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ENGENDERING INTERPRETATION: IRONY AS COMIC
CHALLENGE IN MARA DE ZAYAS
Amy R. Williamsen
University of Arizona
Although as critics of Mara de Zayass two collectionsNovelas
amorosas y ejemplares(1637) andDesengaos amorosos (1647) weoften debate the feminism or anti-feminism of her work, we seldomdiscuss one of her most potent weapons against the extreme social
restrictions imposed on women during her time.[1]In both texts, irony
operates as a comic challenge to cultural myths definingla mujer.
Before undertaking a textual analysis of the irony in Zayass prose, a
few words about the process of critical reception and the impact of the
narrative structure on reception seem warranted. If indeed the texts doserve to undermine a misogynistic implementation of societal norms, how
can it be that such subversive manipulation of dominant cultural practices
would have remained unexplored until now? As literary scholars, we are
all aware that our experiences and expectations influence our
interpretations of literary texts. Scientific experiments have proven that
even transitory experiences can affect a readers understanding (Crawford11). A significant number of our expectations stem from our contact with
other critical studies of the texts in question, literary history and literary
theory. Current criticism of Zayass art relies, to a certain extent, on past
judgments of her work. Some of these are damaging, unfounded claims
that have been accepted without challenge. Thus, as we will see, past
reception of her work can act as a deception that misleads critics and
prevents them from perceiving vital aspects of her achievement.
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E. D. Hirsch, in his study entitled Validity and Interpretation, argues
that an interpreters generic conception of a text is constitutive of
everything that hesubsequently understands and this remains the caseunless and until that generic conception is altered (Hirsch 74, emphasis
mine). Yet, the concept of genre represents but one source of expectations
that we bring to the study of any given work. Other elements that inform
our predisposition toward a text include those resulting from a familiarity
with existing interpretations regarding the period, the author, and the
work itself. The theoretical stance of Hans Robert Jauss and other
proponents of Reception Theory offers many insights into theproblematic relationship between interpretation and the heritage of past
reception. Nonetheless, as Kaminsky notes, reception theory has all too
often remained blind to gender as a critical category (Kaminsky 378).
Fortunately, more theorists have now begun to recognize the need to
consider the role of gender in interpretation. If a transitory experience
such as reading an introductory study can so deeply affect readersreactions, then gender and gender-typing which are among the most
powerful influences channeling the experiences of individuals must
inform a readers interpretation (Crawford 13). Annette Kolodny argues
convincingly that reading is a learned activity which, like many other
learned interpretative strategies in our society, is inevitably sex-coded and
gender-inflected (Kolodny 588). Several elements contribute to thecomplexity of the situation. First, just as no one male reader exists,
there exists no one female reader. We need not adopt an essentialist
perspective in our consideration of gender; rather, we must recognize that
cultural circumstances generate many of the gender differences we
percieve. Gender remains unfixed, subject to cultural and individual
reformulations. Hence, a woman reading a text may not always read as
woman. To a great extent, many women, including students and literary
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critics, have been trained by a patriarchal system to read in accordance
with a dominant male critical vision (Culler 57).[2]
A basic awareness of the dynamic of gender-inflected reading seems
crucial for an understanding of Zayassnovelas, especially considering
the emphasis on the manipulation of reader response in the works.[3]BothherNovelasand herDesengaosmake use of frame narratives in whicheach of the narrators, in turn, becomes a narratee who responds to the
others stories. Although Salvador Montesa maintains that the text,
through the exemplification of response dramatized in the narrative,
allows for only one interpretation, I would argue that a bipartite systemoperates on all levels. As Appendix I illustrates, each narrator directly
addresses two groups of narrateesone female, the other male.
