Clark Colahan
Persiles y Sigismunda, recently studied in connection with folkloric saints' lives and the hagiographic comedia Lucistela, shows a surprising connection to the theme of incest that surrounds a legendary pope. Many adventure novels with roots in Hellenistic literature begin with incest, even in the form of unconsummated desire, that drives the victim out of the home onto a dangerous journey. Eustaquia, Persiles's mother, acts as that catalyst, when her words and actions are read in that tradition. Yet Cervantes wins readers' forgiveness for her as part of the novel's rejection of Counter Reformation harshness.