María de Zayas – författare

Published in 1647, these ten tales are among the earliest narratives in Western literature to focus on women's experiences and points of view in love relationships.The Disenchantments of Love, published in Spain in 1647 by María de Zayas, is a stunning collection of stories about women's amorous experiences in a patriarchal and imperialistic society during the turbulent seventeenth century. Now available for the first time in English translation, the ten examplary novellas are set within an encompassing frame story that continues from the first collection, The Enchantments of Love: Amorous and Exemplary Novels, published in 1637. Both collections of love stories were immediately popular because of the novelty of their plots and the gender of their author.What is new in the disenchantments is the deliberately feminist purpose stated in the rules for telling stories: only women are to narrate "true cases intended to disenchant women about men's deceptions," pointedly denying men the opportunity to dominate the storytelling. In the frame, however, the subtly ironic commentaries on the stories highlight the differences between masculine and feminine points of view. The conclusion of the frame reiterates the exemplary message that women are safe from men's physical and psychological abuse only in the sisterhood of the convent.These ten sensational and bizarre tales focus on the ways lovers deceive women in order to "get their way," through magic, cross dressing as women, and rape-to the torture and murder of innocent women at the hands of their protectors-their fathers, brothers, and husbands. The graphic depictions of women's mutilated bodies are unprecedented in Western literature, as is the meticulous description of domestic violence that has traditionally remained private and hidden. A fascinating dimension of these fast-paced narratives is what they suggest through omission, silence, and ambiguous detail: the untold story that fires the reader's imagination.

Pese a ser la autora más célebre del siglo XVII español, la biografía de María de Zayas siempre se ha resistido a ser establecida, siendo vanos los intentos de identificarla positivamente. En la introducción a esta edición Rosa Navarro Durán propone como «genial inventor» del personaje, aportando numerosos argumentos, al prolífico escritor Alonso de Castillo Solórzano. Proveniente de las "Novelas amorosas y ejemplares" y de los "Desengaños amorosos" publicados bajo el nombre de María de Zayas, la selección que se presenta ofrece muestra elocuente de unas piezas literarias que no sólo siguen deparando una sabrosa lectura, sino que, por su defensa de la educación de la mujer, sus ataques contra las actitudes de los hombres hacia ellas, el libre tratamiento de la sexualidad en el contexto de la época, así como la reivindicación de su importancia y de sus capacidades, son un hito en la historia de la condición femenina en Europa. Selección e introducción de Rosa Navarro Durán

María de Zayas es la primera mujer novelista de nuestra literatura, y destaca entre los autores de novelas cortas del siglo XVII, por debajo solo de Cervantes. Los "Desengaños" están escritos con el deseo de defender el buen nombre de las mujeres y advertirlas de los engaños masculinos. María de Zayas creyó firmemente en la capacidad intelectual de las mujeres y defendió su derechos a la cultura y a desempeñar cargos de responsabilidad.