celestina of the twenty hands

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Celestina of the Twenty Hands

Author(s): Marian R. LoehlinSource: Hispania, Vol. 42, No. 3 (Sep., 1959), pp. 309-316Published by: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and PortugueseStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/335706 .

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CELESTINAOF THE TWENTY HANDSMARIANR. LOEHLINPalo Alto, California

Con todos cumplo,los que algo me mandan,como si touiesse veynte pies6 otras tantas manos.1The position of the title characters inthe dialogue novel The Tragicomedy ofCalisto and Melibea has been usurped bythe figure who serves as the mediator inthis storyof impassionedyoung lovers,andThe Celestina is the name commonly givento this novel because she has surpassedallthe other characters in memorability. Itwas in the lastyearsof the fifteenth centurythat young Fernando de Rojas broughtabout the combination of elements thathas given Celestina to literature.2He ex-panded the figure of an old woman whooften worked as a go-between in affairs oflove to a creature of living dimensions, agifted psychologist who could charm orbend servantsand mastersto her own will.Celestina must succeed; the trajectoryofher life is from one success to another, alife that reaches its height as she succeedsin her proposition to bring Calisto andMelibea together,but which plummetslikea wounded bird when her avarice blindsher perceptiveness.The rewardsof successcause the downfall of its able servant andmaster.Celestina'srole in the storyis that of theaxis on which all the events turn. Shemoves the other charactersthrough manycombinations and situations. She is alsoratherlike a talented conductor who elicitsfrom his orchestrathe result he wants butwho does it by composing the piece as heconducts it. His experience and intuitionassure him that the result will be satisfac-

tory. Celestina serves as an influence onthe actions of others; she retains her own

identity throughout the process, but shecauses the other elements to react by herpresence. She is a part of the whole, butnever a partof the parts.She is the dynamiccenter of the whole action, and yet shedoes not really transformthe people withwhom she works;rather, she causes themto bare their essential natures, and thenmanipulates them through the knowledgegained to further her plans. When hername is first mentioned in the novel she ischaracterizedhus: "vnavieja barbuda,quese dize Celestina, hechicera, astuta, sagazen quantas maldades ay." (I:58). In allaspectsof life she is knowledgeable,and inparticular she knows people and knowshow to handle them. She is, it must besaid again, a masterlypsychologistat work;she has as effective a grasp on the manyelements in a situation as if she were anoctopus;she has asmanyshadesof approachto a problemas if she were a chameleon.Itis a tribute to Rojas' skill as a creatorofcharacters hat she has been infused with alife beyond the limits of ink on paper;shehas the most fundamental quality that anyliving being must have, that of adaptability.The work that Celestina does is withpersonsof both the upper and lower socialclasses of her day. She usually employsthose of her own low social level as tools inher projects,and since success for her in-cludes material earnings, she works forthose who can reward her services.Celestina humbly affirms, n Act X, thatshe is merelya human instrument of God'spower:309

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310 HISPANIASefiora,el sabidor solo es Dios; pero, como parasalude remediode las enfermedadesueronrepar-tidas las graciasen las gentes de hallarles mele-zinas, dellas por esperiencia, dellas por arte,dellas por natural instinto, alguna partezicaal-canq6 e esta pobre vieja, de la qual al presentepodraisser seruida. (II: 53)In a study of her abilities,one can see thatone source of her power is indeed her in-nate or God-given talents. Her secondsource of strength is from the black artsofmagic and witchery. The third source ofher power is the experienceof a lifetime ather offices,and she knowingly has listed itfirst in the remarks to Melibea quotedabove: "por esperiencia . . . por arte . . .por natural instinto."The old woman liveswith the truth that self-confidence s of ut-most importancein her duties. In the peri-patetic scene which begins Act IV there isa careful re-examination of the situationshe is about to confront. Once the evalua-tion is made, she takes her doubts undercontrol, and resolutely moves ahead. Shedoes not expect immediatesuccess,and sheis not one to stop at any early rebuff. Asmany as the trinkets and notions she offersfor sale, are the wiles and subtleties shewill employ once she has passed the frontgate. And the very essence of her characteris brought out when Rojas has her say: "Ifulfill all my commissionsas if I had twentyfeet or twenty hands."3

