Book dossier

La Celestina

by Fernando de Rojas

Celestina is the most remarkable work produced in 15th century Spain and its influence has been enduring and profound. It is a prose dialogue divided into 21 'acts', starting in comedy and ending in tragedy. The story tells of a bachelor, Calisto, who uses the old procuress Celestina to start an affair with Melibea, an unmarried girl kept in seclusion by her parents. Though the two use the rhetoric of courtly love, sex - not marriage - is their aim. When he dies in an accident, Melibea commits suicide after confessing to her father.