Review: Anne J. Cruz and María Cristina Quintero, editors: Beyond Spain’s Borders: Women Players in Early Modern National Theaters

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, here is the first paragraph of the review:

In this volume of ten essays, Anne J. Cruz and María Cristina Quintero bring together valuable works examining the real and fictional women who played pivotal roles in the cultivation of early modern drama and in the theater departing from and coming into the Iberian Peninsula and other European realms. As a scholar of Spanish Golden Age Literature, I find that this collection enriches the study of drama and theater from a nontraditional perspective, where women engaged and impacted the transformations in the theatrical practices and the gendered effect of Spanish histories, legends and cultural stereotypes, especially as incorporated or adapted in the French and the English drama. The book exceeded my high expectations through the fruitful investigations it provides, restructuring to the readers a clear map of the role of women. After a perusal of the contents, these essays complement one another by drawing the evolving presence of women in the pan-European theater, especially in the tradition of Spanish comedia and Italian commedia dell’arte. Despite the editors’ thematically organized units, however, each essay remains a discrete project elucidating women’s experiences on both the domestic and the transnational stage. In presenting the analyses and conclusions of this volume, I shall focus my efforts on the chapters that offer the most provocative interventions in this field.