Carlos Arniches

Carlos Arniches y Barrera

Carlos Arniches y Barrera (* 11. October 1866 in Alicante , † 16th April 1943 in Madrid ) was a Spanish stage author and writer . Arniches was a writer of cocks and comedies and is considered an important representative of the short drama of Spanish literature of the 20th century.

Life

Arniche grew up in Alicante, where he also attended school. At the age of 14 he left his parents' home and went to Barcelona , where he started with a temporary job at a bank and then worked in a sewing machine factory. In 1885 a wealthy aunt made it possible for him to move to Madrid , where she supported him financially, but soon moved to Valencia and left Arniche to fend for himself. Financial hardship forced him to return to Barcelona, ​​where he was able to place small articles and short stories for the daily La Vanguardia . By chance the Spanish queen became aware of a work he had published there, namely a rhymed alphabet based on events from the life of Alfonso XII. and his young son and heir Alfonso XIII. and ordered that it should be used in all Spanish schools. With that, Arniches was financially able to return to Madrid; this time forever.

Arniche wrote his first one-act play - Ortografía - in 1888 with Gonzalo Cantó ; it was premiered in the same year at the Teatro Eslava in Madrid .
Typical of him were these early comedic one-act plays, traditional entremés in the style of Zarzuela , with short, concise dialogue scenes from Madrid's popular life, which were extremely popular because of their realistic language and careful characterization as well as a humorous or satirical treatment of current topics. Since then, the characters in his theater have always been played in an affected and abrupt way, although the author's intention was to caricature the rough Madrid mob .

In total, Arniches wrote more than 200 pieces, many of them with co-authors. He collected some of his pranks in The Authentic Madrid and created a new genre that he called tragedia grotesco ( grotesque farce); in his own words he strove to " stimulate the generous character of the people and turn them off with bad instincts , nothing more". This is particularly emphasized in the works He is my husband , a satire of machismo; The Lady of Trevélez , in which he criticizes the bourgeois youth, idle and carefree and ignoring the feelings of others with her spiteful jokes; Don Quintín the Acid , The Publishing House , The Saint Isidra , The Spirits , The Friend Melquiades .

Arniches also worked as a librettist for the composers Ruperto Chapí y Lorente , Federico Chueca and Emilio Serrano and became a member of the Royal Academy of Language.

Film adaptations

• 1942: Así se quiere en Jalisco
• 1951: The Daughter of Lies ( La hija del engano ) - based on the novel Don Quintín, el amargao
• 1956: main street ( calle mayor )

Web links

• Zarzuela.net: detailed biography (Engl.)
• Carlos Arniches in the Internet Movie Database (English)