Celestina

Celestina is the title character. Would you describe her as the protagonist? Why or why not? Who do you think is the antagonist?

What do you think Celestina is saying about the nature of love? If the story is a lesson, what do you think you as the reader are meant to do with this lesson?

Although Celestina was written as a novel, because it is composed in dialogue, it has also been staged as a play. What are some of the complications that you foresee in staging the text? What are some ways that it might be effective onstage?

Celestina was first published in the early 16th century. How has it withstood the test of time? What still seems relevant? What seems dated?

In the text, characters often make allusions to classical Greek and Roman mythology and history. Choose one such instance and analyze it. What do the allusions mean? How do they inform the text and the way the character uses them? Do different characters use allusions differently? If so, how and why?

Celestina is often considered to be either the last literary work of the middle ages or the first literary work of the Spanish Renaissance. Choose either era to research. Use examples from the text to make your case as to which period the novel belongs.

The author, Ferdinand de Rojas, stated that he discovered the first act already written and then decided to complete the text himself. Imagine that it is your job to do the same. Given only the first act, how would you finish the story?

The first edition of Celestina was five acts shorter as de Rojas did not add the plotline in which Sempronio kills Celestina and then throws himself out the window with Pármeno. Instead, the story went right to Calisto and Melibea’s tragic ending. How did the plot addition affect the story and change the overall tone and message of the novel? Do you think that this was an effective addition? Why or why not?