The visualization of Celestina's handsimplies the interpretationof the speecheswhich make up this novel in dialogue, andthe delineation of actions and the situa-tions causing them is, necessarily,imagina-tive. In order to clarify the interpretationof the dialogue, Celestina's hands will beobjectified as symbols of her relationshipswith others. This is approximatelyequiva-lent to presenting Celestina'sstory in TheTragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea as aseries of scenes in an experimentalmotionpicture in which the director chooses tohave the old woman appear externally thesame, except that her hands change theirappearancewith each change in her actionand reaction toward others. In all but her

hands, Celestina is seen as the same bentold crone that her fellow townsmen knew,but by these experimentaltechniques, herhands, againstthe soiled and tattered blackgarments,might vary from old claws of ex-perience to chubby fingers of naivete orsoft white jeweled hands of manicuredsophistication. The nature or natures ofthis fascinating personareexplained by theway she changes and adapts herself inhandling the people and situations thatconfront her.Celestina and Personsof the Lower Classes

The members of the lower class withwhom Celestina deals during the courseofthe novel are: her assistantElicia; Elicia'scousins: Areusa,the independentprostitute,and Lucrecia,maid to Melibea;and the twoservants of Calisto: Sempronio, Elicia'slover, who is instrumental in obtainingCelestina as go-between for the younglovers, and Parmeno, a dedicated servantwho feels a greater loyalty to his masterthan to his own social class. Celestina'sre-lationships and contacts will be discussedwith each one in turn, but the differentencounters with any one individual will bepresented in chronological order, so thatthe sense of benefitting from past experi-ence may be as intact as possible.When Celestina deals with Elicia, it iswith the firm,controlledhands of a masterwho commandsand directs an inferior,hisapprentice. There is no hesitation; thereare no tentative gestures. Celestina, mis-tress in her own establishment,says: "Don'tcontradict me . . . Go to the unguentchamber... Bringdown the goat'sblood."(Act. III). And, again, in Act IX whenElicia makesa scene at the banquetbecauseSemproniois praisingMelibea, the remarkfrom Celestina, "Elicia, come back to thetable and stop that squabbling!" s enoughto make the girl obey.In the first visit of Sempronio to Celes-tina during this story, she handles him ina difficult situation, (his mistressElicia isentertaininganotherman), with the irresist-



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CELESTINAOF THE TWENTYHANDS 311ible and winning touch of a popularbelle.Rojas here gives us a brief view of Celes-tina's youth reincarnate. The attractivehostess uses personalappeal and finesse inholding the attention of this guest. WhenSempronioinsists upon checking on Elicia,Celestina doesn't refuse him the privilege,but fondles him and flattershim and makeshim choose between staying with her now,or never visiting her again. During Sem-pronioand Elicia'ssquabbleat the banquet,Celestina again uses the control of a host-ess over her guests. This time, however, itis the mature woman who controls,not theyouthful belle who excites. In Act IIIwhen Semproniocomes to Celestina on hismaster'sbusiness, complaining that actionmust soon be taken, she seizes the initiativein the conversationby dangling the bogey-man of personaldangerbefore him, and al-most hypnotizes him into following herevery direction, and into complete depend-ence on and confidence in her.Areusa respondsto a more palpablehan-dling. Celestina's verbal insinuations areeffective because she also works on the girlwith her lewd, sensual fingers,thus stirringup her body and emotions by manualstimulation and mental suggestion. Sheknows that the girl, who has had no previ-ous indebtedness to her, now will not beable to refuse Parmeno. A perceptive useof the hands has moved Areusa, too, intoCelestina's ranks.Melibea's portal is guardedby Lucrecia,which is a boon to Celestina, who hadknown the girl in a much earlier period.Not being a woman accustomedto takingthings for granted, Celestina handles herwith the polished politeness of a Fuller-brush salesmanwhose first attention is forthe personwho greetshim, so that throughhim entrance may be made to reach thosewho are the real object of the visit. WhenCelestina has had an opportunity to sizeup Lucrecia'sstrategic position in presentand future dealing with Melibea, the olderwoman takes the girl under her wing witha bit of advice about bad breath. She con-

