Del teatro a la novela: El ritual del disfraz en las Novelas ejemplares de Cervantes by Eduardo Olid Guerrero (review)

Eduardo Olid Guerrero's recent book utilizes the critical language of theatricality to analyze Cervantes' Novelas ejemplares, and provides a systematic treatment of this theme throughout the collection of novellas. As shown in his extensively researched introduction, Del teatro a la novela: El ritual del disfraz en las Novelas ejemplares de Cervantes fills a gap in a body of criticism that has previously only identified the integral function of theatricality within specific novellas, or as a presupposed quality of the author's prose in general. Olid Guerrero's monograph therefore seeks to determine the efficacy of the language of theatricality as a lens for understanding the Novelas ejemplares globally, with particular attention to the multifaceted nature of disfraz (which I leave untranslated to avoid betraying a wide interpretation of the term of which the author takes full advantage). According to Olid Guerrero, one of the defining attributes of the collection is the way that the narratives peel away the layers of characters' identities, which are always defined by the imposition of social norms or cultural expectations. At this intersection of theatricality and ideology, disfraz proves to be a versatile interpretive tool, but the author's theoretical framework could have benefited from William Egginton's singularly pertinent research—namely, in How the World Became a Stage (2003) and The Theater of Truth: The Ideology of (Neo)Baroque Aesthetics (2009)—which largely resolves the lack of clarity lingering in Olid Guerrero's theoretical apparatus. At times, this imprecision, alongside extended stretches of narration of plot that analyze aspects of the text peripheral to the question of disfraz, frustrates the full realization of the interpretive capacity offered by the term.

The chapters are organized thematically, each giving attention to a pair of novellas from the collection. Some of the combinations fit more naturally than others, but however pragmatic the chapter divisions may have been, they arrange the text in a logical manner. In Chapter 1 ("Velos de locura y perversión"), Olid Guerrero explores psychopathology in "El licenciado Vidriera" and "El celoso extremeño," the representation of which inherently depends on the interior/exterior structure of disfraz exhibited by the protagonists' interaction with the social world that surrounds them. This chapter also introduces a body of theory Olid Guerrero relies upon throughout the book, primarily based on Victor Turner's classic work in cultural anthropology on the three phases common to rites of passage that are also reflected to varying degrees in the psychological development of many of Cervantes' characters. Chapter 2 ("El maquillaje del estupro") describes the physical, emotional, and social repercussions experienced by victims of sexual violence in the Novelas ejemplares, and what the responses to those traumatic episodes uncover about the society within which they occur. Chapter 3 ("Máscaras impuestas y voluntarias") demonstrates how within the context of early modern Spain, the Novelas ejemplares oblige readers to reconsider Spanish national and cultural identity through unconventional representations of the Other enclosed within the community of gypsies in "La gitanilla" and the English court in "La española inglesa." The characters that both novellas depict in a positive light are the ones who can ably play roles distinct from the ones they were born into, ultimately uncovering the nature of social identity as a theatrical avatar rather than an intrinsic quality. In chapter 4 ("Travestismo y miedo femenino"), the author argues that Cervantes's narratives are driven by a "theatrical motive" inherent in the loss of honor incurred by women whose lovers fail to stay true to their promise of marriage. This leads to distinct responses from those scorned; Teodosia and Lecoadia of "Las dos doncellas" initially disguise themselves as men to hide their lost honor, but ultimately use disguise to participate actively in its recovery. In "La señora Cornelia," the theatricality of the text—aside from the plot conventions and...