Language use within the social context of the Cervantine interludes
Abstract
This dissertation studies the creative writing process of Cervantes' interludes immersed in the historical endeavors of his time, the second half of the XVI century and the beginning of the XVII. Chapter one deals with marriage, not only as an economic contract but also as a religious and social institution. In this chapter I analyze how marital relations are articulated in two interludes, El juez de los divorcios and El Viejo celoso, through the insults and old sayings uttered by the characters. Reviewing marriage through the Erasmian eyes as well as through the abundant literature of marriage, such as the manuals written for wives and husbands-to-be, we can perceive that the marital failure of these couples is caused either by the husbands' breach of their marital duties or by the husbands' lack of common sense. Chapter two defines the term parody in contemporary literary theory as well as how it was used in Spanish Golden Age times. The similarity of parody and burlesque comedy is used to study the burlesque language in El rufián viudo and its relation to the language of the market. I divide parody in literary, non-literary and linguistic parody in order to classify the interludes. While El rufián viudo and La guarda cuidadosa contain literary subtexts, interludes such as El retablo de las maravillas and La cueva de Salamanca use legends and folklore. El vizcaíno fingido is studied as a linguistic parody in which the language of the Basques is parodied. Chapter three examines classical rhetoric as a literary device to analyze the language of persuasion and its used in two interludes: Los alcaldes de Daganzo and El juez de los divorcios. After a brief introduction to the classical rhetoric as well as studies on classical rhetoric within Cervantes' works I establish Cervantes' use of deliberative and judicial oratory in the arguments of the interludes.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Mancing, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Romance literature
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