Archetypal female figures in the works of Bartolomé de Torres Naharro and other Renaissance Spanish and Italian dramatists

• Main Author: Del Vecchio, Laura M
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2002
• Subjects: Christine de Pizan (1364-1430?); Language; Modern language; Romance literature; Theater
• ISBN: 0493818839; 9780493818832

This dissertation analyzes the archetypal roles of women in Renaissance literature through a study of the works of the Spanish dramatist Bartolomé de Torres Naharro. This study examines actual roles of women in the Renaissance and how women were portrayed in dramatic works of the time. Torres Naharro's representation of women in his plays suggests that his connection to the Italian, Italy-Spanish and Spanish Divas of the Renaissance greatly influenced the development of the empowered female characters in his comedias. Torres Naharro is a unique dramatist to study because although he was Spanish, he resided for many years in Italy. Thus, his works provide scholars with insight into both Renaissance Spanish and Italian societies. Chapter one includes a historical background of the life and works of Torres Naharro as well as his Iberian contemporaries (Encina, Fernández and Vicente) and Italian contemporaries (Aretino, Machiavelli and Ariosto). A study of these playwrights and their works is important because it helps to contextualize the environments in which Torres Naharro worked. Chapter two introduces the notion of archetypes as explained by Northrop Frye as well as archetypes as they relate to feminist archetypal theory. This chapter focuses on the archetypal roles of servant, whore and mother. Chapter three deals with the archetypal female roles of unfaithful wife, innocent victim, sister, daughter, virgin and shepherdess in Renaissance theater. Chapter four utilizes goddess psychology to examine the portrayal of the empowered goddess figure in Torres Naharro's Comedia Jacinta. This chapter reveals Torres Naharro's desire to see women in empowered positions in society breaking free from patriarchal boundaries. An investigation of archetypal female figures in the comedias of Torres Naharro and his contemporaries leads to a better understanding of women's position in Renaissance societies of Spain and Italy. This research demonstrates that the roles in which women were cast in Torres Naharro's plays reflected the playwright's concern for the female struggle for empowerment and equality in patriarchal society.