Dal manoscritto alla scena: El piadoso aragonés di Lope de Vega

Abstract

Some of Lope de Vega’s comedies, those witnessed by an autograph manuscript, are of undeniable interest, as they provide the opportunity to observe closely the author’s work of composition which resulted in the text to be sold to the company for the representation. The present article focuses on the specific case of El piadoso aragonés, dated August 17, 1626, whose manuscript is preserved at the National Library of Madrid. On the one hand, the study of the autograph allows to observe the changes made in itinere by the author during the final draft of the text, analyzing the processes through which the playwright shaped the textual material in order to reach the final version of the play. These changes reveal some of the compositional techniques of Lope: the autograph bears traces of the genesis of the text and constitute a significant proof of the author’s work on his play. Moreover, the manuscript – which was used for at least three different representations during the seventeenth century by the company of Antonio de Prado – presents some textual signs (mainly omissions, but also additions and corrections) that permit to determine which version of the comedy was the one represented in that period. Starting from a thorough analysis of the autograph, the article examines the life of the text through the various adjustments made for the mise en scène during the Siglo de Oro, establishing the methods and the reasons for the changes in the version of the play attributed to the autor de comedia, the actor-manager.