ABSTRACT
Modern historiography is gradually offering new data about early modern women in Spain that denies many of the assumptions previously held about women’s roles and sexuality. The author would argue that the attitude of the characters of short theater toward sexuality was much more credible and reflective of the views many held in the period than the obsession with honor portrayed in many comedias. Short theater reveals in many aspects the disjunction between the official culture and everyday practices regarding interactions between men and women. Short theater dramatizes the debate on domestic violence, giving a voice to its protagonists and to the community in which the attacks take place. Characters embody individuals who are in contact with domestic violence as perpetrators, victims, or witnesses, and from such perspective weigh in on whether or not the violence presented on stage had a justified cause or whether the punishment was appropriate to the circumstances.
