Degree Name

Department

Spanish and Portuguese

College

Humanities

Defense Date

2022-03-11

Publication Date

2022-03-18

First Faculty Advisor

Anna-Lisa Halling

First Faculty Reader

Valerie Hegstrom

Honors Coordinator

Rex Nielson

Keywords

convent theater, baroque, women writers, nuns, symbolism, rosary

Abstract

Soror Maria do Céu’s Rosal de María, second of the five plays published in her work Triunfo do Rosario, is an exemplary work of early modern convent drama because the didactic, allegorical purposes of the play interact with rich symbolism and mastery of the literary conventions of the day. Written to perform as part of the celebrations for the Feast of the Rosary, Rosal de Maria fulfills the same purpose of the Rosary itself, leading worshipers in their contemplation on the life of Christ. She creates a living Rosary on the stage by employing elements like floral imagery, transferred classicism and mystical symbolism and subverting tropes like the Ave/Eva dichotomy and the every man character.