Katie Marchant -- Meditation #10 -- Life Is A Dream

I really did enjoy reading this play, it is interesting to compare the writing the writing style of Calderon, a Spanish playwright, to the English playwrights we have been focusing on. I like how similar the styles are even though the culture in the two countries is very different. I really liked how Calderon worked in the love and relationships aspect of the story without making them the major plot of the play, like some of the others we have read. It gets kind of boring after a while when the entire context is about who is whose lover and what they have been doing. In Life Is A Dream there is the plot of Segismund seeing Estrella and falling in love with her but the more important plot is how he is convinced that it was all a dream. I did some research on Calderon and learned that he was a priest; I think that is part of his life may have influenced some of the themes or ideas in Life Is A Dream. The idea that a person can make their own future out of their dreams and aspirations and that honor and loyalty are very important virtues to have could stem from his faith.