References to the differing expectations and reactions of the narratees
based on their gender encircle all the novelas. The narratees, encoded
within the text, serve a crucial function. As Susan Suleiman states: In a
narrative with more than one level of narration (e. g., a frame narrative),the levels are related to each other hierarchically. . . . Clearly, a first-level
narratee may be considered the inscribed or encoded reader of the work
who provides a built-in interpretive system. (Introduction 1) Because
the text incorporates two sets of encoded readers, it embodies at least two
divergent interpretations, a fact that directly contradicts Montesas
assertion.The duality of the narrative structure extends beyond the level of the
narratees encoded in the frame. Each set of inscribed readers posits the
existence of a corresponding implied or postulated readera reader
whose existence, characteristics and beliefs are postulated by the
narrative itself. The two postulated readers, one female and the other
male, share some traits; in several cases, however, the divergences
between the postulated female and male readers become clear. In
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theNovelas, the she believes in the existence of virtuous women, the
he does not. In theDesengaos, the she is a potential victim of
engaos, the he is a potential engaador. As Lotmanclarifies: any
text (and especially a literary one) contains in itself . . . the image of the
audience . . . this image actively affects the real audience by becoming for
it a kind of normalizing code (Lotman 81). The encoding of two
different roles within Zayass text permits the real reader to choose a
stance, a fact that proves especially significant given that the narrative
deals with the presentation of the often discordant relationship between
the sexes without forcing the reader to adopt the position occupied by theOther.
The frame in both works fulfills a vital function by postulating both
female and male audiences; however, the manipulation of reader response
differs drastically between the two collections. The frame structure in
theNovelasis explicitly designed to provide a sense of equilibriumbetween female and male perspectives. In theDesengaos, men areexcluded from the act of narrationthey are relegated to the role of
narratees. The textual description of the organization of the sarao states
that it constitutes the womens usurpation of a previously male dominated
sphere: Y como son los hombres los que presiden en todo, jams
cuentan los malos pagos que dan (118). Whereas in theNovelas the
audience reponse following the tales stresses agreement among thelisteners, inDesengaos, the text encodes diametrically opposed
responses defined by gender.
This and other crucial differences have been obscured by the conflation
of the two works (Kaminsky 378). As Kaminsky suggests, the continuing
tendency to read the texts as one unit serves to diminish the power of
theDesengaos, a prime example of the impact of critical tradition on
interpretation. The dominant vision defines not only the accepted literary
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canon, but also the approved methodological procedures with which
critics approach literature.
In their illustrations of the impact of the acceptance of preceding
interpretations on critical reception, both Jauss and Julian Hirsch cite
examples of the perpetuation of positive myths regarding texts and
authors (Jauss 20 and Holub 48-9). Yet, works may also receive unduly
harsh critical treatment based upon unchallenged past evaluations.
Undoubtedly, the critical reception of Zayass narrative provides an
excellent example of how previous assessments can thwart, rather than
enrich, the interpretation of literary texts. We must realize that HaydenWhites assessment of the fictionality of history applies to literary history
as well. Just as historians emplot historical facts according to their
personal interpretation, so do literary historians and literary critics elect
the masterpieces of accepted literary canons according to their tastes
which are, of course, influenced by their own circumstances. This
subjective element cannot be eliminated, nor can it be ignored. We mustacknowledge the potential bias inherent in every generation of scholars
and respond to the undeniable need for continual re-examination of the
presuppositions that operate in our discipline.
Among the many misleading claims regarding Zayass works (not to
mention the harsh censure of their immorality and lasciviousness by
some critics) are repeated affirmations that her works are devoid of ironyand that they unequivocally support a rigid, Calderonian view of honor.
In fact, Amezas pronouncement, no conocer el humor ni la irona
porque esos matices no son posibles a su temperamento dinmico y
fogoso (Ameza XXI) remained unchallenged until the publication of
Salvador Montesas study in 1981. Montesa counters that la insistencia
en los aspectos trgicos de las novelas y en el pesimismo que destilan
puede hacernos olvidar una faceta interesante en la obra zayesca: el
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humor (225). Of the six pages out of 400 that he devotes to his
discussion of humor, only one considers irony. I would contend that
Zayass irony does not, as he and Rincn suggest, quitar el hierro al
esceptismo zayesco (11), but rather serves to sharpen her attack on
patriarchal structures.
