Change in Roles
The Friendship Betrayed from Maria de Zayas is for sure a lot different from the typical Don Juan Spanish comedy. This play is diverse in many ways since Maria de Zayas has totally transformed the role of women. In this play woman help each other and have a lot more power than they usually do. They consequently subvert the social order and make the play very unique.
First of all, one of the reasons why this play is different is because of the women’s solidarity. They in the play have compassion for each other and work with one another to make things right. The solidarity between Laura and Marcia in the Friendship Betrayed for example, gives them more power and because of that, they can easily change the course of the play.
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First of all, women in this play have more power then the men. Regularly, men are the one controlling and tricking the women to get what they want. However, in this comedy, the relationship that men and women have is different. The women have the authority and the power because of their bond. Another good reason is their behavior. They don’t act like they are supposed to. Women in this play for example fight against each other: “You will see what I’m made of now! (The two women fight.)” (P.189 line 2765). You more often see two men fighting against one another but not two women. Furthermore, some women like Fenisa don’t really care about their honor in this play which is pretty odd. She sleeps with many man at the same time: “Don Juan, no woman, if she considers herself prudent, puts her honor up for public discussion, since it is a precious jewel, easily broken. If Fenisa were circumspect, she would not do what she does.” (P.135 line 1750). Habitually, women are not letting any man inside their “soul” before marriage. In other words, the women are not the fragile or the deceived one in the comedy. They are smart, powerful and they are the one in