Heavenly Bodies

The Realms of La estrella de Sevilla

1996
ISBN 0838753086

Heavenly Bodies is the first book in English dedicated to an analysis of La estrella de Sevilla (The Star of Seville) since the 1930s when Sturgis A. Leavitt set out to prove that this Spanish Golden Age play was written by Andres de Claramonte. In this reevaluation of La estrella de Sevilla, the question of authorship is once again discussed, but it is not the main focus of this collection of essays. The eighteen essayists in this book set out to reexamine the play in order to understand the fascination that this puzzling and problematic work has exerted over critics, theatergoers, and readers over the last three and half centuries.

The contributors to this volume both perceive and fashion multiple contexts for La estrella de Sevilla, echoing the multiplicity of realms in which she abides within the text. The essays range from studies of how the play was performed to analyses of specific figures and themes. The many approaches utilized, including theories by Derrida, Foucault, Iser, Kermode, Lacan, Ong, and Said, serve to point to the richness and complexity of this comedia from the Spanish Golden Age.

Contributors: Frederick A. de Armas, James A. Parr, Grace Burton, Frank P. Casa, Melveena McKendrick, Harlan Sturm, Catherine Connor (Sweitlicki), Anne J. Cruz, Daniel L. Heiple, James Mandrell, Susan L. Fischer, Carmen Hernández Valcárcel, Alfredo Rodríguez López-Vázquez, Anita K. Stoll, Emilie Bergmann, James F. Burke, Charles Oriel, Elias L. Rivers.