El reloj, la hora y la economía del tiempo en La Celestina

Abstract

Celestina faithfully portraits an era when the bells of a public clock —private clocks were rare— ruled the by then fast-paced urban life. The clock and its marking of time provide the backdrop to the action, make the development of the plot agile, and reinforce several central themes. The characters' compulsion to know the time and their difficulties in determining it, as well as the disagreement between their perception of the time passing and the inflexible rhythm of the mechanical clock, contribute to the famous existential malaise in Celestina. The clock, which is never seen but is always present, reinforces also the central themes of the fugacity of time, and the importance of grabbing the opportunity when it knocks.