Calderón de la Barca wrote autos sacramentales and secular 'cloak-and-sword' plays that reflected values of the Spanish Golden Age. What term describes the autos sacramentales?

• A. Sacramental Tales
• B. Farces
• C. Tragedies
• D. Morality Plays

Answer: (A)

The key idea here is recognizing the genre of Calderón’s autos sacramentales as religious drama focused on sacraments. These plays were performed on Corpus Christi and used allegorical figures to illustrate sacred mysteries and moral lessons, blending theology with theatrical spectacle. Naming them as sacramental tales fits because it highlights their sacred content (sacramental) and their narrative, performative form (tales). The other options miss that sacral focus or miscast the form: farces are primarily comedic, tragedies refer to a different dramatic tone, and morality plays describe a broader medieval English tradition rather than this specific Spanish religious drama.