Antonio de Zamora facts for kids
Antonio de Zamora was a famous Spanish playwright, which means he wrote plays for the theater. He was born in Madrid, Spain, on November 1, 1660, and passed away in Ocaña on December 7, 1727.
Contents
About Antonio de Zamora
Early Life and Career
Antonio de Zamora started his career in the government. By 1689, he worked for the Ministry for the Indies, which handled matters for New Spain (a large area in the Americas). He was friends with another playwright named Francisco Bances Candamo. Zamora took over from Candamo as the official poet for the government in 1694.
In 1696, the city council of Madrid hired him to create "Hieroglyphs" for the funeral of the Queen Mother, Mariana. These were special designs and writings for her tomb. Two years later, in 1698, he became a chamberlain for King Charles II. This meant he was an important person in the King's royal household.
The city council also asked him to write inscriptions for the King's special funeral platform in the same church. He even wrote poems for the King's funeral. Later, in 1711, he was asked to create more "Hieroglyphics" to honor Louis, the Grand Dauphin, who was the crown prince of France and the father of King Philip V of Spain.
Supporting the New King
Zamora was a strong supporter of the House of Bourbon, a royal family, during the War of the Spanish Succession. This was a big war about who would be the next king of Spain. Because he supported the Bourbons, he had to hide from people who supported the other side (the pro-Austrian group).
When Philip V, the Bourbon king, entered Madrid, Zamora celebrated with a special play called The marriage suit of body and soul. This play was a type of religious drama known as an sacramental ordinance, similar to those written by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. He also wrote a heroic poem called Epinicio métrico, Prosphonema numeroso for the occasion.
In 1707, a musical play called a zarzuela (a Spanish musical theater form) titled Love conquers all was created to celebrate the birth of Louis I. This play was performed with music by Antonio de Literes. Zamora also wrote the musical drama Angélica y Medoro for Louis's wedding.
His Published Works
In 1722, Antonio de Zamora published a collection of his plays. He called it "New comedies." This collection showed that he followed the style of Calderón, another famous playwright. Zamora often reworked older plays from the 1600s. His work also hinted at the popular style that Ramón de la Cruz would later make famous.
Popular Plays and Themes
Zamora wrote many different kinds of plays that were popular in his time.
- Religious Plays: These plays were about saints or religious stories. Examples include Judas Iscariot and The morning star of Madrid and divine laborer San Isidro.
- Historical Plays: These plays were based on historical events. Some examples are The Maid of Orleans (about Joan of Arc) and The defense of Tarifa.
- Character Comedies: These plays focused on specific types of characters. Two notable ones are Don Domingo de don Blas and Don Bruno de Calahorra.
One of his most famous plays was The one bewitched by force, first performed in 1698. This play made fun of a foolish character named Don Claudio. Like the French playwright Molière, Zamora created a character with more bad habits than good ones. Don Claudio was a rich and powerful man who thought he was better than everyone else. He refused to get married, which stopped his sister from marrying too. His arrogant and stubborn attitude caused a lot of trouble for his servants, friends, and doctor.
To solve the problem, the other characters had to trick him. They made him believe he was cursed and would die if he didn't get married. This play was very popular and was performed for over 150 years!
Another very successful play by Zamora was There are no unmet deadlines and no unpaid debts, or the Stone Guest. This play was based on the famous legend of Don Juan. Zamora's version was more direct than the one by Tirso de Molina and more realistic than José Zorrilla's. This play was performed every year during the festival of the dead until Zorrilla's version became more popular.
Zamora also enjoyed writing about folk tales and fantasy. His popular comedy The magician of Salerno is a good example of this. He also worked on the zarzuela, which he called "musical drama." He wrote the words (libretto) for The wind is the joy of love, which had music by José de Nebra. For these musical works, he often chose stories from mythology.
Collections of His Plays
His plays were published in four volumes in Madrid in 1722. The collection was called New comedies (Comedias Nuevas con los mismos saynetes con que se executaron). Another collection was published in Madrid in 1744, titled Comedias de don Antonio de Zamora gentil-hombre que fue de la casa de su magestad, y su oficial de la Secretaría de Indias, parte de Nueva España.
Zamora also wrote short, funny plays called entreméses. These short plays helped bridge the gap to the popular style of Ramón de la Cruz. Some of his entremeses include The slaps, The gurruminos and the gurruminas, and The lawsuit of the landlady and the stake. He also wrote dances like The peddler's love and The judgement of Paris. These were all clever, funny, and sometimes satirical short performances. Many of them can be found in a collection called Collection of entremeses by Cotarelo.
Works
- Comedias Nuevas con los mismos saynetes con que se executaron, Madrid, 1722.
- Comedias de don Antonio de Zamora gentil-hombre que fue de la casa de su magestad, y su oficial de la Secretaría de Indias, parte de Nueva España, Madrid, 1744.
See also
In Spanish: Antonio de Zamora para niños
