Juan Ruiz’s Lenten Dream of Gluttony: Don Carnal, Doña Quaresma, and Oneiric Structure in the Libro de Buen Amor

Abstract

Verses 1067–1225 of the Archpriest of Hita’s Libro de buen amor ( LBA ) have long perplexed scholars with respect to content as well as structure. In this episode, the Archpriest and his friends enjoy a gluttonous banquet just before the forces of Sir Flesh face those of Lady Lent in a carnivalesque battle that leads to Flesh’s imprisonment and subsequent penitence. Though the LBA is narrated from a first-person point of view, much of the narration of these verses is told from the third-person, giving rise to the question of who the narrator of this episode really is. Using clues from the text, as well as historical discussion of food in fourteenth-century Castile, this articles concludes that this episode presents a dream of the Archpriest that takes place after he has partaken of too much meat and wine and that reflects the narrator’s lack of religious desire to participate in Lenten customs.