The Independent Heroines in Ruiz de Alarcón's Major Comedias

A close analysis of the heroines in Las paredes oyen, La prueba de las promesas, and La verdad sospechosa proves that Alarcón's female protagonists are not as selfish, unfeeling, and hypocritical as traditional scholarship has described them. The heroines of these plays are independent, active, and decisive women, making choices and determining not only their own destinies but the heroes' destinies as well. Traditional scholarship also criticizes Alarcón's female characters as "undistinguished and undistinguishable," but each of the heroines in the three plays chosen for analysis is clearly drawn and well-differentiated from the others. Alarcón, long noted for his characterizations of men, also created interesting, well-drawn, and independent female characters in Las paredes oyen, La prueba de las promesas, and La verdad sospechosa. (DJP)