tinues in this attitude of motherlyaffectionwhen Lucrecia comes to call her from thebanquet, and overlooksthe signs of Lucre-cia's lack of sympathy towardsthis instru-ment of her mistress'sperdition.When therealization of Lucrecia's antagonism doescome during Celestina's second interviewwith Melibea, the only recourse eft to theold womanis to warn her that the tremblingof a surgeon'sfingersmay be due to doubt-ing onlookers, and she has the maid sentout of the room. The near mis-handlingofLucrecia may well be the first sign thatCelestina is faltering, and the completepreoccupationwith immediatesuccesswhiledisregardingmore distant symptoms fore-shadows Celestina'sfinal and fatal errorindealing with Parmeno and Sempronio.Celestina'smost difficultproblem n deal-ing with the lower class persons is to winParmeno from his loyalty to his master,Calisto, to a strongerbond with his peers,Sempronioand Celestina. The old womanfinds that she has to exert herself to makehis primordial appetites take precedenceover his moral standards.BecauseParmenoreveals himself as openly hostile to her in-fluence over his master,Celestinaseizesherfirst opportunity to talk to him alone. Shebegins by trying the impersonalgesturesoflogic, as if he were a gentleman and she alecturer philosophizingon the inevitabilityof love. Seeing the paucity of results, shechanges tactics,and becomesintimate withhim, using diminutives, and administeringknowing pokes and jibes about his youthand innocence until she gets a violent re-action. She now has some idea of what hisweakness may be, but he immediately re-affirms his loyalty anfd ideals toward hismaster and his hatred toward the stupidand unfeeling Sempronio.She again takesher distance, and tries to reasonwith him,showing him and telling him that if hecooperates,the power to cure his belovedmaster "es en mano desta flaca vieja."(i:98). To insult her, Parmenocorrectsherphrase to "destaflaca puta vieja,"and sheseizes this revelationto clarify his identity.



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312 HIsPA.NIAWhen she finds out that he is the son ofher old mistress n the craftsof sorceryandabortion, she knows she can win him toher side. Her fingers snap together withdelight, and she releasesa shout of joy andamazement. She immediatelyputs out herarms to him, fondles him, embraces him,and kisses him. Like a fond relative, sheholds him off and looks at him, pulls himto her and hugs him. In the new relation-ship of which she is in complete control,her skilled harpist's fingers pluck a rapidsuccession of psychological strings: sheplays on his greed by telling him his fatherleft him something in her trust; she playson his desire for security by offering thehaven of her goodwill and advice;she playson the loneliness of his position, offeringhim the warmfriendship of his equals;shechallenges him to dareventure for fortune;and she sets his desires vibrating with thepromiseof a luscious girl he may have. Heis dizzied and dazzledby her lightning-liketreatment.When he at lastbegins to reasonslowly through one suggestion after anoth-er, she leaves him with a firm shaking andone clear idea in his head: he is to beSempronio'sfriend.The next time (Act VII) that Celestinahas a chance to talk with Parmeno, sheworks from the angle of motherlyaffectionand maternal ntimacies,identifying herselfand her aims with those of his deceasedmother. She humbly lauds his mother asgreaterthan she can ever hope to be, rubsher weeping eyes like a mourner as shetells of the departed one's hardships andtrials. She again tantalizeshim with a ref-erence to something his father left in trustfor him, to be delivered later. Finally, sheseals him to her cause by arranging thesurrenderof the voluptuous Areusa,and ashe falls into this trap,her gnarled,motherlyfingers momentarily become fiendish,twitching hands, gleefully rubbed togetheras she mutters, "iHa, don ruyn, palabratetengo, a buen tiempo te asi" (I:258).Celestina now has all the lower classpersonsunder her command and will. We

shall note contrast and comparisonof themethods mentioned above with those sheuses with upper class persons,and then weshall discuss her failure to commandwhichbrought about her death.Celestinaand Personsof the Upper Classes

