This
book brings together original critical studies that document and analyze the vital
contributions of women-both secular and religious-writing in Spanish during the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries.
The volume is divided into three Acts, framed by an introduction
(loa), two entremeses,
and a concluding celebration (sarao). Two
appendixes, providing information about the works of all women known to have written for
the theater in Spanish in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, conclude the volume but
represent a point of departure for further research.
Each
essay in the collection exemplifies significant trends in criticism, ranging from
performance-based considerations of drama to feminist psychoanalytical approaches to
literature. The contributors, several of whom
are pioneers in the field, all bring their particular expertise to the anthology. Together, this group of scholars has aimed to make
more visible the many contributions to theater in Spanish made by the Early Modern women
whom traditional literary histories have largely overlooked. Ultimately, this inclusive approach allows for a
more effective exploration of the complex relationships between margin and center, gender
and authority, performance and text.
