Ezra Pound once observed that Lope de Vega gave Spain her theatre and Spain in turn gave her theatre to Europe, but this fact of literary history is barely understood and even less well documented as regards the impact of the Comedia on European drama in the seventeenth century itself, especially by Lope de Vega. The essays in this volume demonstrate and explore Spain's influence on the national dramas of Europe, directing attention to the reception of the Spanish comediain Italy, France, England, Holland, Germany, and Poland.
HENRY W. SULLIVAN is Professor of Spanish at the University of New Orleans.