Nadeau, Faculty Advisor, Carolyn

Nelson, Benjamin J.

Digital Commons @ Illinois Wesleyan University

Illinois Wesleyan UniversityDigital Commons @ IWUJohn Wesley Powell Student ResearchConference 1999, 10th Annual JWP ConferenceApr 17th, 2:30 PM - 4:00 PMLas Mujeres de Oro (Golden Girls)Benjamin J. NelsonIllinois Wesleyan UniversityCarolyn Nadeau, Faculty AdvisorIllinois Wesleyan UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/jwprcThis Event is brought to you for free and open access by The Ames Library, the Andrew W. Mellon Center for Curricular and FacultyDevelopment, the Office of the Provost and the Office of the President. It has been accepted for inclusion in Digital Commons @ IWU bythe faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@iwu.edu.©Copyright is owned by the author of this document.Benjamin J. Nelson and Carolyn Nadeau, Faculty Advisor, "Las Mujeres de Oro (Golden Girls)" (April 17, 1999). JohnWesley Powell Student Research Conference. Paper 2.http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/jwprc/1999/oralpres3/2THE JOHN WESLEY POWELL STUDENT RESEARCH CONFERENCE" APRIL 1999 Oral Presentation 3.3 LAS MUJERES DE ORO (GOLDEN GIRLS) Benjamin J. Nelson and Carolyn Nadeau* Department of Hispanic Studies, lllinois Wealeyan University First published in 1605, at the height of the Golden Age of Spain, Part I of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra's Don Quixote de fa Mancha dared to challenge the overall relevancy of revering traditional literary ties in the creation of fiction. Instead of conforming to the literary requirements that the Middle Ages and Antiquity imposed on contemporary literature, Cervantes attempted to shake the stereotypes and expectations often present in this literary genre. Directing his attack on the widely popular books of chivalry, this Golden Age writer has his protagonist Don Quixote de la Mancha �tumbling into the trap of categorizing all the women that he encounters as mere "damsels-in-distress," since the books of chivalry of this misguided Spaniard dictate that all women become powerless when faced with a problematic situation. After encountering the characters Marcela, Dorotea and Camila, however, the reader discovers that these women, through their creative and intelligent speeches and actions, possess the necessary power to successfully resolve their own problems. To break from the literary norm that all women are damsels-in-distress, Miguel de Cervantes presents these extraordinary women as independent and capable of overcoming the obstacles in their lives without requiring the intervention of a knight in shining armor. 

Las Mujeres de Oro (Golden Girls)

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Las Mujeres de Oro (Golden Girls)

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