SOURCE: Fox-Lockert, Lucía. “María de Zayas.” In Women Novelists in Spain and Spanish America, pp. 25-35. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1979.

In the following essay, Fox-Lockert presents an overview of Zayas's life and works from a sociological and feminist viewpoint.

One of the most important figures among feminine writers, and the first woman novelist, is a Spanish woman of whom relatively little is known. Her identity remains somewhat a mystery, although the critics¹ have chosen from several women one who best fits the chronology of her two novels. María de Zayas was born in Madrid in 1590, belonged to the upper class socially and participated in the literary life of the court. Lope de Vega alludes to her as a “clear, lively mind” and a distinguished poet.² We have no data on her personal life; we do not even know if she was single, married or...