These two novelas, La señora Cornelia (Lady Cornelia) and Las dos doncellas (The Two Damsels), have often been relegated to a secondary place, and considered to be of less interest than the other stories in the collection of the Novelas ejemplares (Exemplary Novels). However, when they are looked at closely, a number of interesting features can be identified which highlight Cervantes's personal and original traits in matters of content and style.

The two stories appear one after the other in the Cervantine collection and they share some general characteristics. They are included among the idealizing novelas. They are concerned with amorous relationships among the noble classes, and after a number of complicated and more or less plausible events, there is a happy ending with the reunion and marriage of the different protagonists of the stories. It is likely that they were written in the last years of Cervantes's life. There are a number of opinions on the chronology of the various novelas. Ruth El Saffar believes that Cervantes wrote them after 1606, when she identifies a change in attitude and style in subsequent works: the narrator dominates the narrative; the characters seek conformity with society; there is less social criticism; there are more adventures; there is a carefully planned structure, marriage is presented as salvation, etc., features which are certainly found in these two stories.

Although they are generally classified as idealizing stories, Cervantes does not limit himself to following the conventions of a genre. He chooses to use a particular literary framework for his stories, but he goes beyond its boundaries and does not allow them to restrain him. He is able to play with the conventions and deploy his own ideas and style of writing within that framework.

This can be seen in these two stories, where Cervantes displays aspects of content and narrative technique that are very much his own. In that sense these novelas are exemplary, either because of the moral lessons and reflections they offer through the actions of the characters, or because of some innovation in narrative technique which makes the story an example of artistic originality.