Polémicas teatrales del siglo XVIII en España y en Inglaterra

Resumen

In the first part of the thesis a comparison is drawn between two metatheatrical plays from the end of the 18th century, Leandro Fernández de Moratín’s La comedia nueva and Sheridan’s The Critic. These plays are examined in the context of the theatrical controversies that took place during the 18th century in England and Spain. In the second part of the thesis the reasons for a disparity are explored; for even though the theatrical situation in both countries is very similar, in Spain the answer to a theatrical scene considered deplorable by the neoclassicists is presented in terms of a “reform”, which is moreover backed by the government. Nothing of the kind happens in England. In this part of the thesis, and starting from some capital critical works and the topics discussed by their authors, I look into the different value, weight or meaning of a few “backdrops” in Spanish and English criticism of the time: patriotism, religion, politics… This brings us to the differences in the historical circumstances of both countries that help to explain the absence of a “theatrical war” in England. Religion, for instance, is one factor that substantially modifies the symmetry of the parallelism that could initially be established between the theatrical polemics that take place in both countries. Owing to the role the Puritans had played in the history of England, virulent attacks on the theatre are slightly suspect there, and neither the Whig administration nor the Hanoverian monarchy considered actively intervening in a theatrical reform. But the Puritans and the middle classes, more prudish in their tastes than the audience of the Restoration, had enough weight to affect the course of the drama by creating an atmosphere out of which the sentimental comedy was born.