El sufrimiento y la resistencia de doña Francisca en El sí de las niñas de Leandro Fernández de Moratín

Analysis of El sí de las niñas predominantly centres on the topics of unequal marriage and the characters of doña Irene y don Diego. Yet the person who proves to be the winner at the end, in spite of the suffering which the spectator (or reader) observes, is doña Francisca whose on-going emotional predicament is set out by Moratín and can be subtly appreciated in its development throughout the three acts of this so-called «comedy». The analysis put forward in this article focuses on the point of view of the mature girl, entailing a detailed interpretation of the ups and downs of the action as the plot advances; it focuses on the nature of doña Francisca’s reactions and thoughts at each stage of the work’s unfolding. By the end it might be thought to be a «feminist» reading of the drama, one which vindicates the role of the long-suffering girl and her capacity to resist pressure from her mother and would-be suitor in order to marry the man she loves.