The Representation of Domestic Servants in Eighteenth-Century Spanish Theatre
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The Representation of Domestic Servants in Eighteenth-Century Spanish Theatre DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Kirt Edward Komocki Graduate Program in Spanish and Portuguese The Ohio State University 2011 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Rebecca Haidt, Director Dr. Donald Larson Dr. Stephen Summerhill Copyright by Kirt Edward Komocki 2011 Abstract Domestic servants comprised a major sector of the working population in eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Madrid, assisting in the completion of daily responsibilities and acting as symbols of status for their superiors. Despite their significant presence and important roles in everyday life in the court city, domestics have generally been overlooked by scholarship that has focused on the rapid expansion of the middle class and top-down social reforms of that time. Recognizing the complexity of domestic service and the lack of primary information on servants themselves, my dissertation examines the representation of domestics in Spanish theatre, using Nicolás Fernández de Moratín‘s La petimetra, Leandro Fernández de Moratín‘s El sí de las niñas, and the sainetes of Ramón de la Cruz to gain valuable insight into the profession. The connection between dramatic representation and domestic service solidifies itself during the eighteenth-century, as both areas enter periods of substantial growth and reform. Similarly, domestic service is in many regards a performance, with servants often acting against their will to carry out daily responsibilities and function as status symbols for their superiors. Masters, in turn, act out other roles in these relationships to reinforce their social position, power, and prestige. Studying depictions of the characters of domestic servants, and the world in which they operate, in selected theatrical works, therefore sheds light on the entire profession and helps recreate a major part of Spanish ii society. Drama, while it cannot completely objectify domestic service, can reveal certain aspects of the profession, namely that servants were vastly present in eighteenth-century Madrid, domestic service was a complex profession in both its make-up and the variety of people who completed service-based tasks, domestic service involved a wide range of tasks both inside the home and in public spaces, and generated fascinating master-servant and servant-servant relationships. Additionally, the expansion of servant responsibilities is paralleled by the increase of theatrical functions of the characters of domestic servants in the selected works, another true testament to their expansion and growing significance. These features, present in the selected theatrical works, help navigate the paradoxical situation of studying representations of a profession that is to a great extent difficult to represent or approximate. My dissertation therefore paints a picture of the service profession in eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Madrid, while evaluating what may have been believable to the general public and audiences of that time. It also suggests that theatrical works can be used as a valid source of information on social, historical and economic issues. iii Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my parents. iv Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge the overwhelming support I‘ve had over the years in my education at University School, College of William and Mary, University of Michigan and The Ohio State University. In particular, I would like to recognize Rebecca Haidt, Donald Larson, Stephen Summerhill and Vicente Cantarino for their wonderful suggestions and guidance throughout the entire process, and for sharing their passion for literature and culture with me during class and discussions. I would also like to thank George Greenia for sparking my interest in Spanish literature, and for believing in me. The support from my colleagues along the way has also been extremely helpful, and I would like to extend a special thanks to Samuel Amell, Elizabeth Davis, Heather Nelson, Joaquín Soldevilla, Jan Macián, Rob Robison, Jenny Fourman, Scott Schwenter, Terrell Morgan, Melissa Logue and Eugenia Romero. v Vita 1994………………………………… B.A. Spanish, College of William and Mary 1996 …………………………………M.A. Spanish Literature, University of Michigan 2003 to 2007 ………………………...Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, The Ohio State University Fields of Study Major Field: Spanish and Portuguese vi Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................... ii Dedication ....................................................................................................................ivv Acknowledgments ...........................................................................................................v Vita ..............................................................................................................................vvi Chapter 1: Why Servants?.................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 2: Evaluating Verisimilitude and Theatrical Function in Eighteenth and Early- Nineteenth Century Spanish Drama…………………………………………………….. 37 Chapter 3: Everything is a Sign. Theatrical Function and Domestic Service in Comedias …………………………………………………………………………………………... 70 Chapter 4: The Theatrical Function of the Characters of Servants in the Sainetes of Ramón de la Cruz…………………………………………………………………….... 107 Chapter 5: Relationships within Domestic Service…………………………………… 138 Chapter 6: Routines and Responsibilities from the World of Domestic Service in Eighteenth-Century Spanish Drama………………………………………………….. 186 Chapter 7: Final Thoughts…………………………………………………………….. 228 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………….. 245 vii Chapter 1: Why Servants? Daily life in eighteenth-century Madrid merits a thorough examination of domestic service during that time. A landlocked capital1 and the largest city in Spain, Madrid specialized in certain areas of industry, most notably textiles, but followed a different trajectory from many of its European counterparts.2 Madrid stood out as a political center and court city that housed many of the country‘s elite, as historian José Nieto writes in Artesanos y mercaderes: Una historia social y economía de Madrid (1450- 1850): ―Con estas carencias (economía diversificada, puerto internacional, asiento de importantes manufacturas)-del comienzo y de después-Madrid destacaba por ser la residencia del rey, la sede del gobierno, la capital del imperio‖ (293-294). In fact, Nieto argues that this transformation into a court city had already started to take shape a century earlier: ―Estos rasgos convertirían al Madrid del XVII en la ciudad cortesana por excelencia, la urbe parásita diseñada por Braudel. En definitiva, la ciudad en la que se asienta la corte explicaría por sí misma la desindustrialización, la ‗desurbanización industrial‘ o el atraso económico del reino, como propone Ringrose‖ (181). Families across all social classes relied on hired help to complete daily tasks, but with the growing presence of upper and upper-middle class citizens in Madrid3 domestic servants and workers of all types became even more coveted for their skills, labor and social value, as they were needed to carry out the ―lesser,‖ everyday tasks and also act as status symbols for their superiors.4 These roles were filled by local families, artisans, apprentices, journeymen, students, and immigrants from other countries or rural Spain, who offered 1 their services in exchange for some form of compensation, ranging from simple room and board, to a stable income, career advancement, and possible upward social mobility. When households couldn‘t find adequate help or tried to economize, families and their limited staff of servants took on many of the responsibilities, such as cooking and cleaning, internally. Other options included hiring part-time assistants, or assigning multiple tasks to each servant. Carmen Sarasúa writes that many middle class families employed women domestics, who demanded less of a salary, and then divided responsibilities amongst them: ―En este caso, una de ellas se ocupaba de la cocina (compra, comida, fregado) y la otra de la casa y ropa‖ (Criados 106). The wide range of people completing service-related tasks across multiple economic and social spheres therefore led to the expansion of an extremely complex service sector in the capital, where the environment varied with each household, tasks were often carried out without documentation or extended into other types of work, and workers frequently became ―master-less‖ men who were not always accounted for in censuses or other official records.5 Clearly, domestic service in eighteenth-century Madrid was, ―Una organización de la producción que se resiste a la cuantificación, difícil de medir con las categorías con las que se abordan los mercados de trabajo industriales‖ (Sarasúa, Criados xvii). Due to financial struggles, sickness, and food shortages that furthered the division of Madrid into neighborhoods marked along socioeconomic lines,6 the capital city experienced several population shifts in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries,7 and eventually doubled in size,8 increasing the need for domestic help. Servants formed a 2 vital branch of society that comprised almost 35% of the total population of Madrid in 1787