David Kaufers recent work on irony and rhetorical strategy provides
substantial evidence to support the claim that the bipartite narrative
structure of Zayass works represents an integral part of their ironic
nature. He states:
. . . we can explain this perceived disparity in the ironists relationship
to his audience if we ascribe to ironic discourse the implication of two
audiences. One audience identifies with the ironists literal meaning,
the other with his ironic meaning. . . . Thus the ironists audience . . .
is bifurcated into two distinct audiences according to its association
with either the literal or ironic meaning. (96-97)
Elsewhere I have demonstrated that, in a structured experiment, reader
response to Zayassnovelasdid vary according to the readers
gender.[4]One might argue convincingly that the divergences in
interpretation directly related to the audiences perception of textual
irony. Male readers tended to read the texts more literally while femalereaders often mentioned how the inclusion of a certain ironic phrase
undermined a more superficial level of meaning. This tendency, while by
no means absolute, would suggest that the narratives posit the male
reader as the audience of the literal meanings and the female reader as
the audience of the ironic. Following Kaufers argument on the strategies
of irony, such a technique allows authors to pretend that the target of their
discourse is part of their chosen audience (102). In this manner, Zayas
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can criticize established societal norms ironically, a stance that might
prove politically dangerous if expressed directly (Kaufer 102).
As others have noted, Zayass feminism may not conform to our
current conception; however, her implicit program anticipates the
paradigm formalized by Rosario Castellanos, one of the foremost
Mexican feminists of our era. Castellanos states that her purpose as a
feminist is to explore the myths that govern societys expectations of
women and to begin the process of demythification using humor to reveal
the absurdities underlying accepted social conventions. (She warns us that
we must accept no dogma that cannot withstand a good joke.) She
identifies three constellations of myths that constrain women: the esthetic,
the intellectual and the ethical. Zayas, writing over three centuries before
Castellanos, embarks on a similar endeavor, for she employs irony as a
comic challenge to the same three categories of cultural myths. Thus,
Castellanoss construct may serve as a critical framework for the
consideration of irony in the novelas.[5]
In Golden Age Spain, the ideals or societal myths proscribing
women were codified in several ways, including their propagation
through popular literature in general and marriage manuals in particular.
Zayass ironic manipulation of definitions of Christian womanhood
demonstrates her challenge to the dominant tradition. Thus, her works
may be read as a critical response to these proscriptions, especially thoseembodied in Fray Luis de LensLa perfecta casada.
A consideration of the first category of cultural myths, the esthetic,
reveals Zayass ironic treatment of social conventions in which she
juxtaposes, as Montesa suggests, an apparent reality with an underlying
truth. The popular literature of the period reflects what historians term a
patriarchal economy in which a womans beauty represents her means
to secure stability and happiness. Throughout theNovelas and
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theDesengaos, however, a womans beauty brings her only ill-fortune.
The frequent repetition of the paired adjectives hermosa and
desgraciada signals this inversion. In El traidor contra su sangre the
narrator explicitly states: El hijo tena por nombre don Alonso, y la hija
doa Menca; hermosa es fuerza que lo sea porque haba de ser
desgraciada (372).
La ms infame venganza manipulates another esthetic ideal. Fray
Luis de Len asserts that pone la hermosura de la buena mujer no en las
figuras del rostro, sino en las virtudes secretas del alma (172), and that
los frutos de la virtud include amor, y gozo y paz on Earth as well as
everlasting life in the Kingdom of God (180). He assures the reader that a
woman who follows this sacred path, who remains virtuous within her
husbands house, removed from temptation, will be blessed with a
peaceful life. The textual presentation of Camila in La ms infame
venganza directly challenges this position:
Lleg el da deseado de Carlos, ya nuevamente enamorado de Camila,
que aunque no muy hermosa, el trato y serropa nueva le haca de
apetecerla. Tena la belleza que ha de tener la propia mujer, pues ms
en las virtudes que en la hermosura ha de florecer; dems que no era
tan fea que pudiera por esto ser aborrecida y cuando lo fuera, la hiciera
hermosa ms de cincuenta mil ducados que tena de dote y deseaba yaCarlos verse dueo de todo. (187, emphasis added)
The inclusion of the phrase ropa nueva undermines the supposed
emphasis on Camilas virtuous manners. The text further ironically
manipulates the concept of inner beauty, clearly suggesting that her
riches, not her virtue, appeal to her suitor.
