From the Burlador to Bernardo to the Cid: Mocedades and Masculinity in Political Theory and Theatrical Practice

Abstract: I examine how early modern treatises and theatrical works converged in their treatment of youthful masculinity as a pressing social problem. Writers like Pedro Mexía ( Silva de varias lecciones ), Antonio Guevara ( Reloj de príncipes ), and Diego de Gurrea ( Tratado de la obediencia que los hijos deben a sus padres ) published prescriptive texts on educating and rehabilitating unruly young men, while playwrights brought youthful misdeeds, or mocedades , to the corral stage. Through analysis of Tirso de Molina's El burlador de Sevilla , Guillén de Castro's Las mocedades del Cid , and Las mocedades de Bernardo del Carpio (erroneously attributed to Lope de Vega), I argue that the term mocedades functioned as a euphemistic excuse that simultaneously normalized and obscured the dangers of young noblemen's behavior, masking an underlying crisis in both education and masculinity. By dramatizing a spectrum of mocedades from criminal to heroic, these plays reveal how early modern Spanish society struggled to reconcile competing models of masculinity—from aggressive virility to disciplined civility—while exposing the consequences of inadequate paternal guidance and failed pedagogical intervention.