This book traces the interplay of spirit, body, and matter-forces that engage with the soul in early modern Spain-while exploring its philosophical, cultural, historical, and religious dimensions.
Esther Fernández is a research fellow at the Institute for Research in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She specializes in Iberian literary, visual, and cultural studies, with an emphasis on early modernity. Her notable publications include Eros en escena: Erotismo en el teatro del Siglo de Oro (2009), To Embody the Marvelous: The Making of Illusions in Early Modern Spain (2021), which received the 2023 Nancy Staub Publications Award from UNIMA-USA and the 2023 Vern Williamsen Comedia Book Prize from the Association for Hispanic and Classical Theater, and Alma (Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico, 2024). In addition, she has edited numerous essay collections and contributed articles on a broad array of topics, particularly in theater and performance, frequently adopting a transhistorical approach.
