Una voz femenina en la poética de la tragedia neoclásica: Margarita Hickey y su «Prólogo» a la traducción de Andrómaca (1789)

In 1789, Margarita Hickey published the first volume of Poesias varias, sagradas, morales y profanas o amorosas, including her translation of Racine’s Andromaque (1667). With Racine’s version, Hickey became the first Spanish female writer interested in translating Neoclassical tragedy, as well as the only female who dared to translate the dramatic work of this reputed French playwright into our language. In addition, Hickey’s work opens with an interesting preface in which the author reflects on different aspects related to the Neoclassical concept of tragedy and the purpose of drama. This paper analyses Margarita Hickey’s contribution to turn-of-the-century theoretical discourse on tragedy, when the Neoclassical reformism has to coexist, not without some tension, with a conception of theater closer to the popular taste and more open to new dramatic models.