House of Trials

            One of the supposed conventions found in House of Trials is the play’s poetic form, from its formatting to its rhyming couplets and verses. To begin with, the play is formatted in that of a poem instead of the usual format of printing line after line, which indicates the way that the lines are to be spoken and presented. The lines are supposed to flow and follow melodic patterns and rhythms as opposed to just being spoken aloud, and the majority of all Spanish Golden Age plays probably follows this convention. Another piece of evidence to attest for this convention is the play’s rhyming scheme, as some of the verses are rhymed and each scene ends on a rhyming couplet. For example, the first scene ends on Doña Ana’s line:

            “Love, since you tempt me with this destiny,

                 do not deny the rewards of this opportunity.”

Each scene ending follows this pattern, adding to the poetic form of this play.

            Another convention found is the characters’ hyperawareness of them being a part of a play, especially Castaño and Celia. In the opening scene, Celia comments on Doña Leonor’s monologue by exclaiming, “That’s great! A monologue in the middle of the night,” providing the first example of characters acknowledging their presence in a piece of theatre. Although this first instance is stated by Celia, Castaño is usually the one who speaks to the audience in this manner, as he has several instances of talking about the plot. For example, at one point he exclaims, “The plot thickens!” and although this is known as a common expression, its use in a play adds an extra element of the characters’ consciousness. Another example of this is Castaño stating that “the idea for a plot just struck [him],” which indicates that he is fully aware of the consequences of his actions in regards to the progression of the play. This convention is not one that is seen often in today’s theatre, but is something that is possibly a fad of the Spanish Golden Age.