Soy Luna 2 Catch Me If

In Próspera fortuna and Adversa fortuna de don Álvaro de Luna, Mira de Amescua frames the political institution of privanza within late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century theological debates over the nature of free will. (1) The two-part historical play traces the rise and fall of Álvaro de Luna, the fifteenth-century favorite of Juan II accused by his contemporaries of controlling the king with magic. When Luna, the Constable of Castile, was executed in 1453 after enjoying years of unprecedented political power as Juan II's privado, poets and chroniclers played off his name and presented the fallen privado as a waxing and waning moon. This literary tradition lasted well into the seventeenth century, and, not surprisingly, Mira employs celestial references throughout the two plays and uses lunar cycles and eclipses to represent the changing phases of Luna's position at court. To explain the celestial motifs, most studies defer to Raymond McCurdy's argument that the images complement the play's "structural principle analogous in function to the Wheel of Fortune," by mirroring Luna's rise to power, peak, and fall from favor (112). McCurdy bases his premise on Bernardo Gicovate's observations that when viewed as a singular work, Próspera and Adversa fortuna illustrate "the full circle of the privado's rise and fall" and become "a perfect example of Aristotelian tragedy" (335). Rather than commenting on privanza as an institution, McCurdy argues that the lunar and solar analogies serve as metaphors that juxtapose the permanence of royal power against the temporary favor enjoyed by the privado, who necessarily falls into ruin like any other tragic hero. This interpretation explains, as many critics have noted, why Mira seems to omit direct references to Luna's historic reputation as a villain in order to better present the privado as a convincing tragic figure. (2)

Soy Luna 2 Catch Me If

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