Course

FYI-102-27 From Spain to Istanbul: Piracy and Exile in the Early Modern Mediterranean

Document Type

Student Paper

Publication Date

2017

Disciplines

Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Spanish Literature | Women's Studies

Description, Abstract, or Artist's Statement

This paper analyzes a short story by the 17^th-century Spanish author María de Zayas. In Her Lover’s Slave, Zayas’s protagonist Isabel Fajardo is raped and decides to transform into a Moorish slave woman in order to pursue her rapist throughout the Mediterranean and avenge her honor. I examine the effect of this transformation on Isabel, a Christian noblewoman who is subject to the restrictive honor code of early modern Spain, as well as the effect on her Spanish audience. I argue that Isabel’s tale sends didactic messages to early modern and contemporary readers, messages that promote solidarity among women and reject rigid gender roles and expectations.

Comments

1st Place Winner, Short Analytical Essay, 2017