Silence is Golden: Contexts
Author
Pedro Calderón de la Barca was born in 1600, and studied with the Jesuits, who used drama as part of their course material. The peak of Calderón’s writing occurred in the 1630s, including a performance at the invitation of King Philip IV in 1634. Calderón joined the Order of Santiago in 1636, and wrote No hay cosa c. 1638-39. In the latter half of his life, Calderón took holy orders in 1651 and became a chaplain in Toledo in 1653. He died in 1681.
Setting
The play takes place in and around Madrid. It in part dramatizes Spain’s defeat of the French at Fuenterrabía, a coastal town in northern Spain, which—historically—occurred during the summer of 1638.
Don Juan
In this play, Calderón takes the character Don Juan, first created by Golden Age dramatist Tirso de Molina, and makes him even more villainous. Here, he is not just a seducer; he is an assailant.
Siglo de Oro
Sometimes referred to as the “Hispanic Baroque” period, Golden Age of Spain refers approximately to the years between 1580-1680, when Spain steadily gained power and wealth as one of the greatest empires in the world, only to suffer an unavoidable decline. It was this situation which gave occasion to the dramatists (and other artists of the period) the material with which to create the rich corpus complex, contradictory, and entertaining drama that still exists today. Of the approximately 10,000 plays written in the period, several hundred exist today. The dramatic output of the period is wide in scope too: there are tragedies, comedies, short plays, religious plays—the list goes on.
Women in Early Modern Spain
In the rigidly structured society of early modern Spain, women were representative of a family’s honor, or the way in which they were respected. Daughters were married off, and dowries offered to mates. Unions became emblematic of (a means of) social mobility and status. Women were often confined to their homes, and when they did go out, they were veiled and with chaperone in order to avoid scandalous situations.
Synopsis
Silence is Golden tells the story of Doña Leonor as she struggles in silence following a sexual assault. The impetuous Don Juan falls in love with Leonor from afar, and is thrilled when—upon returning home on an unexpected errand—finds Leonor asleep in his bedroom, taking refuge from a fire in her own home at the urging of Don Juan’s father. Don Juan violates the woman, then sneaks off into the night, his identity unknown. Two months pass, and Leonor has stayed silent on the incident, and even turned away the man she truly loves, but reveals that she has seized a gold, scallop-shell locket from Don Juan’s neck, which inside contains a miniature portrait (of Marcela, his former lover)—a token she hopes will help her unlock the identity of the assailant. When the very same woman from the portrait has a coach accident in front of her house, Leonor seizes the opportunity; she finds out her identity and goes to visit her, though she ends up leaving her only witness—the locket—with Marcela. When Marcela offers the locket to a new lover—Don Diego, Leonor’s brother—as proof she is no longer with Don Juan, Leonor steals back the locket. When Don Juan, by accident of proximity, bursts through Leonor’s door in the final scene of the play, the two eventually recognize one another. In private, Leonor asks Don Juan to remain silent so that she can withdraw to a convent and not face public shame, but the couple are overheard; Don Juan has no choice but to offer his hand to Leonor, and the (unhappy) couple are to marry.