El Josef de las mujeres de Calderón: La heterodoxia en la ortodoxia

Abstract

In El Josef de las mujeres by Calderón an intellectual heroine is brought to the stage, a character in the theatre of the period that has scarcely been studied. It is particularly significant among the characters that in one way or another depart from the norm, since through it the dramatist deals directly with the issue of women’s intellectual capacity. The assumed mental ineptitude of the female sex was one of the arguments that were used to establish the differences between genders and, therefore, support the patriarchy. Consequently, when Calderón presents on the stage a heroin whose intellectual capacity is unquestionable, he is not only establishing such aptitude, but also subverting the ideological schema of the society of his time. As a result, his play is absolutely subversive in this aspect, even as its main character, Eugenia the martyr, at the same time acts as a spokesperson for ideas that conform to the Catholic orthodoxy of the period.