Estados Unidos
This article examines the experience of time conveyed in Calderón de la Barca’s signal play. Rather than arguing, as others have, that the work dwells on the failures of human knowledge, I contend that it celebrates subjective memory as a powerful cognitive tool. Segismundo’s transition from entrapment in a static atemporal realm to dynamic engagement with a temporalized world showcases the benefits of active recollection. Here, the life-as-dream metaphor anticipates modern phenomenology by foregrounding the imaginary dimensions of remembrance, while recognizing its epistemological value. In this way, Calderón models a philosophical praxis suited to the fluidity of lived historical time and, in the process, exemplifies the productive role of art in relation to it.