There is frequent reference in the storyof Celestina to the types of people she hasserved in past years,especiallyyoung wom-en whose virtue needed mending, and mem-bers of the clergy who were not holding tothevows of chastity.Nevertheless,the novelreveals no special interest in either of thesetypes of upper class people. In fact, theonly persons in the story who are not ofthe lower class are Calisto, Melibea, andher parents. Celestina never meets Meli-bea'sfather,Pleberio,and her dealingswithAlisa, the mother,are brief and in keepingwith her avowed need to sell notions. Sheis polite, humble, and she enlists Alisa'ssympathy with mention of the adversitieswhich have caused her to be selling threadfrom door to door. As she demonstratesher wares we can see the careworn handsgently strokingthe thread, and as she says"hilado todo por estos pulgares,"she musthold out the callused, cracked, scarredhands for the gentlewoman's inspection.(1:161).Calistois no particularproblemfor Celes-tina, but she has business with him severaltimes. The first time she comes to hishouse, Act I, he is completely at her serv-ice as soon as he sees her. He immediatelymakes the verbalofferof kissing her hands,which for him hold the remedy to his ills,and he rushes to bring her some tangibleevidence of his sincereindebtedness to her.She maintains a respectful distance fromthis gentleman and talks only with andthrough his servants until he has actuallygiven her money. The money is the pointof contact, and with all the grace of a ladywhose lovely hand might actuallybe kissedby a gentleman, Celestina thanks him tact-fully, and moves the negotiation from apracticalplane to a higher one as she says



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CELESTINAF THE TWENTYHANDS 313that his liberal,noble thoughtshave at leastdoubled the value of his gift.When, in Act VI, Celestina finally hasnews for Calisto about her first encounterwith Melibea, she uses her favorite tech-nique of teasing and tantalizing. He is justa puppet in her hands, and she twitcheshim here and pulls him there, and all thetime has him suspended.She hints that shehas had a successful trip, and then dis-heartenshim by telling of all the resistanceshe encountered. She tells of her own skillin handling the situation, and then pointsout that quite naturally any decent younglady would refuse such a request.She tellshim that the event has a happy ending, butforces him to suffer the full detailed de-scription before arriving at a statement ofthat felicitous conclusion. She even chan-nels his thoughts into some indivisible andmaterial reward for herself, in this instance,a new cape. She revealsher actualachieve-ments only at the end of the conversation,and even then the promise of a belatedprayerwith all its intangiblenessis broughtup beforeshe exposesher trumpcard,Meli-bea's freely offeredsash, and the additionalpromise of even more satisfactoryfulfill-ment another time. Calisto is now whollydependent on Celestina, and to keep himthat way she takes the cord away with herwhen she leaves.The news Celestina brings to Calisto inAct XI after the second visit to Melibea istold in the reverse fashion. She gives him ablunt statement of her unbelievableachievement,and has him hanging depend-ent on her words until she has justifiedsuch an incredible feat by the details. Ashe collapses limply in the face of the over-whelming evidence of such an unsuspectedoutcome, Celestina ignores the differencein social status between the two of them,and shakes Calisto while she says,"CQuieresponer fin a tu vida? Mira, mira que estaiCelestina de tu parte."(iI:71), and prom-ises him that throughher manipulationshewill be able to do anything. She then bowsout of the scene rapidly, fingering avari-

