This thesis examines the lovesickness or lovers' malady of Calisto and Melibea as a pathogenic condition (amor hereos, aegritudo amoris) in Fernando de Rojas' La Celestina. (1499). This study focuses on differing Mediaeval attitudes with respect to passionate love, mostly from the point of view of medical treatises but including specific theologians and moralists. The thesis presented as a medical vade mecum is organized in four chapters. The introduction gives a brief overview of amor hereos and indicates the objectives of the thesis. Chapter one is devoted to the etiology of the sickness and locates the process in La Celestina. The second chapter analyses the symptoms of amor hereos and their manifestations in Calisto and Melibea. Having studied the symptoms, the third chapter is a diagnosis of the sickness suffered by the two main protagonists. The fourth chapter discusses the prognosis and the treatment recommended by the medical profession. Finally, the conclusion describes and compares the physical treatment recommended by medical writers in order to cure the amor hereos of Calisto and Melibea and to what extent their course of treatment agrees with that proposed by Celestina.

Magallon, Jesus Perez (Supervisor)