Funcionalidad de la adopción discursiva en La Celestina : de Melibea a «Melilithbea»

Abstract

At the beginning of La Celestina, Melibea's noble status appears represented in the context of the figure of her parents. As the play unfolds, the protagonist undergoes a moral transformation enabled by «verbal adoption», that is, the use of words belonging to the domestic realm whose purpose is to develop a functional-semantic affinity among the characters. In our analysis we also establish a brief semantic parallel between the Biblical story of Lilith, one of the first transgressive women in Western civilization, and the evolution of Melibea. The explicative function of both characters, the Biblical and the fictitious, together with the element of verbal adoption, illustrate the concept-deeply-rooted in medieval times–of the transgressive daughter as an undermining element within the family.