Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

Mateo Aleman spent much of his life in a kind of picaresque existence, going from the universities of Salamanca and Alcala, in Spain, to small government jobs to debtor's prison. It was perhaps in a Seville jail that he wrote the First Part of the Life of the Picaro Guzman de Alfarache, published in Madrid in 1599; the second part, written by an imitator, was published in Lisbon in 1604.

Using a lower-class hero, his service to several masters, and portraits of diverse classes and characters, Aleman developed the picaresque genre by taking his character, Guzman, through adulthood, when he becomes a gambler, thief, and beggar. Thus Guzman contributes to the corruption of society rather than merely being its victim, as is Lazarillo. Guzman draws a bitter moral lesson from his experiences: Life is cruel, hunger is the rule, and honor cannot be preserved.

(Bowker Author Biography)