Acceso usuarios
Carmen Granda
This essay examines a crisis in notions of class and gender through the metonymic association between Altisidora and the cats in part 2 of Don Quixote, which evoke the symbolism of the vagina dentata. Through the image of Altisidora's castrating toothed vagina, Cervantes reveals a disruption of the knight-errant ideal, reflecting broader themes in Don Quixote: a meditation of masculinities in crisis and Spain's declining imperial power. Focusing on the claws, face, mouth, and vagina, this essay highlights how Cervantes uses the body as a critical site to interrogate the intersection of material and affective dimensions in addressing cultural anxieties in the palace episodes.
