Areusa and Elicia don't say very nice things about Melibea during lunch. In fact, Elicia says: "Well, if she's lovely, then I'll be damned. She hasn't got anything at all lovely about her to look at - except to someone with diseased eyes ... She only has the sort of beauty you buy at a shop ... If she looks pretty it's because of the fine ornaments and all the make-up she puts on." Through a strong use of language, Elicia states that Melibea is no naturally stunning beauty, but, at least in terms of appearance, certainly knows how to use her wealth to her advantage. This could be seen as jealousy, but it's also a statement about social class and money. Of course upper-class women who don't need to work for a living and who have at their fingertips the funds for nice clothing, jewelry, and cosmetics will be able to look nicer than a lower class of women.
Areusa's comments reflect similar ideas of jealousy and class differences. And Areusa starts in on Melibea's body, it's downright cruel: "God's my witness, if you had ever seen her before you had breakfast, you would get so sick at your stomach you couldn't eat all day long ... Really, for a young girl, she has breasts as big as if she had had three babies already. They look just like two big gourds. I never saw her belly, but judging from the rest of her it must be as flabby as an old woman's of fifty." Both Areusa and Elicia's association of sickness with appreciating Melibea's beauty imply that it can't actually be that bad - between their disgust and Calisto's admiration, I am led to believe that both sides are exaggerated. Furthermore, Areusa's revulsion at Melibea's breasts and stomach reflect, surprisingly, a very contemporary idealized female body image: slender and streamlined. Considering that medieval women were most valued as baby factories, it is rather odd that Areusa would so hatefully deride these motherly elements of Melibea's anatomy. It could be that Areusa, a lower-class woman who is already pregnant, knows that having a child will incur financial difficulties and probably prevent her from working when she is about to have another mouth to feed. Furthermore, in her field, it is unlikely that she will be able to count on a husband to help support the baby. So it's likely that Areusa's comments spring from jealousy not of Melibea's looks or wealth but from Melibea's likeliness to achieve security in life. After all, Melibea, as an upper-class woman, will eventually be encouraged to produce legitimate heirs, receive care throughout her pregnancies, and be honored as a mother - all events that most women would love to experience, but that the lower classes may not have the means to reach.
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