The seventeenth century, a time during the Baroque period, showed a nearly obsessive interest in appearances (John H. Elliott 1991). The city people dressed up daily not only to flaunt themselves but also to show off their consuming power and social influence. Therefore, clothing plays a significant role in the contexts of history and culture. Applying the semiotic theory of Umberto Eco, this essay investigates the use of clothing and its symbolic codes in Exemplary Fictions, with the purpose of demonstrating that Cervantes uses clothing as well as jewelry as visual elements not just to reflect social differences but also to create dramatic effects. Four groups of garments embody distinct codes in the fiction: monetary power, poverty, appearances, and criminal evidence. 十七世紀巴洛克時期代表一種近乎迷戀外表的文化。(Elliott, J.H., 1991)城市居民日常穿著不僅是為了美觀，同時想要展現其消費能力並藉此提高自己的社會地位。因此，服飾在西班牙文化與歷史的研究中扮演一個意義深遠的角色。本篇論文運用艾可(Eco, U.)的符號學理論，探討《警世典範小說集》中服飾及其象徵符號的意涵。賽萬提斯使用服裝和珠寶作為小說中之視覺元素，不僅反映了當時社會的異化現象，同時也創造出令讀者驚奇的戲劇效果。小說中呈現四種服飾符號，分別代表金權、匱乏、外表以及犯罪證物等指涉意義。
關聯:
淡江人文社會學刊=Tamkang Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 41，頁101-116
