Life is a Dream enthralled me from Calderon de la Barca’s introduction of Segismund, the dejected and disturbed prince. Segismund serves as a perplexing contradiction to Plato’s theory of reality, illusion, and experience. As a literal prisoner in a cave, Segismund should have no knowledge of any kind of world out of the mountains. Yet, Segismund notes that “pent inside these walls, / I’ve known so little of the world” (I.ii.193-194) and wonders why he should “enjoy less liberty” (I.ii.142) than those who live outside of his prison. When King Basil finally grants Segismund the opportunity to experience reality, he should be shocked–and then awed–in the midst of his new surroundings. Instead, Segismund firmly relies on his darkened, augmented version of reality from the cave, stating that he must be “some mongrel mix of man and beast” (II.vi.1547) who believes life is a “fiction filling reams” (II.xix.2184). Why does Segismund refuse to live in the world of the court, and what kind of autonomy and power does that grant him over his father and other members of the nobility? Does his ability to perceive two realms at once make him powerful, or does he lose his power by refusing to join the fellow characters in their singular, perceived state of reality?
In addition, Calderon de la Barca’s use of perception and the manipulation of illusions and reality reminds me of Don Quixote, another Spanish work published thirty years before Life is a Dream that concerns a nobleman whose fantastical and unrealistic perception of life steers him from reality. Don Quixote’s augmented reality seems distinctly more romantic than Life is a Dream’s dark, fantastical world. Why the difference between the two? In addition, in the same way that Don Quixote comments on the literary culture of the era, what social or cultural trends of the 17th Century does Life is a Dream critique or examine?
I was very intrigued by your question about Segismund potentially having power over the king and other court members because he does not ease straight into the court lifestyle. It seems to me that he always seems to have a foot in each world, the prison and the court. When he is in the prison, he seems very thoughtful and clearly has learned much about the world through his talks and lessons with Clotaldo, which does not fit with the dark and seclusion of the mountains. However, when he is freed, he is portrayed as being almost animalistic in how uncivilized he is, in stark contrast to the court. I wonder if maybe the fact that he doesn’t truly fit into either world gives him power and autonomy in the sense that he is fighting what he is supposed to be, be it prince or prisoner, his “fate”.