The Melancholic Complexion of Melibea

Abstract

Fernando de Rojas's masterpiece, La Celestina, is indebted to the medical treatises that circulated widely in fifteenth-century Iberia. Celestina scholarship has aptly traced Calisto and Melibea's lovesickness (amor hereos) to the epistemology that dealt with this life-threatening condition. These scholars, however, have not gone beyond commenting on and analysing the ways in which lovesickness affected the star-crossed lovers. This study shows that Melibea suffers from other melancholic illnesses, which predispose her to amor hereos, while the latter evolves into more virulent forms of melancholy.