Theatre and Politics in Nineteenth-Century Spain
Juan De Grimaldi as Impresario and Government Agent

The first in-depth study of Grimaldi's involvement in the literary and political progress of nineteenth-century Spain.

David Thatcher Gies (Author)

9780521021012, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 October 2005

272 pages
22.9 x 15 x 1.8 cm, 0.419 kg

"There are a number of good entomology books on the market. Few, however, have integrated the living and fossil record as seamlessly as David Grimaldi and Michael Engel's Evolution of the Insects. None, moreover, has combined this integration with so much student-friendly text and such a wealth of illustrations (more than 900)." Science

The Frenchman Juan de Grimaldi was instrumental in the development of the Spanish theatre in the 1820s and 30s, at a time when censorship, repression, and economic chaos had left it in a state of stagnation. As impresario and stage director, he trained actors in the new style of declamation, made physical changes in sets and lighting, translated recent French plays into Spanish, and encouraged the writing of original Spanish plays. His own magical comedy, La Pata de Cabra (1829), was outstandingly successful. Grimaldi was also a wealthy businessman and newspaper editor, and the patron of many important Spanish Romantic writers. He was active in politics, vigorously defending the moderate policies of the Queen Regent, María Cristina, and of Prime Minister Ramón de Nerváez. Even after his return to Paris, Grimaldi continued to work secretly as an agent of the Spanish government. Based on original archival materials, this is the first in-depth study of Grimaldi's involvement in the literary and political progress of nineteenth-century Spain.

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Spanish stage, 1800–23
2. Grimaldi at the beginning of the 'Ominous Decade'
3. On the eve of romanticism
4. The romantic stage
5. Grimaldi: journalist, historian, diplomat
6. Conclusion
Appendices
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: plays & playwrights [DSG]