Powerless or Empowered?: Women in Guillén de Castro's Las mocedades del Cid and Las hazañas del Cid

Guillén de Castro y Belvis was the author of two plays that deal with the Cid theme: Las Mocedades del Cid and Las Hazañas del Cid. Castro's attitude to women and marriage is reflected in these two plays. Jimena, in Las Mocedades del Cid, is the powerless young woman incapable of forging her own destiny. In Las Hazañas del Cid, the more mature, empowered Zaida decides her future for herself. Las Mocedades del Cid has been praised for its universal values and the exemplary nature of its protagonist who is a good son, a good vassal, a good warrior, and a good Christian. The play can, however, be seen as a triumph of manly will over womanly submission. In the medieval ballads, Jimena does not capitulate. In this Renaissance text, the message given to Jimena, as a good daughter and wife, is to submit. Jimena is neither forced into marriage nor does she resist. She succumbs to the destiny which the men around her have chosen for her. Las Hazañas del Cid shows how Zaida, like the Cid, achieves her own salvation. In accordance with Counter-Reformation values prevalent in Spain, Zaida is saved by her faith and her good deeds. The hero of this second play, according to many critics, is the city of Zamora as the symbol of a new Numancia or metaphor for the endurance of Spain itself. Zaida is, however, a better symbol than the inanimate city. It is she who, by virtue of her courage, loyalty, and faith, saves herself, King Alonso and the nation. Her strength is all the more apparent when contrasted to Jimena's weakness.