Spanish Baroque and Misogyny: the image of Mary Magdalene in Maria de Zayas´s Disenchantments of Love

Abstract

This article proposes a reading of Desengaños amorosos (1647) by Spanish writer Maria de Zayas y Sotomayor that analyzes her use of different textual strategies, especially explicit allusions to Mary Magdalene´s devotional iconography. Zayas criticizes the culture of the period after the Council of Trent (1545-1563), where various changes were implemented regarding the use of devotional iconography. We propose thinking Zayas´s figure as part of a genealogy of women writers who share a feminine, critical view of culture that is articulated through the deployment of discursive strategies that subvert, question, and unveil the official discourse of patriarchal culture.