Dismantling evil: an analysis of Celestina's resilience

Abstract

Since the publication of La Celestina, the work’s eponymous character has become entrenched as the quintessential malevolent witch figure in Hispanic popular culture. Nevertheless, I contend that to truly understand Celestina, we must take into account the sociopolitical influences of 15th-century Spain that shaped her personality. I therefore propose a re-reading of Fernando de Roja’s work, in which I consider the external forces that render Celestina a profoundly intricate, paradoxical subject. This essay challenges the notion of Celestina’s inherent wickedness, consequentially shedding light on her enduring resilience. While the officios she performs carry a stigma, they simultaneously fuel her ascent to power. By drawing on Silvia Federici’s theoretical framework, I evidence that while Celestina—inhabiting a female body—faces hurdles in translating her ambition, knowledge, and experience to authority, status, and power within the novel’s patriarchal society, the character’s defiant attitude renders her a disruptor of societal norms. Furthermore, this work delves into the motivations that led Rojas to depict Celestina ambivalently; I conclude with the hypothesis that the author projects his own converso anxieties onto the work’s complex character.