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''La Celestina'' (as it is usually called after the leading character, though actually the ''Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea'' or in English the ''Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea''), is a work entirely in dialogue published in 1499. It is attributed to Fernando de Rojas, a descendant of converted Jews, who practiced law and, later in life, served as an alderman of Talavera de la Reina, an important commercial center near Toledo. The book is considered to be one of the greatest works of Spanish literature, and traditionally marks the end of medieval literature and the beginning of the literary renaissance in Spain. Although usually regarded as a novel, it is written as a continuous series of dialogues and can be taken as a play, having been staged as such and filmed. The story tells of a bachelor Calisto who uses the old procuress Celestina to start an affair with Melibea, an unmarried girl kept in seclusion by her parents. Though the two use the rhetoric of courtly love, sex not marriage is their aim. When he dies in an accident, she commits suicide. The name Celestina〔(celestina ) in the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española.〕 has become synonymous with procuress, especially an older woman used to further an illicit affair, and is a literary archetype of this character, the masculine counterpart being Pandarus. ==Plot summary== While out hunting, the rich young bachelor Calisto enters a garden where he meets Melibea, the daughter of the house, and is immediately taken with her. Unable to see her again privately, he broods until his servant Sempronio suggests using the old procuress Celestina. She is the owner of a brothel and in charge of her two young employees, Elicia and Areusa. When Calisto agrees, Sempronio plots with Celestina to make as much money out of his master as they can. She rewards him with Elicia. Another servant Pármeno mistrusts Celestina, warning his master not to use her. However she convinces Pármeno not to object but instead to join her and Sempronio in taking advantage of Calisto. His reward is Areusa. As a seller of feminine knick-knacks and quack medicines, Celestina gets in to see Melibea, telling her of a man in pain who could be cured by the touch of her girdle. When she mentions Calisto’s name, Melibea becomes angry and tells her to go. But the crafty Celestina manages to get the girdle off her and to fix another meeting. On her second visit, Celestina persuades the now willing Melibea to a rendezvous with Calisto, who rewards the procuress with a valuable gold chain. The two lovers spend the night together in her garden, while Sempronio and Pármeno keep watch. When the weary Calisto returns home at dawn to sleep, his two servants go round to Celestina’s house to get their share of the gold. She tries to cheat them and in rage they kill her. Caught red handed, the two are executed that day. That night Calisto returns to the garden for another session with Melibea but while leaving falls from the wall and is killed. She, after confessing their affair to her father, jumps from the top of the house and dies too. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「La Celestina」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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