La querida y ondrada mujer frente a la Gran Señora de todos los Deberes: pervivencia de arquetipos y modernas sobreescrituras en Doña Jimena Díaz de Vivar (1960), de María Teresa León

Abstract

Vivar (1960), written by María Teresa León from exile, two opposing Castilian female epic archetypes are conjugated: that of the honored and virtuous lady of the deed songs and that of the lustful sinner of the ballads. This combination gives rise to a renewed version of the wife of El Cid Campeador. However, the medieval heritage of this great lady, reflected in her more “conservative” attitudes, could be confusing if it is read as the author’s invention or as assimilations of ancient patriarchal values. Therefore, the present article aims to delimit what features are taken from one or another epic archetype in order to elucidate to what extent Jimena’s characterization is faithful to Castilian medieval tradition, and to what extent certain traits of her personality are freely overwritten in light of feminism, political activism or the recovery of historical memory.