Which shepherdess rejects Grisostomo and defends her freedom? Marcela is the shepherdess who rejects Grisostomo and defends her freedom.
Marcela appears in the pastoral episode surrounding the death of Grisostomo in Part One of Don Quixote. Grisostomo falls in love with her, but Marcela refuses to marry him or return his feelings. She has chosen a solitary life in the countryside rather than accepting the social expectations attached to romance and marriage.
At Grisostomo’s funeral, many characters blame Marcela for his death. She arrives and delivers a famous defense of her independence: being beautiful does not make her responsible for another person’s desire, and Grisostomo’s decision to love her does not create an obligation for her to love him back.
Marcela is sometimes mistaken for a conventional pastoral heroine who should eventually reward her admirer. Cervantes instead gives her an unusually forceful argument for personal liberty. Her story also contrasts with the novel’s many other romantic plots, where love is treated as a claim, pursuit, or social arrangement.