Don Quixote Chap 36-45 (Part 1)

1) Lela Zoraida/Maria Character Analysis:

Zoraida’s story and past actions set her apart from the other women in Don Quixote – as she flips the stereotypical role of women on its head.
a. Zoraida falls in love with the captive who she has never met – solely based on seeing him. This is the way that all of the foolish, lustful men of the novel (Grisóstomo, Fernando, etc.) fall in love with women – solely based on their beauty, and not at all concerned with their virtues or beliefs.
b. Zoraida delivers a bundle of money and a letter to the captive through the prison window to help him escape. This money was from her own father who she had run away from – and the letter stated that she had converted to Christianity and wanted to become his wife in Spain. The fact that Zoraida is not only helping a man escape prison to marry her, (thus satisfying her OWN desires, instead of the desires of the MAN) but Zoraida is going against her own family and father.
a. The stories of Dorotea and Luscinda, the women had to dress like men to escape their homes and run away to solitude. Marcela even dressed “drably” as a shepherdess in the woods, all the while disguising their beauty, which was detrimental to their lives and honor. Zoraida has a thin veil over her face, which is dropped to reveal her amazing beauty – more beautiful than Luscinda and Dorotea.
b. This idea of a ‘veiled/disguised’ identity continues when Zoraida objects fervently that her name is: Maria! Maria! Which is the name she wishes to be baptized by.
c. Zoraida represents a more modern woman, though she is a radical character in the novel based on the time period. Zoraida conducts herself based on her own personal honor and dignity – despite the fact that her sex is perceived as “inferior to men” and despite the honor of her father or family, she is more independent as a figure. (Or at least much more independent than any of the other female characters who remain indebted to their lover or family). Her individuality is emphasized because of her various backgrounds: Moorish, “Spanish,” Arabic, Muslim, and Christian – she has shaped her individual identity from her own heritage and also the choices she made for herself, such as moving to Spain and becoming a Christian.
d. The notion that a woman is capable of choosing her own path in life and shaping her own identity is utterly radical. She is a strong, individual character who pursues her own desires, but at the same time she never speaks. This muteness is a reflection of the reality of her status as a woman during Cervantes’ time: although she has achieved so much through her actions, she is mute and cannot understand the Spanish being spoken around her. In a way, just as Zoraida cannot understand the Spanish being spoken by Dorotea, Luscinda – Dorotea and Luscinda cannot understand the Arabic being spoken to her. This could represent the idea that these women cannot comprehend the lifestyle and beliefs that they live by, as Zoraida’s life is so different from the other ladies.
e. I think that Cervantes presents us with Zoraida as a representation of the radical, practically “fictitious” notion that a woman has equal power and choice as a man. That a woman can choose to love based on sight just as the men do, and that she has the power to disregard her own heritage and family to pursue her own desires. Extremely radical ideas for the time.