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.