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La traición en la amistad (1618-1632), María de Zayas y Sotomayor

Titles
English title: Friendship Betrayed
Date written: sometime between 1618 and 1632
First publication date: 1903
Keywords: morality > honour, identity > gender, identity > sexuality, love > relationships, love > desire, women
Genre and type: comedy
Pitch

This play turns traditional comedia gender roles around, foregrounding female friendship and showing how women can seduce and betray just as mercilessly as the typical male galán.

Synopsis

The plot of this female-driven play twists and turns around three women’s love of one man, Liseo. Marcia is the first to describe her love for him, showing his portrait to her friend Fe... (Read more...)

Critical response

López-Mayhew (writing in Spanish for her Spanish edition) provides an excellent dramaturgical introduction to the play, complete with full diagrams explaining the dramatic structure an... (Read more...)

Further information

Soufas dates the play’s composition between 1628 and 1632, based on historical events mentioned in the play and praise for the work given by Pérez de Montalbán in 1632 (Soufas 1997: 27... (Read more...)

Editions
  • Zayas y Sotomayor, María de. 1905. La traición en la amistad. In Apuntes para una biblioteca de escritoras españolas desde el año 1401 al 1833, vol. 2, ed. Manuel Serrano y Sanz, pp. 5... (Read more...)

Useful readings and websites
  • Campbell, Gwyn E. 1998. (En)gendering Fenisa in Maria de Zayas's La traicion en la amistad (Online Publication)

    Available online here [Accessed July 2010]

  • Ferrer, Joshua. 2004. ‘The Community of Women in María de Zayas y Sotomayor’s La traición en la amistad.’ Master of Arts Thesis, Miami University, Spanish (Online Publication)

    Available online here [Accessed July 2010]

  • Gorfkle, Laura. 1998. ‘Female Communities, Female Friendships and Social Control in Maria de Zayas's La traicion en la amistad: A Historical Perspective’ (Online Publication)

    Available online here [Accessed July 2010]

  • Hegstrom Oakey, Valerie. 1994. ‘The Fallacy of False Dichotomy in María de Zayas’s La traición en la amistad’, Bulletin of the Comediantes, 46, 59-70

  • Larson, Catherine. 1994-5. ‘Gender, Reading, and Intertextuality: Don Juan’s Legacy in María de Zayas's La traición en la amistad’, INTI: Revista de Literatura Hispanica, 40-1, 129-38

  • Leoni, Monica. 2003. ‘María de Zayas's La traición en la amistad: Female Friendship Politicized?’, South Atlantic Review, 68, 4, 62-84

  • Leoni, Monica. 2007. ‘The Convenient Demonization of Fenisa and the Subsequent Creation of the “Other”’, Bulletin of the Comediantes, 59, 1, 149-66

  • Paun de García, Susan. 1988. ‘La traición en la amistad de María de Zayas’, Anales de literatura española, 6, 377-90 (in Spanish)

  • Soufas, Teresa Scott. 1994. ‘María de Zayas’s (Un)Conventional Play, La traición en la amistad’. In The Golden Age Comedia: Text, Theory, and Performance, eds. Charles Ganelin and Howard Mancing, pp. 148-164. West Lafayette, Indiana, Purdue University Press

  • Stroud, Matthew D. 1985. ‘Love, Friendship, and Deceit in La traición en la amistad, by María de Zayas’, Neophilologus, 69, 539-47

  • Stroud, Matthew D. 1995. ‘The Demand for Love and the Mediation of Desire in La traición en la amistad’. In María de Zayas: The Dynamics of Discourse, eds. Amy R. Williamsen and Judith A. Whitenack, pp. 155-69. Cranbury, NJ, Associated University Presses

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Entry written by Kathleen Jeffs. Last updated on 4 October 2010.

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Maegan wrote 29 Nov 2016, 8:04 p.m.
Production history addition I'd like to note that my theatre company did a production of Friendship Betrayed in 2015 and I'd love to add information if possible!
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