Conclusion

Abstract

Following an examination of existing diverse Spanish discourses in the period that reproduce concepts developed in the Western tradition Disabled Bodies in Early Modern Spanish Literature: Prostitutes, Aging Women and Saints concludes that the pejorative creation of the woman's body is the epitome of early modern disability. The devalued representations of women’s corporality in literary texts are the consequence of specific ideologies and social structures of a Spanish society that need to symbolically castrate and eliminate the impure and defective groups –subversive women, moriscos, conversos-- that could potentially upset the power hierarchy. Ultimately, the early modern discourses and literary texts examined in this book demonstrate a fear of somatic otherness that undermines the system.