Scarron’s Taming of the Shrew

Abstract

Abstract This article explores the implications of Scarron’s intercalation of a novella by María de Zayas, El juez de su causa (1637), in Part II of the Roman comique (1657), in terms of the overall structure of the novel, and, more specifically, in terms of gender construction. Following the original, Scarron narrates the adventures of a cross-dressing heroine who becomes a trusted aide-de-camp to the emperor, but eventually gives up all her (male) titles and military rewards to marry the man she loves. Upon marrying her, the latter in turn replaces her as viceroy of Valencia. The main narrator ostensibly delegates the function of translator and narrator to one of his male characters, whereas in Part One (1651), he asserted, through metaleptic devices, that he was the actual author of the tale as the reader read it. Scarron, who, as a translator, was familiar with Zayas as well as other early seventeenth-century Spanish novella writers, introduced changes which ultimately contribute to the containment of the potential threat posed by powerful female characters. In the process, he effectively restores the male-dominated hierarchy the protagonist risked undermining. Whereas cross-dressing and the connection with the Orient of the protagonist, abducted to Fez before she returns to Spain in man’s clothing, seem to point to unstable identities, the insertion of Le Juge de sa propre cause ultimately promotes a return to the norm.