A bold, gender-inflected reinterpretation of secular Spanish texts of the early modern period that focuses on sexual violence as expressive of cultural and political issues.

Marcia Welles applies her extensive knowledge of Spanish Golden Age literature and her insightful grasp of current literary theory to synthesize a wide range of material into a uniquely engaging and refreshing interpretation of well-known texts. While the subject of rape and violence has been studied in other European literatures, Persephone's Girdle is the first to do so in the field of early modern Spanish literature.

Marcia L. Welles is professor of Spanish at Barnard College. Her previous works include Style and Structure in Gracian's "El Criticon" (1976) and Arachne's Tapestry: The Transformation of Myth in Seventeenth-Century Spain (1986). In her articles she has examined the relationship between verbal and visual art and focused attention on both contemporary and Golden Age women writers.