Although a text may not reflect an author’s life story, it does quite often reveal his or her worldview in the construct of plot and characters. Such is the case with two seminal writers of detective fiction: Jorge Luis Borges and G.K. Chesterton. This article discusses Chesterton’s influence on Borges in imagining an intrigue but points out how each author’s ontological views lead them to divergent narrative closure.

Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s play, Sueños hay que verdad son exposes the author’s abilities at aesthetically “glossing” a Scriptural text, an incident from the life of Joseph. With the use of diptych, contiguous sonnets Calderón skillfully leads the reader through Joseph’s interpretation of Pharoah’s dream, the fat cattle and thin cattle and the fruitful head of grain and the withered head of grain. In his aesthetic glossing of the biblical passage Calderón highlights the themes of the inexorable passage of time and man’s reaction to these seemingly uncontrollable events. The article also discusses practical teaching strategies and textual implications for Christian teachers of literature.