Beyond Fiction

The Recovery of the Feminine in the Novels of Cervantes

Ruth El Saffar

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9780520347441
• eBook ISBN: 9780520347458
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: European Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

Beyond Fiction: The Recovery of the Feminine in Cervantes explores how Cervantes's works, particularly his long-form fiction, grapple with themes of illusion, reality, desire, and the evolving role of women in literature. The book positions Cervantes as a writer acutely aware of the limits and contradictions of literary constructs, reflecting his transition from entanglement in traditional narratives to an eventual mastery of form and meaning. The study identifies a consistent pattern in Cervantes's works, from La Galatea through Don Quixote Parts I and II, where he moves from depicting unresolved conflicts and fragmented characters to crafting stories with deeper integration and more liberated representations of both men and women. By tracing the evolution of Cervantes's narrative structures, it shows how his characters increasingly break free from conventional roles, especially those imposed by the love triangle—a recurring emblem of displaced desire in his earlier works. This transformation is most evident in Don Quixote Part II, where Cervantes fully controls his material, integrates secondary tales seamlessly, and elevates female characters beyond their traditional roles as mere objects of male desire. Women in this later work, along with male characters like Sancho and Basilio, assert agency and individuality, reflecting a broader liberation from the confines of literary and societal archetypes. By shifting away from the constraints of pastoral and chivalric traditions, Cervantes demonstrates a profound shift in his artistic vision, using his narrative to explore truth and identity while rejecting the artificial hierarchies and illusions of his time. This study asserts that Cervantes's journey as a writer mirrors the transformative journeys of his characters, making his works a masterful interrogation of both fiction and reality. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1984.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Note on Texts
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index