Two variants of the braggart soldier in the Spanish theater of the first half of the XVI

The Spanish braggart soldiers of the first half of the 16th century seemingly represent very varied group. We intend to show that basically two variants of the braggart archetype can be distinguished in Spanish dramatic literature in this period. On the one hand, the nameless soldier, who is often referred to simply as «soldier» whose bragging characteristics are hardly distinguished from other characters. And on the other, the great gallery of cunning rogues and ruffians who distance themselves deeply from the aforementioned soldier as well as from the original Greco-Roman archetype. In addition, we would like to trace the possible connection of this dichotomy of the type with the different ways of development of the Spanish drama in which we usually find this character. This split into two types does not seem accidental to us, and we try to match it with the different ways in which the Spanish theatre was formed in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Keywords: braggart soldier; miles gloriosus; Spanish theater; 16th century