Guillen de Castro's Jimena: An Exemplary Character and Its Flaw

'Charles Vincent Aubrun, La comedia española (1600-1680) (Taurus: Madrid, 1968), p. 203. 8 Don Lope: "valiente es el picarazo." (II); don Carlos quiere ver al "picaro" en las galeras o ahorcado. GUILLEN DE CASTRO'S JIMENA: AN EXEMPLARY CHARACTER AND ITS FLAW Ion T. Agheana, Dartmouth College As heroine of Las mocedades del Cid, Jimena has attracted considerable scholarly interest, although more critical attention has been given to her moral similarity to Rodrigo than to her individuality. Hardly any critic has failed to observe that Jimena, like Rodrigo , allows duty to direct her actions in the face of offended honor.' As they fulfill their obligations with the inexorability of fate, hero and heroine have been seen as facets of the same coin. Critics of Corneille's Le Cid maintain, essentially, the same opinion.2 But our understanding of Jimena would be incomplete if we were to consider her largely as a feminine replica of Rodrigo. That Jimena, sex apart, is somewhat different from Rodrigo, that her actions generate distinct impressions , has been noted by a number of critics. Santelices, in a comparative study, draws attention to Jimena's calculated coldness.3 And William Wilson warns the modern reader that many of Jimena's deeds, particularly her implacable pursuit of death for the man she loves, "seem nonsensical, absurd, and incredible."4 This is undeniably so. However, the adverse impact of Jimena's conduct is not limited to the modern reader. Significantly, some of the drama's own characters cannot understand Jimena's actions. Elvira, for instance, the king's daughter, is utterly puzzled by Jimena's deadly enterprise. She asks Jimena: Para cumplir con tu honor, por el decir de la gente,¿no bastaba cuerdamente perseguir el matador de tu padre y de tu gusto, y no obligar con pregones a tan fuertes ocasiones de su muerte y tu disgusto? (II, 203-4)5 There is no gap between the moral perspectives of the modern reader or spectator and those of the XVIIth century spectator. Elvira's suggestion of a pro forma compliance with the code of honor and public opinion would appeal to most sensibilities, modern or otherwise , but not Jimena's. Jimena is unwilling to compromise obligation for the sake of sentiment. She simply cannot accept a simulacrum of duty with regard to the laws of honor or any other law. Of all the characters affected by the famous bofetón incident Jimena alone limits her actions to the confines of the law, for she alone places the resolution of the matter into the hands of the monarch. Jimena's complete identification with the law defines her as an exemplary character, the epitome of social responsibility . But Castro, unlike other dramatists of the Golden Age, does not glorify uncritically such exemplariness. 34 Throughout the drama Jimena exhibits a revealing flaw — the conviction that all the social laws, written and unwritten , should be strictly observed. When Jimena elevates to the rank of law "el decir la gente" and gives it the same importance that she grants the law of obedience to the monarch,* she unequivocally appears as the victim of her own indiscrirninating social exemplariness . Jimena's conspicuous strengths and weakness allow Castro to elaborate on proper social behavior, comment on the unsuitability of vengeance over justice, and criticize the inhuman dictates of the honor code. Projecting herself into extremes, admirable and pitiable, Jimena constitutes an excellent instructive medium. Jimena's exemplariness, in a socially commendable sense, is accredited by the manner in which she fulfills her obligations. Unlike Rodrigo, who accomplishes the satisfaction of his father 's affront in an act of personal vengeance , Jimena translates the duty of avenging her father's death into lawful pursuit of justice. Jimena is set into purposeful contrast to all the characters involved in the bofetón incident when, after her father's death, she addresses herself to the king with the words, "¡Justicia, justicia pido!" (II, 181). The other characters' departure from the law of obedience is blatant. Diego Lainez and Count Lozano not only quarrel in front of the monarch, but later also disregard the latter's expressed intention of mediating in the matter (II, 173). Rodrigo...