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According to Fray Luiss writings, Camilas virtue should ensure her
peaceful, happy existence. Instead, the brother of her husbands mistress
seeks to avenge his honor by raping her. The textual signs underscore this
injustice: Mira que culpa tiene la inocente. . . . Mas Camila honesta,
Camila cuerda, Camila recogida y no tratando sino de servir a su marido
. . . (190). The only reward the conclusion allows for is the promise of
eternal life. Camilas husband le di un veneno para matarla, mas no le
sucedi as, porque deba de querer Dios que esta desdichada y santa
seora padeciese ms martirios para darle en el cielo el premio de ellos
(195). The use of deba de, however, leaves the matter open to
interpretation. It does not assure the reader that her suffering will be
rewarded.
Not only does Zayas question the assumptions underlying the esthetic
myths governing women, her texts also actively attack myths regarding
womens intellect. At the time, the majority of prominent thinkers
portrayed women as intellectually inferior to men, a position deemedconsistent with Catholic doctrine. Fray Luis de Len affirms that: a la
mujer buena y honesta la naturaleza no la hizo para el estudio de las
ciencias, ni para los negocios y dificultades, sino para un solo oficio
simple y domstico, as les limit el entender (149).
Within this context, Zayass defense of womans intellectual capacity
has been well documented; nonetheless, some elements still merit furtherstudy. In the prologue to theNovelas she states:
Con mujeres no hay competencias. . . . Y as pues, no has de querer
ser descorts, necio, villano ni desagradecido. Te ofrezco este libro
muy segura de tu bizarra, y en confianza de que si te desagradare,
podras disculparme con que nac mujer, no con obligaciones de hacer
buenas novelas. (Prlogo)
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Montesa claims that in this passage Zayas desautoriza su propia
capacidad intelectual, no equiparable a la del hombre, puesto que tiene
que ampararlo bajo el manto de la feminidad para hacer comprensibles
sus fallos. (135) He fails to recognize the presence of thetopos of self-
deprecating irony commonly found in prologues of the period as evinced
by Ernst Curtiuss exhaustive study. Moreover, what he interprets as
acquiesence to the myth of womans intellectual inferiority actually
manipulates the male readers response by obliging him to comply with
his part of the ideal.Once again Montesas critical evaluation of the statement by Isabel, the
narrator of La esclava de su Amante: Si son buenos los versos que no
son tuyos y ms si son de dama, adralos y albalos; y si malos,
disclpala, considerando que no tiene ms caudal reveals his particular
bias. He argues: Si las almas no tienen sexo, idea que le gusta repetir,
tampoco los escritos lo tienen: ni son de dama ni de varn . . . al nocomprenderlo as abre una profunda grieta en el edificio de su
feminismo (135). This narrow understanding of feminism does not allow
for the valorization of gender differences. He does not consider that the
uniquely female voice posited by Zayass discourse might represent one
of her most revolutionary accomplishments. The metaphor he chooses to
express his position also proves interesting. The image of the edificereflects, as I will discuss later, an imposition of patriarchal structure, one
that her text defies by resisting categorical enclosure.
The attack on the intellectual myth reaches ironic heights in El
prevenido engaado. The male protagonist, Don Fadrique, views
womens intelligence as the cause of their deceptions; he discounts his
active participation in their sexual exploits. He opts to marry a completely
innocent, totally naive young girl despite warnings that stupidity does not
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guarantee virtue. He falsely informs his new bride, Gracia, that in married
life, the womans nightly duty consists of keeping armed watch over
her husband. During his first absence, an ardent suitor assures Gracia that
he can teach her another way to fulfill her wifely dutyone she finds
much more pleasant. Unaware that she has engaged in an illicit activity,
she excitedly informs her husband, upon his return, that another
husband has helped her discover a more entertaining way to spend their
evenings. In the end, Fadrique praises las discretas que son virtuosas
porque no hay comparacin ni estimacin para ellas; y si no lo son, hacen
sus cosas con recato y prudencia (173).The conclusion incorporates another ironic twist: Entr doa Gracia
monja, contenta . . . porque como era boba, fcil hall el consuelo
gastando la gruesa hacienda que le qued (173). If el cido corris ivo de
la risa fails to reveal the absurdity of the dominant view of womens
intelligence as dangerous and antithetical to moral development, the
narrator explicitly identifies the texts purpose: para que se avisen losignorantes que condenan la discrecin de las mujeres, que donde falta el
entendimiento, no puede sobrar la virtud . . . (173). This novella, the
frame narrative, and other tales unequivocally defend womens
intelligence as a necessary, positive force.
