Theological Casuistry and Casuistical Preposterousness: The Fallacious Cases of La pícara Justina

Abstract

The preliminary pages of La pícara Justina offer a parallel between a purported exemplary reading of Justina’s story and court hearings for people accused of crimes, as well as theological views. However, the preposterous circumstances and the arguments used by the female rogue when attempting to exonerate herself, assume such a degree of narrative disproportion and distortion that the discourse moves into parody. Based on these observations, we analyze the function of casuistry within the framework of fictional literature.