La Vida Es Sueño / Life Is a Dream

La obra emblemática de Calderón de la Barca, La vida es sueño, una pieza clave y fundamental del Siglo de Oro, considerada una de las obras maestras del teatro español de todos los tiempos. ¿Somos libres o estamos predeterminados al nacer? A esta pregunta universal intenta dar respuesta La vida es sueño. El príncipe Segismundo representa la condición humana: la lucha por la libertad en contra del destino. El rey Basilio, su padre, le mantiene encerrado en una torre desde niño porque según los astros llegará a ser un tirano cuando alcance le trono. En este drama, el componente filosófico cobra una importancia decisiva: se indaga sobre las distintas maneras de interpretar la realidad, #que toda la vida es sueño, y los sueños, sueños son#. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION The most famous of all Calderon‘s varied and romantic dramas, this seventeenth-century masterpiece by the great Spanish playwright explores the conflict between free will and predestination as it focuses on the life of Segismundo, a Polish prince imprisoned at birth by his father, the King. The monarch‘s heartless action, precipitated by astrologers who predict the boy will one day usurp the throne, paves the way for a series of events that turn the son against the father and lead to rebellion. Years later, following a revolution and the peasants‘ seizure of power, the grim prophecy uttered at the Prince‘s birth threatens to become a painful reality. For this edition, Stanley Appelbaum has written an informative introduction and an excellent new literal translation that appears on pages facing the Spanish original. A valuable text for students of Spanish language and literature, this volume will delight any reader interested in classics from Spain‘s Golden Age of drama.