"And these be the fruits of plays": Sexuality in La casa de los celos y selvas de Ardenia

Cervantes's La casa de los celos y selvas de Ardenia has, until recently, received scant critical attention. With few exceptions, critics have found little to commend in this early play. The essay focuses on several aspects of the play: the homosocial bonds between men and the homoerotic undertones inherent in a number of scenes, the role of Angélica and Marfisa as doubles (and their timely entrances), Marfisa's role as Bernardo's companion and her eventual dismissal and erasure in the text, and the edification and ultimate glorification of the historical and legendary Castillian hero Bernardo del Carpio. Angélica attenuates the threat of erotic attraction between Roldán and Reinaldos, and distracts the spectator and the reader from the implications of the men's relationship. Similarly, Marfisa deflects any suspicion of homoerotic desire on Bernardo's part. Given the nationalistic strain in the text, it is essential that Bernardo, the Castillian hero, not be "tainted" with the effeminacy, subconscious homoeroticism, and disorderly heteroeroticism of the French paladins.