ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Ana Caro, considered Spain's first professional woman writer, because of her ties to Seville and Madrid, principal cities for intellectuals of the period but which offered distinct scholarly contexts within and beyond the academies. In some cases, however, information has been overlooked or forgotten, such as Alfonso de Batress satirical treatment of Ana Caro in his vejamen of the 1638 academy at the Buen Retiro, which was last summarized by Juan Prez de Guzmn in 1880. Ana Caro surely spent time in Madrid because other writers of the period recall her as having her plays represented in the city, taking part in poetic competitions, and, according to Castillo Solrzano, accompanying Mara de Zayas in public. Similarly, Caro represents Olivares as interested in her work in the dedication of the second part of her Contexto. Thus the chapter illustrates pedagogical diversity owes to the eclectic nature of the Spanish academies.