Zayass examination of the ethical myths that attempt to define
womens morality proves even more scathing. Her novellas reflect theperiods preoccupation with the moral and ethical obligations imposed on
women. As Fray Luis and others argued: Womans natural state is that
of subjugation to man. The honor code represents one of the social
structures designed to perpetuate unchallenged male dominance and to
ensure womens compliance with the cultural expectations regarding
morality. Not only did women need to behave in accordance with societal
expectations, they also had to remain completely above reproach. Fray
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Luis de Len, inLa perfecta casadastates that: aquella sola es casta en
quien ni la fama mintiendoosa poner mala nota (40, emphasis mine).
Any suspected transgression required the shedding of the offenders
blood in order to remove the stain.
Even those critics who recognize Zayass challenges to other social
restrictions placed on women still affirm that she adheres to a strictly
codified definition of honor. Studies often paraphrase Portals
assessment:
Por lo general, la novela cortesana ante el honor adopta una doblepostura, la tpicamente calderoniana, recordemos, la deshonra slo se
lava con sangre, y aquella otra, ms humana y realista, que a lo largo
de casi toda su obra defendi Cervantes. Mara de Zayas, apasionada y
fatalista, optara por la rigidez calderoniana. (Portal 17)
Although various characters articulate views Portal labels asCalderonian, several of thenovelas subvert the honor code.
Perhaps Al fin se paga todo best represents this ironic manipulation
of the code. The protagonist, Hiplita, recounts how she marries Don
Pedro only to find herself pursued by Don Luis, his brother. She resists
his advances, but succumbs to Don Gaspars charms. Four times they
arrange to meet to consummate their illicit love; each time theirencounters fail. (The obstacles to their union prove quite humorous.)
When her husbands unexpected arrival interrupts their fourth tryst,
Hiplita encloses Gaspar in a trunk. She mistakenly believes he has
suffocated, and appeals to her brother-in-law (Don Luis) for help,
explaining that: no he ofendido a mi marido y vuestro hermano de obra,
si bien con el pensamiento (247). Don Luis seeks to use his knowledge
to force her to accept him. When she resists, he schemes to enter her
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bedroom under the cover of darkness and, pretending to be her husband,
rapes her. To avenge her honor, Hiplita kills Don Luis with her
husbands knife, then seeks refuge in Don Gaspars house. Perversely, he
beats her cruelly, steals her jewels, and throws her into the street. After
her rescue by Don Garca, she enters a convent. She eventually contacts
the authorities who have arrested her innocent husband. They declare her
innocent of any wrongdoing; nonetheless, she remains in the convent,
refusing to return to her husbands house. When Don Pedro dies,
dejando a su mujer, de quien no se tena por ofendido, heredera de toda
su hacienda (257), Hiplita subsequently marries Don Garca. After
revealing that Don Gaspars servant killed him to steal Hiplitas jewels,
the narrator pronounces que cada uno mire lo que hace, pues al fin todo
se paga (257).
The repetition of the title ironically underscores the subversion of
societal norms in the tale. Not only does the text manipulate the honor
code, but the doctrine of intention that was often employed to determineguilt as well. In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council decreed that the
intention behind any act determines its morality. One need not complete
the offense to be guilty of the sin. The honor code incorporated this
definition in that the mere suspicion of ill intent was considered
justification for revenge. Al fin se paga todo clearly undermines this
doctrine. Hiplita admits that she has intended (and attempted) to commitadultery, yet she escapes any official sanctions. She then avails herself of
the cdigo (from which her dalliances remained exempt) to avenge her
honor by killing her brother-in-law with impunity. Only the men in the
narrative (Don Luis, Don Gaspar, the manservant) appear subject to the
justice alluded to in the title. That Hiplita, after her open defiance and
subsequent manipulation of the honor code lives happily ever after
shakes the very foundation of the patriarchal system.
