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 Maria 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 exemplary 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 Westernliterature, 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.

Considerada la primera novelista espanola, y una de las grandes prosistas del Siglo de Oro espanol. Publica dos colecciones de relatos, las dos partes de su obra en prosa, que son los 10 publicados en 1637 como Novelas ejemplares y amorosas y los otros 10 publicados, bajo el subtitulo de Desenganos, una decada despues. Un critico dice de su estilo y temas: Como novelista es de una frescura y novedad sin precedentes ni tampoco seguidores. Tiene de su epoca el gusto por la violencia, la crueldad, la magia y los encantamientos. La moral en ella no es moraleja sino escarmiento. Ni ahorra episodios picarescos cuya crudeza no desmerece del Buscon quevedesco, ni queda atras de las bizanterias cervantinas en otros como La fuerza del amor o El prevenido enganado. Pero quizas lo que mas sorprende en ella es la libertad con que se comportan los personajes femeninos en el aspecto sexual y amatorio. Desde la que persigue a un hombre que ve por el balcon hasta la que guarda un amante negro en el establo hasta devorarlo sexualmente, antes de infinitos adulterios.

At the height of Maria de Zayas's popularity in the mid-eighteenth century, the number of editions in print of her work was exceeded only by the novels of Cervantes. But by the end of the nineteenth century, Zayas had been excluded from the Spanish literary canon because of her gender and the sociopolitical changes that swept Spain and Europe. "Exemplary Tales of Love and Tales of Disillusion "gathers a representative sample of seven stories, which features Zayas's signature topics--gender equality and domestic violence--written in an impassioned tone overlaid with conservative Counter-Reformation ideology. This edition updates the scholarship since the most recent English translations, with a new introduction to Zayas's entire body of stories, and restores Zayas's author's note and prologue, omitted from previous English-language editions. Tracing her slow but steady progress from notions of ideal love to love's treachery, "Exemplary Tales of Love and Tales of Disillusion "will restore Zayas to her rightful place in modern letters.

Due to the very old age and scarcity of this book, many of the pages may be hard to read due to the blurring of the original text.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ Novelas; Volume 3 Of Biblioteca De La Mujer Maria de Zayas y Sotomayor S. Bernardo, 1892 Literary Criticism; European; Spanish & Portuguese; Fiction / Literary; Literary Criticism / European / Spanish & Portuguese; Short stories, Spanish

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ Novelas Ejemplares Y Amorosas De Dona Maria De Zayas Y Sotomayor: Primera Y Segunda Parte Maria de Zayas y Sotomayor Baudry, 1847

Due to the very old age and scarcity of this book, many of the pages may be hard to read due to the blurring of the original text.