María de Zayas / The Disenchantments of Love - Day 1

Please deal with topics raised in three questions or bring up your own topics for discussion. Remember though, I do NOT want your posting to be a synopsis of the text. I am looking for your own ideas and thoughts concerning what you read.

1. When María de Zayas’ works were ‘rediscovered,’ a lot of critics jumped on a feminist bandwagon and claimed that Zayas’ writings mapped out a kind of ‘proto-feminist’ movement. More recent criticism of her writings have moved away from this stance and some critics have even stated bluntly that her writings are not feminist (or at best, have considered her a ‘flawed feminist’). What are your thoughts on this? Can you make an argument for and / or against a feminist critique of Disenchantments?

2. We are going to speak more about this in class, but how do deceit and trickery come into play in the game of desire acted out in each story? How might these themes play into a greater overall message that the stories’ narrators try to convey? (In short, what might deceit imply on a narrative level?)

3. There is a very strong “code of honor” in these stories. How does this play out and what might such a code imply?

4. Isabel / Zelima is a complicated character who is able to move between supposedly rigid social, ethnic and religious boundaries. Think about the multiplicity of her identities (free / slave, Christian / Muslim, rich / poor, “pure” / “corrupt,” European / Arab). Where is her agency in all this? Has she been manipulated by both society and men or does she have control here? Possibly both? How do her identities come into play?

5. The second story (“The Most Infamous Revenge”) is a bit tricky. Lisarda, the story’s narrator, seems to excuse men by saying “How weak are those women who cannot persevere in their good intentions, and this is why I excuse men for the low opinion of women. But let us lovingly excuse love’s errors.” How do you interpret this statement in light of the story as a whole?

6. How do you explain the inclusion of the supernatural in the third story? What does it have to say about justice and desire?