CALDERON AS POET AND DRAMATIST. 
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the action and characters, the Spanish being especially strong in 
plot, and the English in character delineation. It is important 
to remember this distinction in judging Calderon. Calderon, the 
successor of Lope de Vega, belonged to what is now called the 
"Komantic School," and was essentially Spanish; so we must 
criticise him, not by the classic standard set up by France, which 
in Europe in the 18th century crippled genius and perverted 
criticism, but by studying his plays carefully, seek for the 
cause of his great popularity. The stage in Calderon's time was 
similar to the English stage of Shakspere's time, and was a 
rough scaffolding erected at the back of private houses. The 
royal theatre, however, adopted several improvements. 
Calderon, or, to give him his full name, Don Pedro Calderon de 
la Barca, was born in 1600, the son of noble parents, and destined 
in infancy for the priesthood. He received a good education at the 
Jesuit College of Madrid, and the University of Salamanca. His 
first work was a poem written for the Festival of St. Isidore in 
1620. He wrote another in 1622, which received high praise 
from Lope de Vega. He obtained a post at the Court, becoming 
a soldier, and served in Flanders in 1625. The King, Philip IV., 
was passionately fond of the theatre, and secured the services of 
Calderon to provide plays for the Court entertainments. In 1636 
he was made Knight of the Order of St. Jago, and served in 
Catalonia, where he took his part in suppressing a rebellion. He 
returned invalided in 1642, and in 1650 fulfilled his mother's 
wish by joining a religious fraternity. His friend and patron, 
Philip IV., died in 1666, and Calderon was somewhat lonely in 
his old age. We know little of his life at this time, but his 
contemporaries speak of his gentleness and kindness. Boissel, in 
his Voyage en Espagne, published in 1669, gives a somewhat 
contemptuous notice of him, for the Frenchman looked down on 
the great Spanish dramatist who was ignorant of the "unities." 
His death, at the age of eighty, was mourned not only in Spain, 
but at Lisbon, Milan, and Eome. Calderon describes his own 
appearance in some lines too long to quote. He had a high fore- 
head, bright eyes, and sweet voice. His portrait hangs on the 
right of the high altar of the Church of St. Peter, at Madrid. 
Calderon's plays are very numerous, amounting, some say, to 
fifteen hundred. They may be divided into : 
1. Secular. 2. Keligious. 
