Suspicious diseases of grumbling old women: Paltrana ( Segunda Celestina ), Alisa ( La Celestina ) and other comedy mothers oblivious of their duties

Abstract

The article focuses on the character of Paltrana, the mother of Polandria in the Second Celestina by Feliciano de Silva, connecting this character with other comedy mothers who play a similar role. They are careless mothers or mothers who are oblivious to the seriousness of the events in which their daughters are taking part. Paltrana is compared to Alisa, in Fernando de Rojas' La Celestina, to Teodora in Lope de Vega's La Dorotea and to other «good» mothers in poetry and comedy. Their behaviours and their pains are compared with the symptoms of love sickness, in its different variants. As a matter of fact, the same dramatic scene is used repeatedly and gives a lot of play with a wide variety of possibilities.  Coming from the tradition of comedy, Feliciano de Silva takes advantage of some of them with total originality.