The theatre of the Golden Century / The Comedia       The Comedia The Comedia is a particular theatrical genre born in Madrid when this small town becomes the capital of Spain. It then spreads throughout the country during the 17th century, served by talented authors and a public for whom the love of the theatre is close to idolatry. The Comedia is structured in three acts, named “ days ”, each one comprising about one thousand verses. Contrary to the rules of the French classic comedy it is not bound to respect the unity of place or action, because this rigidity would be contrary to the baroque spirit. In the same way, this unique theatrical genre conjugates tragedy and comedy without quite being one or the other. For the public it is especially a perfectly recognisable mould into which the authors for the history of Spain, its manners, and its social and spiritual life ornamenting it with many immediately understood symbols. It even proposes models of moral or sartorial conduct while generally keeping a moralising stance. The considerable number of comedias that are produced throughout the Golden Spanish Century thus provides a chronological record of the country's economic, political and social problems. The dates of these plays are established in reference to the fashions and to the different customs of the time. To be in perfect harmony with the temperament of its generation, the Comedia rests on three moral pillars that the public easily identifies: first of all, the intervention of divine Grace, because there is no inexorable fatality in life, then honour because it is inseparable from the national character, and finally Love, the motive power of history and the carrier of chimeras and excesses. Furthermore, the Spaniards have a definite taste for the theatrical and the fantastic stretching to the miraculous, which can always save the protagonists of the Comedias (as it can equally change the course of a corrida). For this reason these plays could never acquire the quality of tragedy, even though they are sometimes dramatic. Nothing in them is desperate nor lost in advance, because above death always rests the possibility of a miracle delivered by divine generosity. But this generic description does not mean that the comedia is a homogeneous genre. It takes various forms, and portrays different topics. It can be heroic or philosophical as much as historic or sentimental. The most successful is the comedia of intrigue, a skilful combination of the comedy of manners and that of love, in which the women and the valets play fundamental roles. These comedias have a determining influence on the Italian and French theatre of the 17th century. Their topics become inexhaustible sources of inspiration for the dramatists of these other countries who also discover new scenic techniques, such as false identity, disguise, double personalities, repentance and confession, acts of jealousy or honour, and the theatrical value of the happy outcome. If indeed, as said by Charles Vincent Aubrun, the Spanish dramatist is the Interpreter of ideas, feelings, public sensitivity, and therefore of the Spanish nation, only seeking to be the highest possible conscience of this society, he has a very distinct talent for producing universal works even though they are viscerally anchored in the soil of his country. The Comedias were performed in the corrales, a kind of interior courtyard, closed for the occasion, in which the public was seated according to a very precise social code.