Feminismo Dentro de las Mortajas

Authors

John Hennessy '00, Illinois Wesleyan University

Abstract

First published in the early 1940s, Maria Luisa Bombal's famous work La Amortajada offers its readers insight into a typical male-dominated Latin American society. Through a truly unconventional point of view, all events of the novel are revealed to the reader through the thoughts of a recently deceased Ana Maria at her velorio, a traditional Latin American funeral ceremony. From the casket, Ana Maria remembers each of her guests and these memories are shared with the reader. Although these memories suggest a typical confining life for yet another early-century South American woman, I argue that through her progressive actions and thoughts--especially those concerning religion, Ana Maria stands alone in her patriarchal society. She, like her Chilean author Bombal, should be classified as a feminist. In my paper, "Feminismo dentro de las mortajas," I highlight the prescence of feminism in the novel and speak to its revolutionary place within such a traditional, male-dominated society.

Recommended Citation

Hennessy '00, John (2000) "Feminismo Dentro de las Mortajas," Undergraduate Review: Vol. 12: Iss. 1, Article 4.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/rev/vol12/iss1/4