The image of the Jew in the comedia has been considered negative because Golden-Age dramatists were understood to be serious in propagating anti-Jewishness, which was part of the ruling ideology. This point of view does not recognize the irony in many anti-Jewish scenes; the presence of irony suggests that these dramatists did not share the official anti-Jewishness, and that they may have been using dissimulation: overtly reproducing official policy while, covertly, to protect themselves, subverting it. It is not surprising that these apparently anti-Jewish scenes are ironic, after all, these dramatists lived in an authoritarian society that turned life into theatre, and they belonged to a converso -humanist intellectual tradition of dissimulation. These two factors influenced their dramatic techniques, which may be described as double language. The above considerations indicate that the image of the Jew in the comedia is ironic and capable of a more positive interpretation than previously thought.
Felipe Godínez, priest, doctor of theology and dramatist, was tried by the Inquisition for Judaizing in his everyday-life, in his theology, in his sermons, and, most importantly for us, in his dramatic output. What makes Godínez singular in the context of the Spanish Golden Age is that he justified theologically his everyday Judaizing, and translated his theology into artistic expresssion in La reina Ester and Amán y Mardoqueo . He was found guilty of heresy, but received an unusually light sentence. After a brief biography, I proceed by putting him in the context of Golden-Age Spanish society, in which descendants of judeo-conversos after many generations still perceived as Jews by most cristianos viejos . This perception created an especially severe identity problem for judeo-conversos , which they tried to solve in various ways; Godínez created his own solution, which is the principal subject of this essay. (AH)
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