''The Great Theater of the World'' (''El Gran Teatro del Mundo'') is a c. 1634 play from

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

writer

Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño (, ; ; 17 January 160025 May 1681) was a Spanish dramatist, poet, writer and knight of the Order of Santiago. He is known as one of the most distinguished Baroque w ...

(17 January 1600 – 25 May 1681). The play is an

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

explanation of man's place in world according to the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

doctrine Doctrine (from la, doctrina, meaning "teaching, instruction") is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief system ...

. In the play there is an Author (

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

) who writes the actual Play that is the world; humans are given characters according to the Author’s will: the King who has the power, the poor who suffers, the rich who enjoys very much his stay in the Play, etc., etc. These characters are just playing their roles in this “Play” that is the world and is just a test. Those who do a good performance of their characters will be rewarded by the Author at the end of the (brief, short, and fast) Play while those who do a bad performance will receive their just punishment. The play is a depiction of the Catholic Church’s doctrine on how humans are on Earth just for a brief and fast test while the real (and eternal) existence is the one that begins with death as in the

afterlife The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...

.Rey Hazas, Antonio; Sevilla Arroyo, Florencio (1991). «Introducción» a El gran teatro del mundo (1ª ed. edición). Barcelona: Planeta. pp. 9–10. . Calderón uses again this doctrinal and philosophical concept of human existence in the world in his more famous play, '' Life Is a Dream''. This concept of human existence is today’s official Catholic doctrine and an argument against God’s nonexistence due to the suffering and evil present in the world. This doctrine states that only God and the afterlife are the source of absolute justice as they are the only guarantee that evil but powerful and rich people will receive just punishment and good but poor/ill people who suffer on Earth will receive just reward.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Theater of the World, The Plays by Pedro Calderón de la Barca 1634 plays Catholicism in fiction Christian allegory Fiction about the afterlife