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In Paul Julian Smiths otherwise intriguing article, he diminishes the
subversive force of the text through a revealing mis-reading. He states:
Thus Hiplita, inAl fin se paga todoplunges her dagger five or six
times into the heart of her sleeping husband. . . . Zayas implies an
acceptance of the patriarchal code of honour, and does not question
the belief that blood can only be cleansed with blood. Women are thus
permitted to adopt a travesty of man, but cannot transgress the law of
the dagger and the phallus. (Smith 235)
He fails to notice the suggestive usurpation of male power embodied by
the phallic symbol. The dagger Hiplita employs is her husbands, a
weapon she turns against her brother-in-law, not her spouse. As
traditionally presented in Golden Age literature, the honor code would
call for Hiplitas husband to kill her so that her blood could cleanse the
stain on his honor. Instead, she avenges her own, not her husbands,honor.
A careful examination of the function of ironic inversion in this novella
and others challenges current critical evaluation of Zayass stance
regarding the honor code which affirms that hersense of justice consiste
tanto o ms en recompensar a los buenos y en castigar a los malos
(Montesa 171). In El jardn engaoso, for example, Teodisa employsthe code to secure the man she desires. She falsely accuses her rival, her
own sister, of infidelity, a ruse that costs an innocent young man his life.
Nonetheless, she eventually marries as she wishes. The devils
participation in El jardn also proves problematic. In an unselfish act,
he willingly returns the deed to a young mans soul. The in clusion of the
devils good deed is not gratuitous. In fact, the frame tale highlights it by
acclaiming the devil as the character who commits the greatest act of
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good. Montesa argues that if one were to accept Zayass manipulation of
the construct of good and evil as deliberate, esto sera quebrantar las
bases sobre las que se sostiene todo el edificio. Desaparecera el arraigado
sentido de justicia de nuestra autora (171). He correctly identifies the
implications of the scene, yet dismisses them because they do not fit with
his construction of Zayas. In so doing, he fails to recognize the
tremendous subversive power of the novela. The recasting of the devil as
a entity capable of good can be read as a revisionist myth that challenges
the most fundamental oppositions imposed by traditional doctrine.
That Montesas critical analysis again incorporates the metaphor of the
edifice brings to mind another cultural myth that Zayas confronts.
During the period, the house served to define the womans role. Fray Luis
specifies that los fundamentos de la casa son la mujer y el buey (Fray
Luis 47). Marcia Welles and Elizabeth Ordez have intimated that
Zayass preoccupation with enclosure anticipates that identified by
Gilbert in 18th-century Gothic fiction. As Gilbert suggests, the housebecomes a sign for the architecture of patriarchy which represents the
entrapment of women by male-dominated social institutions. (85)
InNovelas amorosas, Zayas explores the comic possibilites of this
architectural sign, at times demonstrating that the rigid imposition of
patriarchal order also restricts men. In Al fin se paga todo Don Gaspar,
attempting to enter Hiplitas chambers, becomes trapped within theconfines of the house: . . . se qued atravesado en el marco de la ventana
por la mitad del cuerpo . . . siendo fuerza a don Gaspar el correr metido
en su marco . . . (245).Desengaos, on the other hand, portrays the
house as an instrument of torture employed against women. In Amar
slo por vencer, the father and the uncle kill the protagonist by
collapsing a wall on top of her. This resolution holds significant
interpretive possibilites. At the same time that patriarchal architecture
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destroys the young woman, it itself crumbles. The text seems to suggest
that such extreme implementations of the honor code may lead to the
erosion of the social structure itself.
Many critics have read Zayass texts as offering no alternatives to the
oppressive patriarchal order. Nevertheless, she does challenge the ethical
myths that bind the woman to her husbands house forever. Fray Luis
proclaims Que por ms spero y de ms fieras condiciones que el marido
sea es necesario que la mujer le soporte. . . . Oh que es un verdugo! Pero
es tu marido . . . (57). He censures those women who abandon their
homes to calentar el suelo de la Iglesia (23). Both collections present
women who actively reject these strictures. Among them, Laura of La
fuerza del amor, frequently beaten by her husband, refuses to return to
him despite the Viceroys mandate. Instead, she elects the convent.
