Apuntes sobre la superstición y la recepción de las literaturas clásicas en La Celestina

Abstract

La Celestina is influenced by ideological and aesthetic aspects of its time, such as moralising literature, the new lyrical currents coming from Italy and the emergence of new literary genres. However, it is emphasised that the author was directly or indirectly familiar with the main classical authors and uses them to reinforce the didactic and moralising character of the work. Already at the beginning of the Prologue, Heraclitus, Petrarch, Aristotle, Pliny, and Lucan are mentioned in order to highlight how the struggles between masters and slaves, between pleasure and virtue, between the earthly and the heavenly world are the backbone of the play’s plot. In this context, the cultivation of sorcery cannot be absent. In La Celestina, we see techniques of sympathetic magic, such as the nomen omen and the possession of another person’s will through objects. The passage of Celestina’s incantation, as well as the possession of Melibea’s cord, are examples of this. Apuleius’ Metamorphoses may have been a source of inspiration for the author of the Tragicomedy. Along with the techniques of witchcraft, we observe in the work an almost parodic distortion of Christian discourse to justify certain behaviours. Magic and enchantment were considered dangerous and related to the devil and witchcraft, and those accused of practising magic could be persecuted and severely punished. La Celestina is an example of how superstition in a broad sense (magic and religion) is used to give an irrational explanation to phenomena, such as Calisto’s amorous obsession.