A critical edition of Lope de Vega's 'San Nicolás de Tolentino' with an introductory study

This thesis presents a first critical edition of Lope de Vega’s saint’s play 'San Nicolás de Tolentino' (c. 1614) alongside an introductory study. The text is based on the sole seventeenth-century witness. The four modern re-prints/editions of the play have been consulted to help remedy defects in the 'princeps', which has been edited in accordance with the current practices of 'comedia' editors. Variants are collated in a list following the playtext. Footnotes to the text explain the important complexities and obscurities of 'San Nicolás' and some idiosyncrasies of Golden-Age literature generally. The introductory study has six sections. The first pieces together a history of the veneration of St Nicholas in Spain, detailing the miracles and patronages that might have led Lope to compose this play of his own accord or that might have led to a commission. Internal evidence suggests strongly that any commission must have come specifically from the Discalced Augustinians. The second section examines Lope’s possible sources, concluding tentatively that Critana’s 'Vida' is the most likely source. Sections 3 and 4 present an interpretation of the protagonists – Nicolás and the 'gracioso' Ruperto. My comparison of Lope’s Nicolás with the saint depicted in the hagiographies casts into relief techniques Lope used to prevent this prodigious miracle-worker from alienating the audience. The 'gracioso' character, I argue, is intended to offer a model of Christian piety of a humbler kind: one significant factual departure from the hagiographic tradition places Ruperto at the forefront of the play’s religious purpose. However, a couple of comically lewd scenes in Act 2 (unmentioned by previous critics) make for a complex 'gracioso' struggling to resist temptation. I argue that Ruperto’s inner turmoil might reflect Lope’s own sense of unworthiness as he prepared for priestly ordination. Section 5 treats the supernatural in 'San Nicolás', demonstrating Lope’s familiarity with early modern theories of supernatural phenomenology and concluding that, despite the typically allegorical names of Ira, Carne, and Inobediencia, for example, these figures are intended, not as literary abstractions, but as real spirits, incorporeal demons. The final section presents an analysis of the play’s versification, which is largely in keeping with Lope’s usual habits.This thesis is not currently available on ORA