Marginality in hegemony: Women on the margin of marriage in twentieth-century Spanish theater

This dissertation analyzes four plays from twentieth-century Spain: Federico Garcia Lorca's Bodas de sangre, Antonio Buero Vallejo's La tejedora de suenos, Antonio Gala's Anillos para una dama, and Paloma Pedrero's Locas de Amar. La malquerida by Jacinto Benavente is introduced as a counterpoint. Each of the primary plays features a female protagonist who is on the margin of marriage. This includes engaged women, widows (both literal and figurative), and divorced women. Because they exist outside of the confines of typical marriage situations, these women are able to possess greater power and freedom than their traditionally married counterparts. Each play is examined in the light of four major theories: gender theory, subaltern theory, theater theory, and marginality in hegemony. Marginality in hegemony is introduced in this study and is based on the interplay of the first three theories. As presented in the theater, women who are simultaneously hegemonic due to their social class and marginalized (subaltern) due to their sex exist in marginality in hegemony. This state, when applied to women on the margin of marriage provided twentieth-century playwrights with a vehicle for subversion, both of their government and their society.;Bodas de sangre displays the innovation of the avant-garde both in style and subversive nature. By presenting a young woman who tries to overcome an overwhelming passion in order to marry according to her social class and the wishes of her father, Lorca questions the role that women are expected to play in their society.;In La tejedora de suenos, Buero Vallejo presents an alternative version of the myth of Homer's Odyssey. His Penelope has chosen a suitor, Anfino, a servant in her household. Instead of being overjoyed and relieved by her husband's return, she sees his disguise as a form of cowardice and sends him from home. By questioning the heroic status of Ulises, Buero Vallejo also leads the spectator to examine the validity of modern heroes.;Gala's Anillos para una dama presents the story of Jimena, the wife of el Cid, after the death of her husband. She has fallen in love with Minaya, but is prevented by the king from seeking a marriage based on love. The image of her husband and its importance to Spain demand that she preserve the image that he is irreplaceable. During her husband's life and after his death, Jimena's desires are ignored for the good of the country. Gala's heroine is a model for Spain as it nears the end of the dictatorship. It longs for freedom, but cannot throw off its past.;Pedrero presents a clearly democratic and feminist work with Locas de amar. When Eulalia, a traditional wife is faced with her husband abandoning her for another woman, she must reexamine her life and her goals. Through the help of a therapist, she discovers her ability to experience pleasure, and her validity as an individual. Her choice to remain alone and pursue and education instead of marrying her therapist or accepting her errant husband showcases the possibilities available to women under the democracy.;Each of these plays features at least one woman on the margin of marriage who is wealthy but subordinate to men. Although each woman's attempts to achieve her desires, regardless of what is demanded by her society, end in failure, they push the boundaries of the theater and of their sex, making is possible for the next generation to reach farther in the quest for equality.