This paper uses neuroscientific concepts to show an evolution of Segismundo in La vida es sueño in more dimensions than the social or individual ones, linking it to our species' own history in the way he uses the different attributes he confers to his character during the play. Segismundo is not only a prisoner who ends up taking up his position as prince, but also an example of the ideal process of Man's development and, at the same time, of the evolution that takes place from the animal to the human being, with special emphasis on the rational and analytical capacity as fundamental and irreplaceable feature of the ideal man. To exemplify this I will use the model of the triune brain, identifying the different parts of the brain (reptilian brain, the limbic system and the neocortex) and relating their different evolution along time and areas of specialization with the three different stages of Segismundo's evolution, thus converging in the model of the ideal man suggested by Calderón.
Abstract
This paper uses neuroscientific concepts to show an evolution of Segismundo in La vida es sueño in more dimensions than the social or individual ones, linking it to our species' own history in the way he uses the different attributes he confers to his character during [...]