Abstract
Virtue, here working as a moral antidote to vice, is inextricably linked to religious virtue as defined by Catholicism; but Catholicism is in this instance subjected to a doubly critical force. [...]Catholic dogma in itself, as Church reformers would claim through questioning the validity of the Catholic rule of faith, cannot be unquestionably accepted either. [...]B. W. Ife and Trudi Darby recognize the persuasiveness of Forcione's reading, but find it inconclusive at the same time: "Many readers may find that figural or symbolic interpretations, or recourse to miracles, whether secularized or not, do not allow them to keep faith with the outrage they experience when they read the story, or to see where their outrage leads them as critics or interpreters of the text" (176). [...]Rodolfo's behavior could only be described as distinct from that of the past given his loquaciousness, which he exercises in order to argue against his parent's perceived wish to see him married to an ugly woman: [P]ensar que un rostro feo, que se ha de tener a todas horas delante de los ojos, en la sala, en la mesa y en la cama, pueda deleitar, otra vez digo que lo tengo por casi imposible. [...] [...]the insistence found throughout the text on challenging both theological and social fronts points to a necessity to direct the critique at the common elements shared by both these entities: the patriarchal structure.