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Abstract

The following thesis explores the role of melancholy in the context of the Hispanic Monarchy, particularly the period between the last decades of the 16th century to mid-17th century, from the end of Phillip II’s reign to the death of Phillip IV. This was an era characterized by economic troubles, political upheaval, attempts by some provinces to secede from the monarchy, and a profound crisis of humanistic and religious systems. Considering the tumultuous context described previously and its effects on individuals, this study proposes a versatile definition of melancholy, the most widespread emotional state of the period. Comprised of three core analytical elements, melancholy is applied as a methodology to examine the literature of the period specifically drama. The first element is the presence of a subject who desires which is followed by a phantasmagorical object that cannot be attained by the subject resulting in the third key analytical element, active and passive emotions. Building on this definition, melancholy is analyzed in dialogue with two areas of research that have been applied but not combined to the study of the Early Modern Hispanic context: Cognitive Studies, which focuses on psychosomatic internal disorders and a cultural perspective, which adopts an external, and collective approach. This thesis demonstrates how the proposed definition of melancholy shaped thought, ideas, and, ultimately, it impacted the Hispanic worldview of the 16th and 17th centuries. By using works by Calderón de la Barca, Miguel de Cervantes, Lope de Vega, and Diego Calleja as the primary corpus, this thesis explores melancholy across three interconnected levels. It begins with its most personal and intimate form: love melancholy. It then expands to a broader, collective dimension through sociopolitical melancholy, and finally reaches its most encompassing expression in religious melancholy, understood as a reflection of universal values.