Another skirmish in the early rivalry between Lope and Góngora: The esdrújulo (proparoxytone) sonnet of “El caballero del milagro”

Abstract

This paper analyzes the comical and parodical sense of the proparoxytone sonnet that Luzmán, a main character in El caballero del milagro, declaims with the purpose of cheating Leonato and Camilo, his opponents. Contrary to what some critiques have argued, it is proved that Lope was not unaware of the comical usage of the verses whose accent falls on the third last syllable before 1600, as there are at least three other examples of this kind of versification in his work. Finally, and considering the historical moment when Lope wrote this comedy (1593), a reading, in which the work is seen as another piece in the puzzle of the early rivalry between the madrileño playwright and Luis de Góngora, is proposed.