Aspects of Leisure and Idleness in the Theatre and the Discourse about the Theatre in Eighteenth-Century Spain

• Main Author: Christian VON TSCHILSCHKE
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Universidad de Salamanca 2018-12-01
• Series: Cuadernos Dieciochistas
• Subjects: teatro; comedia neoclásica; ocio; ociosidad; jovellanos; segunda mitad del siglo xviii
• Online Access: http://revistas.usal.es/index.php/1576-7914/article/view/17677

This article exposes the complex relationship between leisure and its negative complement, idleness, in eighteenth-century Spanish theatre distinguishing two levels: the discourse about the theatre and the theatrical representations themselves, realized in different subgenres (neo-classic drama, sentimental drama, sainete). With regard to the controversial discussions about the theatre, several positions can be identified: either is leisure equated with idleness, or the two are clearly seperated from each other or the one is instrumentalized in order to fight the other. In the practice of neoclassical theatre, however, the moral censure of idleness inspired by a new ethics of work that implies the enhancement of leisure as a well deserved rest and revitalization prevails. In any case, the negotiations between leisure and idleness within the theoretical discussions of the theatre and its realization in practice during the second half of the eighteenth century turn out to be an important indicator of the ethic, aesthetic and social changes that mark the epoch.