Poly-Anthroponomical Technique in Buero Vallejo's Drama Las Meninas

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, the introductory paragraph is included here. Twenty-five years after the Civil War (1936-1939), known as the "Little World War" in Spain, the United States brought Antonio Buero Vallejo to visit American colleges and universities as part of its cultural exchange program. He has been a special guest at the Modern Language Association meetings numerous times. His play Las Meninas, acclaimed to be his masterpiece out of his over 35 classical plays, is also the name of the masterpiece painting by the famous Vehizquez, who revolutionized art by introducing the technique of painting the atmosphere, light and space. Buero uses the literary onomastic technique we call poly-anthroponmnical, in which one entity or character uses many different names in a subtle manner, thus making it fall within a particular realm of ontology. This technique is not to be confused with categories of names (chimerical, puns, etc.). The main character of Las Meninas is Velazquez, carefully researched by Buero Vallejo, who is a professional painter himself. He kept his sanity during his seven years in jail after the Civil War by painting portraits of inmates. The play was censored by Franco for two years, but finally, in the 300th anniversary of Vehizquez, it was premiered in 1960. Hypocrisy, conflict between Church and State, superstition, exploitation of the poor, and taxation to the limit are exposed.