Reviewed by:

• The Force of Habit / La fuerza de la costumbre by Guillén de Castro
• Sarah Grunnah

FOLLOWING A HANDFUL OF ENGLISH-LANGUAGE performances of Guillén de Castro's The Force of Habit in her own translation, Kathleen Jeffs, with Melissa R. Machit, delivers a fine English-language translation of Castro's play, which is about two siblings raised separately—the brother as a girl and the sister as a boy—whose gender identities are ultimately reversed by the end of the play. Jeffs, who authored the translation, has created a blank verse version that is close to the Spanish, while the materials written by Machit render the comedia accessible as both a literary text and for performance. While the play was written nearly four hundred years ago, likely in the 1610s, Machit and Jeffs present it as a story that engages with modern notions of gender through its use of cross-dressing as well as "gender and identity categories in general" despite "a serious cultural anxiety about the instability of gender/sex categories" in the period (26–27).

The introduction covers biographical information on Castro, a plot summary, the play's textual history, editorial methods, and a metrical analysis. Following this introduction, a four-part critical essay, "Bad Habits: Gender Made and Remade in La fuerza de la costumbre," contextualizes the play, addressing issues of gender in both it and the Spanish Golden Age more generally. The introductory material closes with a bibliography, a translator's note, and production stills; following the translation itself is a list of textual variants.

In each part of the critical essay, Machit addresses different aspects of gender in relation to the play's contents and reception. These materials all serve to introduce a play that, as Jeffs argues, "examines the performative aspects of gender" (94). [End Page 167]

Machit first introduces the dramatic tradition of cross-dressing in early modern Spain. She points to examples of other plays from the period in order to reveal how the practice ultimately caused controversy and raised fears of emasculation and effeminization, the "masculinity crisis" (84), citing Ursula Heise's foundational essay on the subject, yet ultimately prevailed as a popular subject among playwrights. Machit then turns to the notion of masculine perfection—the historical belief that masculinity was the more perfect version of femininity—in order to better understand "the allure of female actresses in men's clothing" (34). She reminds us that cross-dressing in daily life was seen as immoral, citing the trials of Eleno/a de Céspedes and Catalina/Alonso/Antonio de Erauso as real-life examples in the period. She concludes that Félix's feminine performance, which dips into effeminacy, "puts his life and the family name at risk" (43). As his father Don Pedro says, "He is, in short, a chicken. / And for a Moncada, by God, / this is unheard of. / It will be necessary to change him / back to his own nature" (1.460–64). Hipólita, on the other hand, becomes "a source of quiet pride for her father" (43); in his words, his daughter's manly feats "are the miracles performed / by the force of habit" (1.269–70). In essence, Machit argues that a greater unease over effeminate men compared to masculine women motivated Castro to create a more ambiguous gender identity for Félix than for Hipólita.

Machit's next focus is on modern notions of gender in relation to the play, where gender "is shown to be constructed, heavily regulated, and violently imposed" (50). Drawing on the writings of Plato, Juan Luis Vives, and Lope de Vega, as well as Judith Butler's notion of gender as performative, Machit shows how the play interrogates the relationship between one's outward gender "performance" and internal "identity," pointing out, ironically, that it is "when Félix and Hipólita attempt to bring their exterior gender signs into conformity with their assigned genders … that they become completely illegible" (48). Their gender performances...

审核人：

• 习惯的力量 / La fuerza de la costumbre by Guillén de Castro
• 莎拉·格鲁纳

跟随吉伦·德·卡斯特罗 (Guillén de Castro) 的《习惯的力量》 ( The Force of Habit) 的少量英语表演在她自己的翻译中，Kathleen Jeffs 和 Melissa R. Machit 对 Castro 的剧本进行了精美的英语翻译，该剧讲述了两个单独抚养的兄弟姐妹——一个是女孩的兄弟，一个是男孩的姐妹——他们的性别身份最终是剧终逆转。翻译的作者杰夫斯创造了一个接近西班牙语的空白诗句版本，而马奇特编写的材料使喜剧既可以作为文学文本也可以用于表演。虽然这部剧是在近四百年前写成的，很可能是在 1610 年代，但马奇特和杰夫斯将其呈现为一个故事，通过使用变装以及“一般的性别和身份类别”，将其呈现为一个与现代性别概念相关的故事”

