Celestina, La

Celestina, La

▪ novel by Rojas
      Spanish dialogue novel, generally considered the first masterpiece of Spanish prose and the greatest and most influential work of the early Renaissance in Spain.

      Originally published in 16 acts as the Comedia de Calisto y Melibea (1499; “Comedy of Calisto and Melibea”) and shortly thereafter in an expanded version with 21 acts as the Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea (1502), the work has been popularly known since its publication as La Celestina after its chief character, the bawd who serves as the go-between for the young lovers Calisto and Melibea. Celestina's deeply explored personality dominates the plot, ostensibly tragic, of the uncontrolled passion of the lovers, which ends in disaster after its consummation. Calisto is killed in a fall from the ladder to Melibea's window; Melibea commits suicide. Celestina's coarse humour and ironic commentary, however, undercut the tragic potential of the situation; the vivid depiction of her character overshadows the philosophical significance of the work in its theme of the vanity of the human struggle against the forces of fate.

      Authorship of the work, which was published anonymously, is generally attributed to Fernando de Rojas (Rojas, Fernando de) (c. 1465–1541), a converted Jewish lawyer about whom little else is known. La Celestina was widely imitated and reprinted in Spanish more than 100 times by the mid-17th century. It was translated into many languages, including English (The Spanish Bawd, 1631), French, Italian, German, Hebrew, and Latin. Often considered the first European novel, La Celestina was profoundly influential in the development of European prose fiction and is valued by critics today as much for its greatness as literature as for its historical significance.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Celestina —   [θeles tina], La Celestina, eigentlich (Tragi )Comẹdia de Calịsto y Melibẹa, spanisches Lesedrama in Prosa, entstanden um 1490. Die erste erhaltene Ausgabe (1499) umfasst 16 Akte, die Ausgaben ab 1502 21 Akte. Der Autor, zumindest der Akte 2 …   Universal-Lexikon

  • celestină — CELESTÍNĂ s.f. Sulfat de stronţiu natural, sticlos transparent, incolor sau uşor colorat, întrebuinţat ca materie primă la prepararea sărurilor de stronţiu. – Din fr. célestine. Trimis de valeriu, 13.09.2007. Sursa: DEX 98  celestínă s. f., g. d …   Dicționar Român

  • Celestīna — Celestīna, Titel eines span. dramatischen Prosaromans in 21 Akten, dessen Hauptfigur eine sittenlose Kupplerin mit Namen C. ist; daher typischer Name für jegliche Kupplerin; mit ironischer Absichtlichkeit oft Scelestina geschrieben, als käme das… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Celestina — Celestīna, span. Buchdrama, s. Rojas, Fernando de …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • celestina — s. f. 1.  [Botânica] Planta corimbífera, de belas flores azuis. • s. m. 2. Variedade azul de sulfato de estrôncio. 3.  [Figurado] Mulher finória que tem lábia. 4.  [Brasil] Enfermeira de ladrões e assassinos …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

  • Celestina, La —    by Fernando de Rojas (ca. 1490–1502)    La Celestina is the name popularly given to the famous Spanish prose dialogue originally published in 1499 as the Comedia de Calisto y Melibea. The anonymous first edition consisted of 16 auctos or acts …   Encyclopedia of medieval literature

  • Celestina — I (De Celestina, personaje literario.) ► sustantivo femenino 1 Alcahueta, persona que actúa de mediadora encubriendo o facilitando las relaciones amorosas entre otras. SINÓNIMO [encubridora] [tortaconventos] FRASEOLOGÍA polvos de la madre… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • celestina — I (De Celestina, personaje literario.) ► sustantivo femenino 1 Alcahueta, persona que actúa de mediadora encubriendo o facilitando las relaciones amorosas entre otras. SINÓNIMO [encubridora] [tortaconventos] FRASEOLOGÍA polvos de la madre… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • celestina — celestina1 (Por alus. a Celestina, personaje de la Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea). f. alcahueta (ǁ mujer que concierta una relación amorosa). ☛ V. polvo de la madre Celestina. celestina2 (De celeste). 1. f. Mineral formado por sulfato de… …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • Celestina, La — altCelestina o Tragicomedia de Calixto y Melibea, La/alt ► LITERATURA Obra atribuida a Fernando de Rojas. En la primera edición de 1499, en Burgos, contaba con 16 actos que pasaron a 21 en la de Sevilla de 1502. El tema central son los amores de… …   Enciclopedia Universal

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