Description

Prostituidas por el Texto looks at the role of prostitution in female picaresque novels and also in Don Quijote. Also included are etiquette manuals that offer rules ranging from how to be the perfect wife and daughter, to advice on using make-up. Zafra also considers legal measures and moral treatises that define the boundaries of sin. Her analysis discusses the lesser evil that the presence of prostitutes represents for society, as well as, the concern for the public good that led to its legal eradication in 1623. Zafra's research demonstrates that the discourse on early modern prostitution present in literary and extra-literary sources informs us of more than the sexual practices allowed to prostitutes, and therefore, is part of a larger discourse on the regulation of women's behavior. She points out that moralists, preachers, legislators, and writers participated in this on-going discourse on prostitution, women, and sex.