The following article examines the role of the
sentidos and the
entendimiento in Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s
auto sacramental,
El cubo de la Almudena. While scholarship recognises the pervasiveness of the play on the senses in early modern Spain, scholars
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The following article examines the role of the
sentidos and the
entendimiento in Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s
auto sacramental,
El cubo de la Almudena. While scholarship recognises the pervasiveness of the play on the senses in early modern Spain, scholars often either deny or overemphasise the reliability of the senses as a means of truth acquisition. Moreover, scholarship often attaches too much weight to hearing, thus neglecting the role of the eyes of the
entendimiento. Based on a Thomistic framework, Calderón demonstrates that the literal element of allegory relies on the active vehicle of the senses to serve as guides for the
entendimiento and an entrance into devotion. Although hearing plays a central role in the play, it serves as a herald for sight, by which the devotee exercises faith. Moreover, where the
sentidos prove limited, the
entendimiento is an auxiliary support that makes up for their lack, seeing beyond sensual perception through faith. In this way, the medium of the
auto sacramental and the theology of the Eucharist train the audience to use the vision of faith through both the senses and the
entendimiento to see the allegorical meaning of the play, the divine nature of the Eucharist provided by Mary.
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