TheDesengaos present the most fervent challenge to the cultural
dictum that marriage represents the natural order and serves to restore
order and maintain harmony (Ordez 9). All female protagonists eitherdie or choose to enter a convent. Montesa and others interpret this
decision as one motivated by fear and consistent with the dominant order.
Nevertheless, the narration of the desengaos exclusively by women
(during a supposed engagement party for Lisis) in itself represents an
inversion of, rather than compliance with, the patriarchal order. That
women, after listening to the tales, join hands and enter the conventtogether defies the social norm. As Ordez notes:
The choice to enter a convent is based not only on a female decision to
save body and soul from victimization by men, but it signals a more
positive move toward the formation of another kind of bonding . . .
underscoring matrilineal alternatives to patriarchal coding in text and
social context. (8)
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In fact, the entire asymmetrical structure of the second volume, which
privileges a gynocentric orientation, ironically represents an inversion of
patriarchal order.
Unquestionably, a careful textual analysis of
theDesengaos andNovelasrefutes the critical assertion that Zayass
narratives are devoid of irony. Thus, the consideration of irony in Zayas
not only reveals how she challenges esthetic, intellectual and ethical
myths that proscribed womens conduct, it also serves to reveal the self-
propagating nature of criticism. All too often, opinions fossilized throughyears of stagnation become transformed into indisputable facts. We
cannot naively accept past reception without falling prey to possible
deception. The revolutionary nature of her work has often been dismissed
by critics who note that she does not address other inequities inherent in
the social order. Zayas need not examine all the manifestations of
injustice generated by her societys hierarchical configuration, for sheattacks the very foundations of the patriarchal order. Her work itself
has been interpreted by critics trained by a patriarchal system to read in
accordance with a dominant male critical vision (Culler 57). This may
explain resistance to the broadest implications of her ironic manipulation
of the culturally defined constructs of good and evil, of la perfecta
casada and la mala mujer. Zayass comic challenge ultimately servesto quebrantar las bases sobre las que se sostiene todo el edificio
(Montesa 171).
Works Cited
Ameza, Agustn G. de, ed.Novelas amorosas y ejemplares de doa
Mara de Zayas y Sotomayor. Madrid: R.A.E., 1948.
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Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity.
New York: Routledge, 1990.
Castellanos, Rosario.Mujer que sabe latn. Mexico: SEP, 1973.
Crawford, Mary and Roger Chaffin. The Readers Construction of
Meaning: Cognitive Research on Gender and Comprehension. Gender
and Reading: Essays on Readers, Texts and Contexts. Ed. Elizabeth
Flynn and Patrocinio Schweickart. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1986.
3-30.
Culler, Jonathan. Reading as a Woman.On Decon-struction: Theory
and Criticism after Structuralism. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1982.Foa, Sandra M.Feminismo y forma narrativa: Estudio del tema y las
tcnicas de Mara de Zayas y Sotomayor. Valencia: Albatrs, 1979.
Gilbert, Sandra and Susan Gubar. The Madwoman in the Attic. New
Haven: Yale UP, 1979.
Hirsch, E. D. Validity in Interpretation. New Haven: Yale UP, 1967.
Holub, Robert C.Reception Theory. New York: Methuen, 1984.Jauss, Hans Robert. Toward an Aesthetic of Reception. Minneapolis: U of
Minnesota P, 1982.
Kaminsky, Amy Katz. Dress and Redress: Clothing in the Desengaos
amorososde Mara de Zayas y Sotomayor.Romanic Review 79.2
(1988): 377-91.
Kaufer, David. Irony and Rhetorical Strategy.Philosophy andRhetoric 10.2 (1977): 90-110.
Kolodny, Annette. Reply to Commentaries: Women Writers, Literary
Historians, and Martian Readers.New Literary History 11 (1980): 587-
92.
Len, Fray Luis de.La perfecta casada. Mexico: Concepto, 1981.
Lotman, Yury M. The Text and the Structure of Its Audience. New
Literary History 10 (1980): 97-116.
