The Maid Character in Ángela de Acevedo's Comedies

Abstract

This paper aims to analyse the character of the maid in the dramatic production of Ángela de Acevedo, a Baroque playwright who authored two comedies of «cloak and sword», El muerto disimulado and Dicha y desdicha del juego y devoción de la Virgen; and a hagiographic play, La margarita del Tajo que dio nombre a Santarén. The study of these works illustrates the importance of the maid character in the comedia nueva and, in particular, in Acevedo’s texts: the maid is essential to the development of the plot, the characterization of the female lead and her contact with the outside world; she takes part in the metatheatrical games common in Golden Age theatre, along with the gracioso; and she frequently voices thoughts of social criticism, especially those specifically linked to the female experience.