Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 17:17:28 -0400
From: Salvatore Poeta <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Is Cervantes a "Feminist"
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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