Celestina as a precursor to the picaresque

Abstract

Many literary critics have drawn parallels between Fernando de Rojas' "Celestina" and the anonymously penned "Lazarillo de Tormes" from approximately fifty years later. The parallels are mostly based on retroactively attributing picaresque or proto-picaresque elements to Rojas's work by way of examples of criminal characters and behaviour. This article will examine to what degree "Celestina" is truly a precursor to the picaresque and also look at the role that "Celestina" plays in the continuation of the picaresque tradition after "Lazarillo de Tormes".