Abstract
This paper concerns itself with the onstage image of Spanish women throughout the Eighteenth Century. With this purpose in mind, two particularly significative melologues —Mariano Nifo’s La casta amante de Teruel, dona Isabel de Segura and Joaquin Baron y Domingo’s La mujer heroica, esposa de Alonso Perez de Guzman el Bueno, dona Maria Alonso Coronel— will be analysed. In both monologues, the two women eschew the ubiquitous «domestic-wife» model so as to impersonate a fresh type of woman: strong, heroic, and ultimately patriotic. Each of them stems from utterly opposed argumentative stances. Yet, both play the part of a virtuous woman who faces an extreme situation, both personally and socially, only to emerge stronger and a living example of heroism. The specificities of the genre allow the spectator to be an eye-witness to the emotional process of such heroines; to get acquainted with their own weaknesses and hardships; and to find out how they get over them, as well as which mental processes they go through. In a nutshell: all aspects promote the moralising and awareness-raising role, so typically characteristic of most theatrical genres
Highlights
This paper concerns itself with the onstage image of Spanish women
Each of them stems from utterly opposed argumentative stances
both play the part of a virtuous woman who faces an extreme situation
Summary
This paper concerns itself with the onstage image of Spanish women throughout the Eighteenth Century. 13 Señala José Subirá que en los melólogos de Nifo «con alguna frecuencia el vocablo Pausa tenía por objeto señalar allí una interrupción del actor, para que en esos intervalos se intercalaran las respectivas piezas musicales»
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have