Life Is a Dream
Life Is a Dream is a play by Spanish writer Pedro Calderón de la Barca first premiered in 1635 and belonging to the baroque literary movement.
The story focuses on the fictional Segismundo, Prince of Poland, who has been imprisoned in a tower by his father, King Basilio, following a dire prophecy that the prince would bring disaster to the country and death to the King.
Basilio briefly frees Segismundo, but when the prince goes on a rampage, the king imprisons him again, persuading him that it was all a dream.
The book is a philosophical allegory regarding the human situation and the mystery of life.
It is divided into three acts. The first, with eight scenes, gives context to the story and introduces the characters. In the second act appears the conflict or problem presented in the story. And in the third, of fourteen scenes, the denouement takes place.
For this digital edition of the book Life Is a Dream we have used Edward Fitzgerald's translation.
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Public domain (US)·No sign-up·DRM-free·Real text, not scans
Copyright note. Life Is a Dream by Pedro Calderón de la Barca is believed to be in the public domain in the United States only. It may still be copyrighted in other countries. If you are not in the United States, please check your local laws to ensure this eBook is in the public domain in your country before downloading Life Is a Dream in PDF or EPUB.
- Pages
- 99
- Reading time
- 1 hour 28 minutes
- Pace
- Intermediate
- First published
- 1636
- Language
- Spanish
- Downloads
- 3,247
390 years later, still timely
Why Read Life Is a Dream in 2026?
A prince doubts reality, a court tests power, and free will argues with fate in glittering verse.
Today's connection
Great for staging and seminar alike. It turns philosophy into drama and asks how we should act when certainty dissolves.
Ideas onstage
Ethics performed, not lectured.
Rule and restraint
Authority checked by humility.
Dream and reality
What remains when we wake.
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About the author
Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Baroque drama of honor, dream, and power where stagecraft tests fate and choice.
If this one stays with you…
Romeo and JulietWilliam Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night's DreamWilliam Shakespeare
HamletWilliam Shakespeare
MacbethWilliam Shakespeare
From Life Is a Dream
If you cannot reconcile yourself to the law, remain in the cradle.
In this world All who live but dream they act here.
What’s life? A frenzied, blurry haze. What’s life? Not anything it seems. A shadow. Fiction filling reams. All we possess on earth means nil, For life’s a dream, think what you will, And even all our dreams are dreams.
But whether it be dream or truth, to do well is what matters. If it be truth, for truth's sake. If not, then to gain friends for the time when we awaken.
No, I dream not, since I know what I am and what I've been.