Parody, Gender and Dress in Lope's La doncella Teodor

Lope's La doncella Teodor dramatizes the superiority of the Christian over the Muslim and the predicament of intellectually superior women in a male-dominated world by parodying the Byzantine novel, then in vogue, and the comedia de cautivos. The protagonists romp from one Muslim country to another, unscathed and triumphant. Instead of the numerous trials and sufferings caused by imprisonment and slavery, captivity in North Africa actually becomes an opportunity for advancement. In the end, Teodor, in spite of her intellectual superiority, marries in the conventional manner of the comedia but is successful in being able to choose her mate. Dress plays an important part by indicating and parodying the different roles assumed by Fénix, the galán. (TEC)