Subversive Representations in Tirso’s Amazonas en las Indias

This article analyzes how the characters of the Amazons in Tirso de Molina’s Amazonas en las Indias (1635) recall the categorized distinction between the European ‘civilized’ man and the perceived ‘uncivilized’ Amerindian woman. It argues that the perceivable rudimentary façade usually ascribed to America and Amerindians contrasts with the sophisticated portrayal of Tirso’s characters and breaks discursive conventions in order to question the validity of these representations and conventional ideas about the American continent.