects the task of entertaining his audience. We should not drive a wedge between these two aspects, but should see in their combination the essential nature of courtly theatre. Calderón is an acute observer of a society in which the king is not only king but also the performer of his own rôle before a public at once critical and entertained

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