Alarcon y Mendoza

Alarcon y Mendoza, JUAN RUIZ DE, one of the most eminent of Spanish dramatists, born at the town of Tasco in Mexico, about the end of the 16th century. Little is known of his early life, but in 1622 we find him at Madrid, where he was appointed to the office of relator (reporter) of the royal council of the Indies. His first volume of Comedias appeared at Madrid in 1628; his second, at Barcelona, in 1634. Throughout his lifetime, and until his death, which took place in 1639, he was assailed in venomous lampoons by contemporary poets and dramatists. For his haughty scorn of his rivals and the public, the poet was rewarded by being neglected for generations, save by plagiarists, who found his forgotten works a safe and easy prey. He is now admitted to hold a place as a dramatist next after Calderon and Lope de Vega. His plots are ingenious, but natural; his style, chaste, but vigorous; and his works are marked throughout by rare elevation of feeling. He excelled in the heroic drama, the best specimens of this kind being El Tejedor de Segovia. His mastery in delineating character is shown in his character-comedies. The best known are La Verdad Sospechosa (imitated by Corneille in his Menteur) and Las Paredes Oyen. Of his comedies of intrigue, the best is Todo es ventura. A complete edition of his comedies was published at Madrid by Hartzenbusch (1848-52), and by García Ramón (2 vols. 1884).