"Life Is a Dream" by Pedro Calderón de la Barca is a Spanish-language play first published in 1636. Prince Segismundo of Poland has been imprisoned in a tower since birth by his father, King Basilio, who fears a prophecy predicting the prince will bring disaster and death. When the king briefly frees his son to test fate, the prince's violent reaction leads to his re-imprisonment—convinced it was all a dream. This philosophical allegory explores free will versus destiny, dreams versus reality, and the mysterious nature of human existence. (This is an automatically generated summary.)