La mentalidad suntuaria de la corte imperial de Felipe IV en las novelas de María de Zayas

Abstract

María de Zayas’s novellas have traditionally been construed as feminist texts composed in defence of women’s strength and power. This article argues that, in Novelas amorosas y ejemplares (1637) and Desengaños amorosos (1647), Zayas was resolutely intent on celebrating the luxurious life of the Madrid nobility during Philip IV’s reign, precisely shortly after two royal decrees were passed to regulate the number of luxurious goods families were allowed to possess. This article will be divided into the three following sections: (1) Zayas’s aristocrafic profile and her relation to Madrid; (2) feminism and femininity in her novellas; (3) a textual analysis of her novellas, and particularly of Lisis’ story, demonstrating the extent to which they describe and celebrate the splendour and refinement of the nobility in Philip IV’s imperial court. This paper will conclude that in penning her novellas, Zayas sought to glorify Madrid’s nobility.