La caracterización de la mujer en la comedia religiosa española del siglo XVII: un análisis crítico sobre ‘La madrina del cielo’

Abstract

This study analyzes the characterization of women in a 17th-century Spanish religious comedy, focusing on a work of dramatic literature attributed to Tirso de Molina: La madrina del cielo. It examines how this allegorical play, set within a Baroque and CounterReformation context, portrays female figures such as Marcela and the Virgin Mary to denounce patriarchal dynamics, machismo, and gender-based violence. The primary aim lies in unveiling the signifying practice of the dramatic text through a qualitative semio-theatrical approach, with the general objective of critically examining female representation in the face of male-promoted violence and assessing its impact on the dramatic structure. Specific objectives encompass actantial macroanalysis, dialogic microanalysis (Ducrotian ideological presuppositions, rhetorical decorum, and polyrhythmia), and intertextuality. The methodology integrates the Greimas-Ubersfeld actantial model for macrostructural analysis; for the micro structure, it draws on García Barrientos for characterization via dialogue, names, and decorum, alongside Ducrot's concepts of presuppositions and implicatures, evaluating dissonances in the language of characters like Marcela, who categorically rejects the injustice inflicted upon her. The results underscore the moral triumph of women. Patriarchal ideological presuppositions are identified in male dialogues (women as disposable objects, natural inferiority), contrasted with the elevated discourse of female characters. The hagiographic plot resolves in a sacramental marriage, restoring honor through Marian grace. The study concludes that La madrina del cielo transcends religious edification to denounce gender oppressions, positing female virtue (clemency, purity) as a superior force in a society that confined women to the domestic sphere and submission. It proposes interdisciplinary extensions and broadens current understandings of Baroque sacred theatre.