The Converso Perspective in El aucto de los desposorios de José

Abstract

El aucto de los desposorios de José is one of several plays of the Golden Age based on the Old Testament story of Joseph. It is unique, however, because its primary source material is not the Bible, but rather a late-classical Hellenistic Jewish novel entitled Joseph and Aseneth . This essay analyzes the play's adaptation of its source material to a sixteenth-century context. I argue that Desposorios subverts the prevailing emphasis on blood purity in Spain by converting a Jewish story into a dramatization of Christian conversion. Through the process of adaptation, the anonymous playwright inscribes a converso perspective on the story, characterized by a sense of equality, a socially critical attitude, and ambiguous communication. The overall effect is an appropriation of Christian values in order to make the argument for the full acceptance of New Christians into Spanish society. This subversive element to the play makes it worthy of more scholarly attention than it has previously received.