«Cuidadoso descuido»: rogues, lying, and theater in the picaresque narrative

Abstract

This article analyzes the use of the phrase «cuidadoso descuido» in seduction scenes of some picaresque narratives. The origin of this phrase is dual: «descuido» is the Spanish translation of sprezzatura, a key concept in Renaissance courtly manuals; and «cuidadoso descuido» is a concept that expresses the naturalness of a performance in theater. The picaresque narratives subvert that courtly and theatrical origin and employ «cuidadoso descuido» as a problematic euphemism to talk about a crime that includes lying and dissimulation.