>Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 17:17:28 -0400 >From: Salvatore Poeta <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: Is Cervantes a "Feminist" >To: [log in to unmask] >Cc: [log in to unmask] >X-Mailer: Netscape Webmail >X-Accept-Language: en >Original-recipient: rfc822;[log in to unmask] > >Hello All: > >I believe the Marcela-Grisostomo episode of Don Quijote is a perfect >example of how Cervantes purposefully misleads and lulls the reader >into false conclusions. Much of the critical attention this episode >has received to date points to Marcela as a free-spirited and ultra- >modern feminine personality. What few readers overlook is that, >despite her grandiose speech in praise of "freedom" in the pastoral >utopia of nature and her firm decision not to submit to any love, let >alone the love of a single man, Cervantes implicitly forces a >comparison between daughter, parents and her guardian uncle, the >priest. How does the reader in fact reconcile that, in comparison to >her daughter, Marcela's mother in fact enjoyed marital bliss with her >husband. The husband, in fact, follows Marcela's mother to the grave, >not being able to tolerate the loss. On the other hand, the reader is >forced to question the priest uncle's motives in his guardianship of >Marcela, since his lenience not only goes against Marcela's parent's >wishes for their daughter's future happiness, but also smacks of self- >interest and greed. Certainly it is not in the interest for the uncle >to expedite Marcela's marriage since he would have to give up control >of her fortune, despite his status as a cleric and marriage as a holy >sacrament. In concluision, although Cervantes might agree that no woman >should be possesed by a man and forced to conform to social norms >against her will, I am not sure he would condone a single woman's >pastoril bliss over Christian matrimony. We have to be quite careful >to impose our twenty-first century post-modernist views on a writer and >product of the socio-cultural milieu Baroque Spain and its Counter- >Reformation. Thank you, Salvatore Poeta, Villanova university, >Villanova, PA, USA