Articles in a Journal
Abstract:
Calderón's court spectacle play Eco y Narciso was first performed in 1661 to celebrate the tenth birthday of the princess Margarita, the infanta in the center of Velázquez's painting Las meninas ( 1656). Calderón opens the drama with a celebration of the birthday of the shepherdess Echo, thus suggesting an analogy between the mythical nymph and the princess. This analogy, together with the reflections between the characters within the drama, invites us to see in this courtly play, as in Velázquez's famous painting, a reflection on the nature of subjectivity, desire and monarchical power.