The Traditional Story of "La difunta pleiteada", Cadalso's "Noches lúgubres", and the Romantics

Abstract

A tale which has appeared frequently in both folklore and literature is that of the young lady who died when forced to marry a man she did not love, but returned to life when exhumed by one she did. Versions of the story can be found in Spanish romances, Turkish tales and Breton lays ; in the works of Bandello and Boccaccio, Shakespeare and Lope de Vega ; even in Tennyson and Edgar Allan Poe. Much has been written about them. Maria Goyri de Menendez Pidal in 1909 seems to have been the first to publish an extensive study—in relation to the sources of Lope's play La difunta pleiteada.