ciously the valuable gold chain he hasgiven her.Melibea is Celestina's major problem,but the old woman'sexperience and intui-tion are sufficientfor the task, and a littlehelp from the powers of evil, in the formof fortuitous circumstances,does not comeamiss. The girl is visited twice by Celes-tina: the first time through the woman'splanning;the second time throughthe girl'sown volition. Particularly in the first en-counter, Act IV, Celestina is wagering herown life against the confidence that shecan get Melibea to commit herself to somebond with Calisto in his suffering. This isa diplomat's ask,and Celestina is a success-ful diplomat. As the girl's mother with-draws from the room, Celestina begins herembassy with a reference to the obvious:she is an old woman, and in the past fewyears time has robbed her of many of thedelights of life, while in the same periodMelibea has been flowering into maturity.Her old withered hands move close to theyoung smoothnessof Melibea's white fing-ers, and the contrast reinforcesher words.These thoughts are somewhatupsetting, soMelibea concludes their business, and dis-misses Celestina, who is not, however,readyto leave. The piteous hands of senili-ty mourning lost youth change abruptlyinto the firminstrumentsof an expertwhowill not be swayed. Celestina maneuversthe girl into consentingto havingyet anoth-er topic of conversation, he presentationofanotherareaof need besides the obviousoneof Celestina's poverty. The girl gives herpermission.The woman points out that theneed is not her own personal need, butanother's.Melibea again insists that Celes-tina speak, no matter for whom. Then theflattering,coaxing hands of the cronecausethe girl to feel that she is such a specialperson that one word from her can curethis terrible affliction in a fellow humanbeing, and her naturalreactionis a mixtureof pity for the suffering and annoyance atthe importunity.Celestina continues to al-ternate the soft strokes of flatterywith the



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314 HISPANIAadmonishing impulses of one's duty ingiving of oneself, without resolving thecuriosity that she has aroused. When thegirl's impatience reaches the point of de-manding an immediate and direct state-ment of the identity of the sufferer,Celes-tina figuratively slaps Melibea in the facewith Calisto's name, and moves back toprotect herself. She cowers in the corner,apparently a helpless old woman, whosefeeble hands are upraisedto shield off theverbal and possibly physical lashing andblows. The girl rants and raves and Celes-tina observes her acutely.4 In an aside,Celestina shakes her fist at the devil, andher demon-like claws threaten a curseif herconjuring has been in vain. When shefigures that the time has come to re-enterthe fray, the old woman can't resistpointingout, albeit humbly, that the insult the girlfeels comes from her own imaginings andnot from Celestina's words. Then to con-firm a shrewd deduction, Celestina goadsthe girl just once more with Calisto'sname,and gets the expected result, an immediateoutpouring of vituperation.Victory is withCelestina; the case is no longer in doubt.Jubilant hands tense and flex as they feeltheir power again. Again the girl is proddedto make sure that all her anger is vented,and as she subsides, weakened from herfrenzy, the patient hands of Celestinasoothe her. The old woman deliberatelyhumbles herself even lower than the girlhas fallen, in order to leave the situationfavorableto future negotiations,and yet totake Calisto some tangible token of suc-cess, she says that although she came foronly a prayerand the power of the blessedsash the girl wears, she is leaving a com-plete failure as a go-between, and she haslost her ability to achieve what she is sentfor. Melibea is completely exhausted anddoes not realize that she is still in Celes-tina's commanding grip. Seeing the oldcrone in a misery even more abject thanher own, and knowing the manner of cur-ing it to be so painlessly and easily avail-able, Melibea regains her self-respect by

