This is the first critical edition and extended study of one of Calderón's most fascinating and neglected later works, La aurora en Copacabana, first published in the dramatist's Quarta parte. The exceptionally long play (over 4,200 lines) dramatises the Spanish conquest of Peru and the evangelisation of the Incas in the sixteenth century. The vivid, dense, spectacular drama displays a number of Calderón's characteristic concerns and techniques in an intriguing form.
Dr Engling's study includes a full introduction with a discussion of the various extant versions, a discussion of the plot, structure and staging of the play and a detailed examination of its themes and attitudes, relating them to other works ofCalderón.
EZRA S. ENGLING is Professor of Spanish at Texas A & M International University, Laredo.