Spanish poet and dramatist. He was one of the founders of modern Spanish drama. He wrote epics, pastorals, odes, sonnets, novels, and over 500 plays (of which 426 are still in existence), mostly tragicomedies. He set out his views on drama in
Arte nuevo de hacer comedias/The New Art of Writing Plays (1609), in which he defended his innovations while reaffirming the classical forms.
Fuenteovejuna (
c. 1614) has been acclaimed as the first proletarian drama.
© RM 2009. Helicon Publishing is division of RM.