In this fascinating book, Lee presents a detailed analysis of the anxieties surrounding the usurpation of social and religious identities in early modern Spain. She examines the fear within the upper echelons of Spanish society that the lower orders of society would be able to mimic the physical appearance and manners of their aristocratic “betters” and the concern that the converted descendants of Jews or Muslims (known as conversos and Moriscos), whom they suspected of still practicing Judaism and Islam, would be able to pass as Christians. Scholars have tended to focus on religious identity or social identities, but Lee’s ambitious project is to conduct a study of social and religious identities in early modern Spain. To do so, she uses both documentary and literary sources to good effect throughout this work.
Lee notes that “the anxiety of sameness is a by-product of the anxiety of difference” (8). She...