Manuel de Figueiredo: Os Censores do Teatro e uma licença poética

Manuel de Figueiredo (1725-1801), member of the Arcádia Lusitana, authored a vast theatrical work which includes different dramatic genres, some more according to the neoclassical style and others less canonical. In one of his numerous speeches, Figueiredo recognizes the Greek and Latin influences on his own comic work and confesses admiration for Portuguese Renaissance authors, such as Sá de Miranda, António Ferreira and Camões. In this paper we discuss the presence of both classical and humanistic aspects in "Os censores do teatro" (1776), a comedy which reflects about the Portuguese theater of the 18th century, and also the «licença» that ends the play, and where Homer, Camões and Ferreira themselves appear on stage.