granting the desired objects. Still inoffen-sively, and seemingly stupidly, Celestinainjects as many descriptionsand details ofCalisto as possible into the conversation.She knows that the interview is ending,and she wishes to leave Melibea with agreat deal of informationto mull over andto incubate into the final fever of passion.The ramblingold woman is really an artist,deliberately painting an irresistibleCalistoon Melibea's mind, and not overlookingagreen stroke of jealousy. The job is done;the preparationshave been made for thenext and final meeting; and to make surethat the cancer of passion starts to grow,Celestina leaves with the seeminglyplatitu-dinous thought: "cada dia ay hombrespenados por mugeres e mugeres por hom-bres, 6 esto obra la natura e la naturaorden6la Dios 6 Dios no hizo cosa mala."(1:191).Once she is away from the girl, whatgestures of rejoicing, what fiendish, grasp-ing, twitching, shaking claws Celestinashows! Her arms writhe in diabolic incan-tation and the crone goes into a ritualdance, centered about the cord whichformerly encased Melibea's waist, andwhich is now Celestina's possession.Act X tells of the secondtime that Celes-tina goes to Melibea's home, but this timethe younger woman has sought her out foradvice and relief, which is as the olderwoman planned. Except for a shake ofvengeful fists just before the scene takesup, Celestina handles the situation withantiseptic fingers in surgeon's gloves. In abrisk, professionalmanner, she establishesthe patient'sfaith in her method. The diag-nosis consistsof three matters:the location,the duration, and the known cause of thetrouble. The patient is remarkablyfrankand responsive, but the physician knowsthat relief will come only when the patientwillingly surrendersher honor for her pas-sion. Therefore, the doctorwears down thepatient's moral and mental reservationsbya combination of suspense and torment.The jabs and pokes and tensions of the



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CELESTINA OF THE TWENTY HANDS 315doctor cause anguish in the sore spot, andthe patient is soon writhing in pain underthe surgeon's power. She finally admitsthat any remedyat all would be better thanthe pain she is suffering. Celestina saysthat Calisto has the cure, and his namestabs Melibea's wound. The girl is stillnaive and innocent of Celestina's implica-tions, so the older woman continues herministrations. She lances the wound overand over with Calisto's name; she definesthe ailment as love; she says that heavenhas a remedy for it; she withholds anyfurther statement on the cure until thegirl is nearly frantic, and then she hits heragain, hard: "Calisto!"Melibea faints. AsCelestinabustlesaboutthreateningto alarmthe household, Melibea regainsher senses,and sees the old woman meek and feigningan apology that she has been so violent.The girl finds, however, that by Celestina'sincisions she has been freed from the bur-den of modesty and shame which hadcaused the pain. Melibea confesses herpassion for Calisto; she can mention hisname without anguish; she sees that shereally surrenderedher liberty to him whenshe sent him her sash;and she is willing togo to any extremesto prove it to him andto reciprocatehis inordinatelove. The cau-tery of surgeonCelestina's"invisibleaguja"has healed the wound. Arrangementsaremade for the first meeting of the lovers,and Celestina's mission is accomplishedcompletely and with absolute success.A contrastbetween Celestina's methodsof dealing with upper and lower classpeople reveals her perspicacity. Althoughthe old woman would be classified in thelower group, she keeps her fellow membersat least a little lower than herself. Sheforces them to respecther and to follow herdictates. The only exception might be withParmeno,who had identified himself withthe upper class of his master, and thuscould be best won by the flattery thatCelestina was at his service because shehad been a servant of his mother. Evenwith Parmeno, however, Celestina always

has the initiative in the developments.When Celestina makes contact with hersuperiors,on the other hand, she is hum-ble; she is servile;she continually gives theinitiative away. She does this with a pur-pose, because if she can maneuver Calistoor Melibea into voluntarily requesting thatshe continue her ministrations or her sug-gestions, the responsibility is theirs, nothers, when the outcome is revealed. Sheforces them to will her to bring about theirperdition. Only when these noble folkhave lost control of themselvesdoes Celes-tina step out of her polite distance andgrasp them in an immediacy of relation-ship, and she is intimate only long enoughto bring them around to a more normalstate, at which time she effacesherself andbegs pardon for her intrusion. Celestinaknows the differencebetween the classesofsociety of fifteenth century Spain, and sheuses this knowledge to serve her ends.Celestina's Hands

