Celestina and the Ends of Desire

by Gerli, E. Michael

• ISBN13: 9781442642553
• ISBN10: 1442642556
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-06-18
• Publisher: Univ of Toronto Pr

Summary

One of the most widely-read and translated Spanish works in sixteenth-century Europe was Fernando de Rojas' Celestina, a 1499 novel in dialogue about a couple that faces heartbreak and tragedy after being united by the titular brothel madam. In 'Celestina' and the Ends of Desire, E. Michael Gerli illustrates how this work straddles the medieval and the modern in its exploration of changing categories of human desire - from the European courtly love tradition to the interpretation of want as an insatiable, destructive force. Gerli's analysis draws on a wide range of Celestinascholarship but is unique in its use of modern literary and psychoanalytic theory to confront the problematic links between literature and life. Explorations of influence of desire on knowledge, action, and lived experience connect the work to seismic shifts in the culture of early modern Europe. Engaging and original, 'Celestina' and the Ends of Desiretakes a fresh look at the timeless work's widespread appeal and enduring popularity.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. ix
A Note on Citations and Translations	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 3
The Chain of Desire: Linking Language and Longing in Celestina	p. 13
Celestina, Mistress of Desire	p. 37
Calisto's Hunt: The Pursuit of Carnal Knowledge	p. 64
Yearning to Look: Desire and the Pleasure of the Gaze	p. 98
Complicitous Laughter: The Sounds of Desire	p. 122
Melibea Speaks: Language and Feminine Desire	p. 138
The Desire to Belong and the Body Politic	p. 164
Precincts of Contention: Locating Desire and Ideology in Celestina	p. 184
Pleberio and the Ends of Desire	p. 199
Notes	p. 223
Works Cited	p. 235
Index	p. 253
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