Staging a demonic possession: Calderon's auto sacramental El diablo mudo

Abstract

Abstract:

This essay examines Calderón's El diablo mudo, an auto sacramental in which the Spanish playwright stages an extraordinary interpretation of demonic possession by reinterpreting the multiple Gospel tales on this subject. The essay first highlights the centrality of Satan in Calderón's autos in the light of his view of history and allegory. Subsequently, it discusses the early-modern interest in demonic possessions as public spectacles and the cultural significance of exorcism. Finally, the essays shows that Calderón's El dablo mudo represents a unique interpretation of the basic interplay between history and allegory, the foundation of Calderón's autos. The essay stresses that El diablo mudo is as a play-within-a-play in which the devil plays the double role of director and character. In this auto the devil aims to perform a possession that will signify a metamorphosis from a historical ("historia") to a new allegorical (alegoría) level. The devil wishes to stage not how the original man fell from grace but rather how every man is subjected to his evil power. In a stunning reversal of the Gospel narratives, in El diablo mudo an instance of human self-discovery and not an external divine intervention frees the tormented human being. Paradoxically, like the demons in Calderón's other autos, in El diablo mudo Christ makes the possessed person aware of his nothingness, but instead of leading the victim to despair, this insight on his human condition frees the victim from the demonic assault.