Ley nueva, ley antigua: Tropos de ceguera en la Celestina

This article traces juridical elements in the monologues of Melibea, Calisto and Pleberio in order to elaborate on the negotiations between old and new law and-on an allegorical level-old and re/new/ed faith as major topics of the tragicomedia. In a further step, I will connect this text-based analysis to the material culture of the early book in Spain, insofar as the production of printing shops in Salamanca and Burgos evidences a variety of texts with a similar preoccupation for legal reforms. This reveals the embeddedness of the Celestina in a network of European humanism. The re-occurrence of blind Justice as a key trope in such contemporaneous texts helps to trace some of its discursive purposes. Combining these different perspectives could shed new light on discussions about the enigmatic creation of the Celestina by reconciling different approaches.