Gil Vicente

author

Gil Vicente

A founding voice of Portuguese theater, he wrote lively, satirical plays that mixed comedy, devotion, and sharp social observation. His work helped shape drama in both Portuguese and Spanish during the early 16th century.

2 Audiobooks

Pranto de Maria Parda Porque vio as ruas de Lisboa com tão poucos ramos nas tavernas, e o vinho tão caro e ella não podia passar sem elle

Pranto de Maria Parda Porque vio as ruas de Lisboa com tão poucos ramos nas tavernas, e o vinho tão caro e ella não podia passar sem elle

by Gil Vicente

Four Plays of Gil Vicente

Four Plays of Gil Vicente

by Gil Vicente

About the author

Very little about his life can be pinned down with certainty, but Gil Vicente is generally placed around c. 1465 to c. 1536 and is widely regarded as the great early dramatist of Portugal. He worked at the royal court, where his plays were staged for religious festivals, celebrations, and major court occasions.

His writing is remembered for its energy, humor, and wide view of society. In short dramatic pieces often called autos and farses, he brought together nobles, clergy, servants, merchants, and ordinary townspeople, using wit and satire to expose vanity, hypocrisy, and human weakness.

He also wrote lyric poetry and worked in both Portuguese and Spanish, which helped give his work an unusually broad place in Iberian literary history. Because so much of his biography remains uncertain, his lasting reputation rests above all on the plays themselves and on the lasting influence they had on Portuguese theater.