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Montesa, Salvador. Texto y contexto en la narrativa de Mara de Zayas .
Madrid: Minsterio de Cultura, 1981.
Ordez, Elizabeth J. Woman and Her Text in the Works of Mara de
Zayas and Ana Caro.Revista de Estudios Hispnicos 19.1 (1985): 3-13
Portal, Mara Martnez del, ed.Novelas completas de Mara de Zayas.
Madrid: Bruguera, 1973.
Rincn, Eduardo, ed.Novelas amorosas y ejemplares o Decameron
espaol. Madrid: Alianza, 1968.
Smith, Paul Julian. Writing Women in Golden Age Spain: Saint Teresa
and Mara de Zayas.Modern Language Notes 102.2 (1987): 220-40.Sulieman, Susan. The Reader in the Text. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1980.
Vasileski, Irma V.Mara de Zayas y Sotomayor: su poca y su obra.
Madrid: Playor, 1973.
Welles, Marcia. Mara de Zayas and hernovela cortesana: A Re-
evaluation.Bulletin of Hispanic Studies 60 (1978): 301-10.
Williamsen, Amy R. Gender and Interpretation: The Manipulation ofReader Response in Mara de Zayas. Forthcoming inDiscurso
Literano.
Zayas y Sotomayor, Mara de.Desengaos amorosos. Ed. Alicia Yllera.
Madrid: Catdra, 1983.
___.Novelas completas. Ed. Mara Martnez de Portal. Madrid: Bruguera,
1973.
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APPENDIX I
From Narrators to Readers: The Bipartite Narrative Structure
Main Narrative
Voice
Individual Narrators of the novelas
Novelas
Amorosas............................................ 5 women, 5 men
DesengaosAmorosos........................................ 10 women, 0 men
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t
t
Female
Narratees Male Narratees
t
t
Postulated female
reader Postulated male reader(Implied)
(Implied)
t
t
Real female
readers Real male readers
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[1]All parenthetical references to theNovelasare from Portals edition; the
references to theDesengaosare from Ylleras.[2]In a work of the present scope, I cannot possibly address all the
intricacies of these theoretical issues. Nevertheless, I believe that the
concept of gender-inflected reading provides crucial insight into the
analysis of Mara de Zayas novelas (see works cited). For a provocative
discussion of gender as a performative construct, see Butler.[3]For additional discussions of the relationship between the reader and
the text in Zayas see Elizabeth J. Ordez (6), Sandra Foa (126), and
Salvador Montesa (333, 352).[4]
This is the central argument of my article (Gender and Interpretation).[5]The preceding discussion parallels that found at the beginning of my
related study Challenging the Code: Honor in Mara de Zayas(forthcoming).
http://tell.fll.purdue.edu/RLA-Archive/1991/Spanish-html/Williamsen,Amy.htm#_ftnref1http://tell.fll.purdue.edu/RLA-Archive/1991/Spanish-html/Williamsen,Amy.htm#_ftnref2http://tell.fll.purdue.edu/RLA-Archive/1991/Spanish-html/Williamsen,Amy.htm#_ftnref2http://tell.fll.purdue.edu/RLA-Archive/1991/Spanish-html/Williamsen,Amy.htm#_ftnref3http://tell.fll.purdue.edu/RLA-Archive/1991/Spanish-html/Williamsen,Amy.htm#_ftnref4http://tell.fll.purdue.edu/RLA-Archive/1991/Spanish-html/Williamsen,Amy.htm#_ftnref5http://tell.fll.purdue.edu/RLA-Archive/1991/Spanish-html/Williamsen,Amy.htm#_ftnref5http://tell.fll.purdue.edu/RLA-Archive/1991/Spanish-html/Williamsen,Amy.htm#_ftnref4http://tell.fll.purdue.edu/RLA-Archive/1991/Spanish-html/Williamsen,Amy.htm#_ftnref3http://tell.fll.purdue.edu/RLA-Archive/1991/Spanish-html/Williamsen,Amy.htm#_ftnref2http://tell.fll.purdue.edu/RLA-Archive/1991/Spanish-html/Williamsen,Amy.htm#_ftnref1