Blanca has an unhappy marriage despite her yearlong courtship that was meant to ensure her happiness. On the surface it would seem that Blanca has control over the situation, but she doesn’t. She agreed to the marriage at the recommendation of the King and her brother. There is no possible way for her go against her word given that she would be going against the wishes of the king. Throughout the year she has a persistent feeling of unhappiness, yet she doesn’t do anything to end this. She tries to deceive herself into believing that it’s because she doesn’t want to leave her home and family. The ‘love’ between Blanca and the Prince doesn’t exist. During the courtship they never have the chance to get to know each other—all the wooing is accomplished through song and letters.
An aspect of story 7 is “boundary-crossings”. I think the most important boundary is that of land. All of the sisters leave their homeland and this is where their problems begin. “The person who gets the greatest punishment is the Spanish woman who leaves her country thinking she’ll be regarded as a lady but instead becomes a slave to a man who’s unworthy of her (260)”. It seems logical to the Prince and his father that once Blanca leaves Spain she loses all her nobility and importance since that is where it’s based. Another ‘boundary’ that is crossed is that of sexuality. The Prince is having a love affair with his man-servant Arnesto. Although same sex relationships have always occurred they were never spoken of to anyone. This stigma about them gave Arnesto much power because he knew that the Prince would do his wll and masquerade as though it were his own. It is also why no one ever thought that Prince’s lover was another man.
In “Traitor to His Own Blood” there are many references to blood. Ana and Mencía died bloody deaths. Both deaths were likened to slaughters of innocent lambs. This would serve as a religious aspect to their deaths with the hope that they would be well taken care of and looked after in the afterlife. Alonso’s beheading was another bloody death. It’s likely that this was chosen because it was most similar to his crimes and was seen more socially appropriate. If he had mere conspirator like his friend he would have had a different punishment. There is also the idea of blood’s biological importance as a key to inheritance. The title likely refers to the fact tha Alonso betrayed his ‘blood’ when he murdered his sister and wife not when he married below his station, as his father had told him.
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