Rebels With a Cause: Adam and Eve in Modern Spanish Literature

From the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, some of Spain’s most renowned literary figures produced literary re-creations of one of the world’s most enigmatic and fascinating stories: the tale of Adam and Eve in Paradise. The present study focuses on the history of this ancient narrative and its nature as cultural myth whose content is deemed essential to society. Using recent theories in the study of mythography, the relationship between the Adamic myth and Spanish society is explored in the works of individual Spanish authors. From the auto sacramental and the drama of Lope de Vega to the Neoclassical poetry of Alberto Lista and the Romantic epic of Espronceda, this work represents the first comprehensive study of this important theme in Spanish literature.