The Celestina Essay
Garrett Gutierrez
Maria Robertson-Justiano
UCLR 100
13 February 2015
Consequences of Love One of the greatest and most influential books of its time, The Celestina broke all the social boundaries of a typical fifteenth century text. Coined as the first ever-Spanish novel, Fernando de Rojas’s tragic comedy is the story of a young nobleman named Calisto who seeks help from the town procuress, Celestina, to win over the beautiful Melibea. As the tale goes on, it becomes easier to see the false notion that each character has of love. The central theme of The Celestina is love, which is portrayed as a powerful force in the novel that produces lust, greed, and despair. Right from the start, the relationship between Calisto and Melibea starts off in a capricious way. Seeing her in Pleberio’s garden, Calisto immediately is drawn by Melibea’s good looks, claiming to her that God exercised, “In His giving nature the power to endow you with such perfect beauty” (Rojas 1). Certainly seems to be a flattering compliment, however, throughout the text it is this physical attraction alone that allures Calisto towards his muse. Near the end of the story, when Calisto finally wins over Melibea, he is more clearly speaking to her as an object that is primarily meant to fulfill his desires. After sneaking into Pleberio’s garden once again to meet Melibea, Calisto states, “Long have I been swimming in this hot sea of desire. Would you refuse me in your dear port?” (Rojas 150). Thus, it is clear that Calisto is arguing for his own immoral self-satisfying needs to be met. This helps exemplify the lust that Calisto feels for Melibea, and is a key aspect of his supposed “love.” The culture of Spain in the fifteenth century revolved around feudalism and the class system. Both Calisto and Melibea were of noble birth and would have had no problem being approved to be married in their society. Yet, instead of simply working towards becoming secured within the safe confines of marriage,
Maria Robertson-Justiano
UCLR 100
13 February 2015
Consequences of Love One of the greatest and most influential books of its time, The Celestina broke all the social boundaries of a typical fifteenth century text. Coined as the first ever-Spanish novel, Fernando de Rojas’s tragic comedy is the story of a young nobleman named Calisto who seeks help from the town procuress, Celestina, to win over the beautiful Melibea. As the tale goes on, it becomes easier to see the false notion that each character has of love. The central theme of The Celestina is love, which is portrayed as a powerful force in the novel that produces lust, greed, and despair. Right from the start, the relationship between Calisto and Melibea starts off in a capricious way. Seeing her in Pleberio’s garden, Calisto immediately is drawn by Melibea’s good looks, claiming to her that God exercised, “In His giving nature the power to endow you with such perfect beauty” (Rojas 1). Certainly seems to be a flattering compliment, however, throughout the text it is this physical attraction alone that allures Calisto towards his muse. Near the end of the story, when Calisto finally wins over Melibea, he is more clearly speaking to her as an object that is primarily meant to fulfill his desires. After sneaking into Pleberio’s garden once again to meet Melibea, Calisto states, “Long have I been swimming in this hot sea of desire. Would you refuse me in your dear port?” (Rojas 150). Thus, it is clear that Calisto is arguing for his own immoral self-satisfying needs to be met. This helps exemplify the lust that Calisto feels for Melibea, and is a key aspect of his supposed “love.” The culture of Spain in the fifteenth century revolved around feudalism and the class system. Both Calisto and Melibea were of noble birth and would have had no problem being approved to be married in their society. Yet, instead of simply working towards becoming secured within the safe confines of marriage,