介绍包括卡斯特罗的传记信息、情节摘要、剧本的文本历史、编辑方法和度量分析。在此介绍之后，一篇由四部分组成的评论文章“坏习惯：La fuerza de la costumbre 中的性别制造和改造”将这部剧置于背景之中，更广泛地解决了该剧和西班牙黄金时代中的性别问题。介绍性材料以参考书目、译者注和制作剧照结束；翻译本身之后是文本变体列表。

在评论文章的每一部分中，马奇特都谈到了与戏剧内容和接受度相关的性别的不同方面。这些材料都有助于介绍一种戏剧，正如杰夫斯所说，“检查性别的表演方面”（94）。[第167页结束]

Machit 首先介绍了现代西班牙早期的戏剧性变装传统。她指出了该时期其他戏剧的例子，以揭示这种做法如何最终引起争议并引发对去势和女性化的恐惧，即“男子气概危机”（84），引用乌苏拉·海斯（Ursula Heise）关于该主题的基础论文，但最终盛行于剧作家中的热门话题。Machit 然后转向男性完美的概念 - 历史信念，男性气质是女性气质的更完美版本 - 以便更好地理解“女女演员穿着男装的魅力”（34）。她以 Eleno/a de Céspedes 和 Catalina/Alonso/Antonio de Erauso 的审判为例，提醒我们日常生活中的变装被视为不道德。她的结论是，费利克斯的女性化表现使她陷入了女性化，“将他的生命和家族名誉置于危险之中”（43）。正如他的父亲唐佩德罗所说，“简而言之，他是一只鸡。/对于蒙卡达，上帝，/这是闻所未闻的。/有必要改变他/回到他自己的本性”（1.460- 64)。另一方面，Hipólita 成为“她父亲安静自豪的源泉”（43）；用他的话说，他女儿的男子气概“是习惯的力量所创造的奇迹”（1.269-70）。从本质上讲，马奇特认为，与阳刚女性相比，对柔弱男性的更大不安促使卡斯特罗为菲利克斯创造了一个比希波利塔更模棱两可的性别认同。将他的生命和姓氏置于危险之中”（43）。正如他的父亲唐佩德罗所说，“简而言之，他是一只鸡。/ 对于蒙卡达来说，天哪， / 这是闻所未闻的。/ 有必要改变他 / 回到他自己的本性”（1.460-64）。另一方面，Hipólita 成为“她父亲安静自豪的源泉”（43）；用他的话来说，是他女儿的男子气概壮举“是习惯的力量所创造的奇迹”（1.269-70）。本质上，马奇特认为，与男性化女性相比，对柔弱男性的更大不安促使卡斯特罗为菲利克斯创造了比希波利塔更模糊的性别认同。将他的生命和姓氏置于危险之中”（43）。正如他的父亲唐佩德罗所说，“简而言之，他是一只鸡。/ 对于蒙卡达来说，天哪， / 这是闻所未闻的。/ 有必要改变他 / 回到他自己的本性”（1.460-64）。另一方面，Hipólita 成为“她父亲安静自豪的源泉”（43）；用他的话来说，是他女儿的男子气概壮举“是习惯的力量所创造的奇迹”（1.269-70）。本质上，马奇特认为，与男性化女性相比，对柔弱男性的更大不安促使卡斯特罗为菲利克斯创造了一个比希波利塔更模棱两可的性别认同。另一方面，成为“她父亲安静自豪的源泉”（43）；用他的话说，他女儿的男子气概“是习惯的力量所创造的奇迹”（1.269-70）。从本质上讲，马奇特认为，与阳刚女性相比，对柔弱男性的更大不安促使卡斯特罗为菲利克斯创造了比希波利塔更模棱两可的性别认同。另一方面，成为“她父亲安静自豪的源泉”（43）；用他的话说，他女儿的男子气概“是习惯的力量所创造的奇迹”（1.269-70）。从本质上讲，马奇特认为，与阳刚女性相比，对柔弱男性的更大不安促使卡斯特罗为菲利克斯创造了一个比希波利塔更模棱两可的性别认同。

Machit 的下一个重点是与戏剧相关的现代性别观念，其中性别“被证明是被构建、严格监管和暴力强加的”（50）。借鉴柏拉图、胡安·路易斯·维夫斯和洛佩·德·维加的著作，以及朱迪思·巴特勒将性别视为表演性的概念，马奇特展示了该剧如何质疑一个人的外在性别“表现”和内在“身份”之间的关系，并指出具有讽刺意味的是，“当 Félix 和 Hipólita 试图使他们的外部性别符号与他们指定的性别一致时……他们变得完全难以辨认”（48）。他们的性别表演...