Courtesans in the literature of Spanish Golden Age

The character of the courtesan has captivated many artists' attention ever since ancient times. Despite recent interest in women's studies in Spanish literature, few studies have examined the courtesan. The present study examines the development of the courtesan in the literature of Spanish Golden Age, defines Lope's contribution to her characterization, and places his portrayal of the courtesan in critical perspective.;The introduction will begin with a survey of the characterizations of courtesans or hetaerae in Greek and Roman comedy. This overview provides a useful background that helps to evaluate Italian humanists' development of the character. Like the Hellenic hetaera, the Renaissance courtesan is more than just a literary creation. She is also a cultural phenomenon and exercises multi-functions. In Italian Renaissance, writings about courtesans are common and writers give them a variety of temperaments. The most exceptional treatments of the character are imparted by courtesans themselves, Louise Labe and Veronica Franco. Although in Spain the courtesan motif owes much of its constitution to classical and Italian Renaissance literature, it is conceived first as an adscription to Rojas's Celestina. However, as time elapses, the focus is shifted from the go-between onto the prostitute. While the anonymous Carajicomedia lampoons the Catholic Kings' institutionalization of prostitution through an obscene presentation of prostitutes, Delicado associates the rampant presence of courtesans with the moral depravity of the Curia Romana. Meanwhile, Guevara's refreshing depiction of the refined courtesan distances itself from conventional moralization and prepares the way for Cervantes. In the Romancero general courtesans are caricaturally portrayed as part of their urban environment. While their negative qualities are playfully enhanced, courtesans also retain their likableness. In his comedias Lope elevates them with marked indulgence and benevolence, even though traditional ambivalence continues. In the novela cortesana, the courtesan assumes a criminal identity, the picara. Both Cervantes and the author of La tia fingida treat the courtesan with unconventional leniency. Surpassing rigid stereotypes, their courtesans display dignified individuality. The complexity with which they adroitly suggest in their courtesans achieves its full development in Lope's Dorotea, in which the conventional type of the enamored courtesan acquires a psychological and emotional richness that transcends all conventions, and ventures into the complexity of life phenomenology.