Medieval witch cures November blues

Cambridge has become damp and dismal in the last week of the university term. November has suddenly closed in on tired students and lecturers as they summon the last dregs of energy in lectures, classes and supervisions, and as a Hispanist, my thoughts have started to turn from translating Castilian into English and the finer points of Cervantes' prose to the golden beaches and gentle seas of the warmer regions of the Spanish peninsula. But reading my students' essays on Fernando de Rojas' great late fifteenth-century masterpiece 'La Celestina' has unexpectedly revived me! Their lively, refreshing takes on the evil old bawd who gave her name to the work has reinforced my sense of the power and importance of studying not only literature, but in particular the literature of earlier periods. This vibrant tale of tragic love and prostitution where aristocrats and whores rub shoulders not only gives us an insight into the class and gender struggles of their time, but offers us a subversive glimpse of a topsy-turvy world in which social and religious prejudice destroys both rich and poor. It is a window onto a forgotten world of witchcraft and chivalry, but it is also a tale for our time, and reminds us of the vital ways in which literature can show us our humanity.  So thank you to my students and to the wily Celestina for perking up the end of the Michaelmas term!