A gender perspective through a matriarcal society: the zarzuela La isla de San Balandrán

Abstract

This article analyzes from a gender perspective what the zarzuela chica La isla de San Balandrán meant in the 19th century Spanish society. Taking into account the upside-down-world scenario (in this island women have the power and men don’t have either voice nor vote), it is interesting to initiate an investigation with regard to what this change of perspective meant to the critics and the audience, whether there was a change in society, or a seed was sown so that men could understand the limits to which women of the time were subjected. Through journal and magazine documents as well as the subsequent sequels that the piece left in some literary works, the evolution of collective thought will be traced as well as how little by little feminism was introduced in 19th century Spain.