ABSTRACT
El dragón del fuego, a play in three acts and an epilogue and divided into nine scenes, was first staged in the Teatro Español in Madrid on March 16, 1904. 1 Written by the highly renowned Spanish playwright of those times, Jacinto Benavente — winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1922 — this play was neither very well-known nor has it been studied by critics or scholars. It would be reasonable to assume that this work is a representation of a modernist’s approach to an exotic theme and did not attract the attention of Spanish critics or spectators of those times because of the ‘fantastic’ treatment of the theme. A prolific and successful playwright, Jacinto Benavente’s plays address a host of issues, ranging from a scathing criticism of the aristocratic classes, the political problems facing Spain during the period, the debate of Europeanisation and autochthonism that raged in Spain, the provincialism in the rural countryside, to social and political Darwinism in the discussions around imperialism and colonialism. At the same time, Benavente was criticised by other writers of his time for taking ambivalent stands on most of these issues and for preferring to tread the middle path. This could be due to the fact that he was aware that his popularity and success as a playwright depended largely on the very classes that he took up the cudgels against. However, Benavente’s contribution has been recognised for experimenting with a new form of theatre characterised by a ‘desire and need to break free from traditional moulds and create an art in tune with the new times; in fact [his theatre] aspires for naturalness in form, and complexity and [is] rich in nuances in content’. 2 Though Benavente’s importance as a dramatist is generally attributed to the fact that his theatrical form was a reaction against the kind of melodramatic high theatre that was in vogue in late 19th-century Spain, critics have pointed out that his plays too cater to the same taste as they are replete with complicated intrigues and crossed loves that are resolved most predictably. It can be said that Benavente did not seriously question the theatrical establishment of his times but preferred to write on a host of contentious themes from within the framework of accepted norms during those times. It is in this context that we could look at the play El dragón del fuego in order to see how an important event of world history like the rebellion of 1857 was represented by Jacinto Benavente for Spanish audiences.
