Description
THE TONGUE IN PIECES
Book summary
In The Tongue in Pieces, Juan Mayorga places Teresa of Ávila before an Inquisitor in a verbal duel of extraordinary dramatic tension. The play, recognized with the National Award for Dramatic Literature, deconstructs the struggle between freedom of conscience and dogma, the word and silence. The reader witnesses a theological and human combat where the saint from Ávila defends her mystical experience and her writing against ecclesiastical authority. A text that delves into the limits of language and faith, offering a powerful reflection on power, dissent, and literary creation.
What is it about?
The play recreates an inquisitorial interrogation. Teresa of Ávila is summoned by an Inquisitor who examines her writings and her life in search of heresy. Throughout the dialogue, a tense intellectual pulse unfolds: she defends the authenticity of her visions and the need to express her faith in her own words; he represents orthodoxy and institutional authority. Mayorga does not merely dramatize a historical episode, but turns the confrontation into a reflection on literary creation, resistance against power, and the price of telling the truth. The work is sustained by the strength of its two characters, their arguments, and the progressive revelation of their vulnerabilities and convictions.
Main themes
- The conflict between freedom of conscience and dogmatic authority.
- The struggle for the right to speech and personal expression in the face of censorship.
- Mystical experience as a challenge to institutionalized reason.
- The power of language to build and destroy realities.
- The tension between lived faith and faith controlled by ecclesiastical power.
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at readers interested in quality contemporary theater, particularly those who appreciate the drama of ideas and texts that explore philosophical and historical conflicts. It will also be of great interest to scholars of the work of Teresa of Ávila, the Spanish Golden Age, or current Spanish dramatic literature. It is an ideal read for those looking for a short but dense work that combines intellectual rigor and scenic power.
What this book offers
- A dramatic and modern reinterpretation of the figure of Teresa of Ávila, far removed from traditional hagiography.
- A text that invites reflection on freedom of expression, power, and resistance from a historical and contemporary perspective.
- A sample of the talent of one of the most relevant Spanish playwrights of the 21st century, winner of the National Award for Dramatic Literature.
- An intense and concentrated reading experience, in which dialogue is the vehicle for all the conflict and emotion.
- A work that functions both as an individual read and as material for performance or theatrical study.
Technical specifications
- Author: Mayorga, Juan
- Publisher: Ediciones La Uña Rota
- Language: Spanish
- Topic: Plays, theatrical texts
- Collection: Libros Robados
- Binding: Paperback
- Publication date: February 2021
- Number of pages: 76
- Weight: 99 g
Editorial assessment
The Tongue in Pieces is a theatrical work of great density and precision. Mayorga manages to construct a dialogue that not only pits two ideological positions against each other, but also shows the human complexity of his protagonists. The text, brief but intense, functions like a dramatic clockwork mechanism where every word counts. It is a work that will appeal to readers interested in the theater of ideas, the history of mentalities, and literature that dares to question discourses of authority. Its value lies in the ability to update a historical conflict and turn it into a question about the present.