Life Is a Dream

Life Is a Dream (Spanish: La vida es sueno is a Spanish-language play by Pedro Calderon de la Barca. First published in 1635, it is a philosophical allegory regarding the human situation and the mystery of life. The play has been described as "the supreme example of Spanish Golden Age drama." The story focuses on the fictional Segismundo, Prince of Poland, who has been imprisoned in a tower by his father, King Basilio, following a dire prophecy that the prince would bring disaster to the country and death to the King. Basilio briefly frees Segismundo, but when the prince goes on a rampage, the king imprisons him again, persuading him that it was all a dream. The play's central theme is the conflict between free will and fate. It remains one of Calderon's best-known and most studied works. Other themes include dreams vs. reality and the conflict between father and son. The play has been adapted for other stage works, in film and as a novel. Rosaura walks through the mountains of Poland, dressed as a man. She finds Clarin, a jester, who tries to make her forget how miserably Poland receives visitors. They arrive at a tower, where they find Segismundo imprisoned, bound in chains. He tells them that his only crime was being born. Clotaldo, Segismundo's old warden and tutor, arrives and orders his guards to disarm and kill the intruders. But he recognizes Rosaura's sword as his own that he had left behind in Muskovy years ago for his child to bear. Suspecting that Rosaura is his child (he thinks she is male), he takes Rosaura and Clarin with him to court."