the power of the dramatic «auctoritas»: francisco de rojas zorrilla in front of the byzantine comedy

Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla was one of the poets most favoured by the Court, even more than Calderón de la Barca. That royal favour gave him a creative freedom that lead to experiment with new methods, genres and motifs. That was the case of Persiles and Sigismunda, not only a mere adaptation of the cervantine novel, but also an attempt to surpass the model that Lope de Vega had created for the byzantine comedy, adding new formulas to a genre considered closed.