Many are the ways in which Celestinahandles people. Some of her methods andtechniques recur, and her symbolic handsmay servefor classification.Basically,Celes-tina'shands are thoseof a poorold toilwornwoman. They are this way whenever shewishes to avert suspicion of machinations,when she wishes to seem guileless,humble,meek or ignorant, when she wishes to re-lax watchfulness and inspire pity for herlife of work and hardship. To her fellowworkers, however, she either wears thehands of motherly affection, those of acommanding instructor,or those of an oldfriend who permits herself liberties andintimacies. She can, as on the occasion ofher banquet, gesture with the eloquenthands of an orator,or she can fondle withmiserly touch some concretegain. She con-jures with the hands of a servant to thedevil when she needs powers greaterthanher own, or her hands show that she is thedevil incarnate when her own powershavepulled her through a tight situation. Shehas the tantalizing hands of a torturer, he



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316 HISPANIAbewitching hands of a hypnotist, theknowledgeable hands of a puppeteer, anartist, a harpist. She has the probing, ana-lyzing hands of a physician, and the pre-cise, incisive hands of a surgeon.She some-times has the poorly controlled fumblingof a tippler, but, when it is necessary,sheemploys the gracious touch of a well-bredcourtier.The only time her handsdo not serveherwell is when she refuses to open heravaricious ists to share with SempronioandParmeno, in her final scene. To keep thegold chain in her grasp, she renounces themobility and dexterity of her hands whichhave been her assets. When the servantscome to collect their share of the reward,Celestina'sown techniques areused againsther to cornerher. Sempronioand Parmenostir up her curiosityin the outcome of herproject, the lovers' tryst which they havejust attended, to slant her interest andwatchfulness away from their natural in-terestin the money and gold. Her downfallcomes when her egocentric interest in suc-cess has overshadowed her peripheralawareness of and adaptationto those abouther, who form the medium in which shemust live. She is very impatient for thenews that will verify successin her project,and she unguardedly reveals the vulnera-bility of avarice.When the servantssee herreluctance to share the gold, they try toforce her to release a part of the gains shehas collected, but her hands grip moretightly. The irate servantsthen begin beat-ing and stabbingher, and her hands are of

no use to her as protection; they are nolonger instruments of her power, but theaged bones, knotty veins and wrinkled skinof a weak old woman. She dies with themclasped in a petition for confession andabsolutionfrom a God she has never served.Celestina's hands are an important keyto both her life and death. Also controlledby her dextrous hands were the webs ofothers'lives, and some of them were pulledafter her into death. The modulations ofCelestina's hands reflected the variety ofher abilities and techniques, but the reallyimportant change in her hands did nottake place until there was a basic changein Celestina, until the power of adaptiveawareness that supplied the hands waslost. Then both Celestina and her handsdisintegratedand died, leaving emptyhusksthat invoked the pity of man and God, butthe fame of her adept touch has passedonto immortality.

NOTES'Fernando de Rojas, La Celestina. Ed. JulioCejadory Frauca,Clsicos Castellanos,Nos. 20,23, (Madrid, 1955). Vol. i, p. 184. (Henceforth,references to volume and page will be writtenI:184, with Roman numeral I referringto Vol-ume I, andRomannumeral i referring o VolumeII. The word "Act"will appearwhen there isreference o an Act in general.)2 There is no standtakenby me as to the paterni-ty of the novel, (although I appreciate he workwhich has been done on this question), andtherefore when there is need to refer to theauthor,Rojaswill be used throughout.8As previously quoted, 1:184. (All translationsaremine.)4 Referenceshere are both to Act IV (i:177-78)as indicated, and to the recapitulationof thescene to Calistoin Act VI (I:213-15).

"A GUIDE FOR THE SPANISH MAJOR"OUT OF PRINTThe London-Mead Guide is now out of print. A new edition will be undertakensoon, and it should be ready for publication in Hispania in 1960. Meanwhile, kind-ly do not order any more copies of the Guide from Professor Turk.

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