JUAN

RUIZ DE

See also:

• ALARCON, HERNANDO DE
• JUAN RUIZ DE ALARCON (1518 ?-1639)
• ALARCON, PEDRO ANTONIO DE (1833-1891)

ALARCON (1518 ?-1639)  , Spanish dramatist, was born about 1581 at Tlacho (Mexico), where his father was superintendent of mines . He came to Europe in 1600, studied law at Salamanca, and in 16o8 went back to Mexico to compete for a professorial chair . Returning to Spain in 1611, he entered the household of the marquis de Salinas, became a successful dramatist, and was nominated a member of the council of the Indies in 1623 . He died at Madrid on the 4th of August 1639 . His plays were published in 1628 and 1634; the most famous of these is La Verdad sospechosa, which was adapted by Corneille as the Menteur . Alarcon had the misfortune to be a hunchback, to be embittered by his deformity, and to be constantly engaged in personal quarrels with his rivals; but his attitude in these polemics is always dignified, and his crushing retort to Lope de Vega in Los pechos privilegiados is an unsurpassable example of cold, scornful invective . More than any other Spanish dramatist, Alarcon is preoccupied with ethical aims, and his gift of dramatic presentation is as brilliant as his dialogue is natural and vivacious . It has been alleged that his foreign origin is noticeable in his plays, and there is some foundation for the criticism; but his workmanship is exceptionally conscientious, and in El Tejedor de Segovia he had produced a masterpiece of national art, national sentiment and national expression . (J .