Adapting Economic Strategies to a Changing World in María del Pilar Sinués’ La dama elegante (1880)

Núñez explores the strategies Sinués articulated in La dama elegante for adapting bourgeois women to the modern world in her conduct book. In light of the legal restrictions on women’s activities, Sinués’ work treads a fine line by suggesting that women are educated to contribute to the economic well-being of their families through an active saving plan. They could discreetly enter the public sphere while maintaining their “angel del hogar” status, allowing their husbands to save face. By comparing the Spanish legal framework to Sinués’ strategies, Núñez argues that the writer wished to help nineteenth-century women adapt to a rapidly changing world.