La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus fortunas y adversidades

La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus fortunas y adversidades [la ˈβiða ðe laθaˈɾiʎo ðe ˈtormes i ðe sus forˈtunas i aðβersiˈðaðes]) is a Spanish novella, published anonymously because of its heretical content. It was published simultaneously in three cities in 1554: Alcalá de Henares, Burgos and Antwerp. The Alcalá de Henares edition adds some episodes which were probably written by a second author.

Contents [hide]

1 Summary

2 Importance as a novella

3 Prohibition

4 Literary significance and criticism

5 Reference in Don Quixote

6 Criticism by the author

7 Authorship

8 Sequels

9 Adaptations

10 Non-literary influence

11 References

12 Further reading

13 External links

Summary[edit]

Lázaro is a boy of humble origins from Salamanca. After his stepfather is accused of thievery, his mother asks a wily blind beggar to take Lazarillo (little Lázaro) on as his apprentice. Lázaro develops his cunning while serving the blind beggar and several other masters.

Table of contents:

Prologue

Chapter (or treatise) 1: childhood and apprenticeship to a blind man.

Chapter 2: serving a priest.

Chapter 3: serving a squire.

Chapter 4: serving a friar.

Chapter 5: serving a pardoner.

Chapter 6: serving a chaplain.

Chapter 7: serving a bailiff and an archbishop.

Importance as a novella[edit]

Besides its importance in the Spanish literature of the Golden Age, Lazarillo de Tormes is credited with founding a literary genre, the picaresque novel, from the Spanish word pícaro, meaning "rogue" or "rascal". In novels of this type, the adventures of the pícaro expose injustice while amusing the reader. This extensive genre includes Cervantes' Rinconete y Cortadillo and El coloquio de los perros, Henry Fielding's Tom Jones and Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Its influence extends to twentieth century novels, dramas and films featuring the "anti-hero".

Prohibition[edit]

Lazarillo de Tormes was banned by the Spanish Crown and included in the Index of Forbidden Books of the Spanish Inquisition; this was at least in part due to the BOOK'S anti-clerical flavour. In 1573, the Crown allowed circulation of a version which omitted Chapters 4 and 5 and assorted paragraphs from other parts of the book. An unabridged version did not appear in Spain until the nineteenth century. It was the Antwerp version that circulated throughout Europe, translated into French (1560), English (1576), Dutch (after the northern, largely Protestant Seven Provinces of the Low Countries revolted against Spain in 1579), German (1617), and Italian (1622).

Spanish first edition title pages in 1554 of Lazarillo de Tormes.

Burgos, Juan de Junta

Medina del Campo, Hermanos Del Canto

Alcalá de Henares, Salcedo

Antwerp, Martín Nucio

Literary

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