A timeless story of love, morality, and tragedy, Fernando de Rojas's "Celestina"
is a classic of Spanish literature. Second only to "Don Quixote" in its cultura
l importance, Rojas' dramatic dialogue presents the elaborate tale of a star-cro
ssed courtship between the young nobleman Calisto and the beautiful maiden Melib
ea in fifteenth-century Spain. Their unforgettable saga plays out in vibrant exc
hanges, presented here in a brilliant new translation by award-winning translato
r Margaret Sayers Peden.
After a chance encounter with Melibea leaves Calisto
entranced by her charms, he enlists the services of Celestina, an aged prostitu
te, madam, and procuress, to arrange another meeting. She promptly seizes contro
l of the affair, guiding it through a series of mishaps before it meets its trag
ic end. At times a comic character and at others a self-assertive promoter of wo
men's sexual license, Celestina is an inimitable personality with a surprisingly
modern consciousness, certain to be relished by a new generation of readers.
