Life is a Dream (Illustrated Edition)

At the end of the 16th century, Spain had already found its literary hero in Cervantes, whose Don Quixote was so profound that the language is sometimes referred to as la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes"). Fittingly, Cervantes died on April 23, 1616, the very same day Shakespeare died. In that same time, a young man named Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681) was growing up, and though he spent time as both a soldier and Catholic priest, de la Barca would come to be known as an influential dramatist, poet and writer of the Spanish Golden Age as well. De la Barcas best known work, Life is a Dream, is a metaphysical tale about Segisimund, who is imprisoned by his father, the King, because it is prophesied that Segisimund would become a tyrant. One day the King relents and Segisimund awakens from his nightmare to find himself crown prince. De la Barca intentionally blurs the line between dream and reality to leave readers wondering which is which, and whether theyre the same. This edition of Life is a Dream is specially formatted with a Table of Contents and pictures of de la Barca, his life and work, as well as other important Spanish Golden Age writers.