From Lucrecia to Melibea: The conception of female eroticism in Piccolomini's Historia de duobus amantibus and in Rojas' Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea

Abstract

It was quite accurate of María Rosa Lida to affirm that Melibea lacks the preexisting models that allow us to comprehend the unorthodox configuration of her character. Nonetheless, there is a female character that shares many more aspects than the ones currently identified with this protagonist. I'm referring to Lucrecia from the Historia de duobus amantibus, by Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini. To appreciate such similarity, this essay explores the process of love of both protagonists with the purpose of substantiating how they fall into the literary tradition and what novelty they present with respect to it. This will allow us to reflect about a particular conception of female eroticism that is presented in both works.