La confrontation du roi, des nobles et des paysans dans La serrana de la Vera de Luis Vélez de Guevara

Written in 1613, Vélez de Guevara’s tragedy La serrana de la Vera first looks like one of those numerous Spanish plays about countrymen’s honour. However, this play differs from such a model insofar as its denouement is unconventional : the soldier who raped the mountain girl (called the « serrana »...

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Main Author: Hélène Tropé
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institut du Monde Anglophone 2008-10-01
Series:Etudes Epistémè
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/721
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author Hélène Tropé
author_facet Hélène Tropé
author_sort Hélène Tropé
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description Written in 1613, Vélez de Guevara’s tragedy La serrana de la Vera first looks like one of those numerous Spanish plays about countrymen’s honour. However, this play differs from such a model insofar as its denouement is unconventional : the soldier who raped the mountain girl (called the « serrana ») is killed by the young woman herself, rather than by the community of country people, as is usually the case in those plays. The serrana then runs away into the mountains and becomes a female bandit who kills the men she encounters. The king, far from forgiving the murder of the young nobleman, has her executed. This violent denouement poses the problem of the meaning of such a peculiar play in which the victim is punished. This article proposes then to show how this tragedy illustrates the dangers embodied by this strange androgynous character of a lawless woman, a sort of ogress, whom only the monarch, the manly and civilizing entity, manages to eliminate to restore Law and Order.
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spelling doaj-art-b10463a8f85c4de7bb45cc8228761b7e2025-08-20T02:32:42ZengInstitut du Monde AnglophoneEtudes Epistémè1634-04502008-10-011410.4000/episteme.721La confrontation du roi, des nobles et des paysans dans La serrana de la Vera de Luis Vélez de GuevaraHélène TropéWritten in 1613, Vélez de Guevara’s tragedy La serrana de la Vera first looks like one of those numerous Spanish plays about countrymen’s honour. However, this play differs from such a model insofar as its denouement is unconventional : the soldier who raped the mountain girl (called the « serrana ») is killed by the young woman herself, rather than by the community of country people, as is usually the case in those plays. The serrana then runs away into the mountains and becomes a female bandit who kills the men she encounters. The king, far from forgiving the murder of the young nobleman, has her executed. This violent denouement poses the problem of the meaning of such a peculiar play in which the victim is punished. This article proposes then to show how this tragedy illustrates the dangers embodied by this strange androgynous character of a lawless woman, a sort of ogress, whom only the monarch, the manly and civilizing entity, manages to eliminate to restore Law and Order.https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/721
spellingShingle Hélène Tropé
La confrontation du roi, des nobles et des paysans dans La serrana de la Vera de Luis Vélez de Guevara
Etudes Epistémè
title La confrontation du roi, des nobles et des paysans dans La serrana de la Vera de Luis Vélez de Guevara
title_full La confrontation du roi, des nobles et des paysans dans La serrana de la Vera de Luis Vélez de Guevara
title_fullStr La confrontation du roi, des nobles et des paysans dans La serrana de la Vera de Luis Vélez de Guevara
title_full_unstemmed La confrontation du roi, des nobles et des paysans dans La serrana de la Vera de Luis Vélez de Guevara
title_short La confrontation du roi, des nobles et des paysans dans La serrana de la Vera de Luis Vélez de Guevara
title_sort la confrontation du roi des nobles et des paysans dans la serrana de la vera de luis velez de guevara
url https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/721
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