Latin American Short Stories

13 responses so far ↓

•   jimminkc // Oct 9th 2014 at 9:17 pm

  In the story, “Sleeping Beauty” we see a Catholic family with dreams for their daughter. The daughter is also very religious and the nun want her to consider being a nun but she loves to dance which is seen as promiscuous. Her father does not want her to pursue either life. Instead, he wants her to be a mother and a wife. Delrosso’s claim, “Sleeping Beauty’ (…) provides a prime example of how Ferré employs Catholic traditions to rethink the stereotypes placed on women today and to reconsider the role of Catholicism in current understandings of race, class, gender, nationality, and politics” has both evidence and claims. I think the entire thought is more of a claim and not evidence but some of the events in “Sleeping Beauty” can be evidence to his claim. For example, when the father tells the daughter that she can no longer dance, she quickly goes into a coma. This part is exaggerated to show the stereotype that a Catholic girl is strictly limited to doing that of what is expected. In Maria’s cases that is being a wife and mother. In the Catholic religion divorce and adultery is extremely frowned upon. At the beginning of the story Maria writes a letter to her husband pretending to be someone else saying that she is always in a certain hotel room. Automatically we assume that she is with a lover. At the end of the story he goes to confront her and he ends up accidently shooting her and he also ends up dead. I think Delrosso’s claim of stereotypical Catholic wife is evident here. Even though she was dancing and not actually cheating on her wife it was looked at as cheating because a Catholic women is supposed to be a wife and mother. Maria abandoned her child and actually never wanted children. Although the claims are proved shown through exaggerated events, the claims are supported with evidence through “Sleeping Beauty” and the life of Maria.

•   danona // Oct 9th 2014 at 9:36 pm

  DelRosso’s remarks are mainly claims to the story except her statement explaining that the story “reworks such myths and fairy tales as Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, Giselle, and The Red Shoes.” DelRosso’s claims are true to the story but need to be backed up by evidence. For example, throughout the story, Ferré does include different “Catholic traditions” that force us to question “the stereotypes placed on women today.” These stereotypes are shown through the father’s constant plea for a son in his letters, “Boys are, of course, more helpful later on, but girls are always a comfort…” (96). Her father states that they would have been better off having a son so they could pass on the company to him, but having a daughter is merely a “comfort” (96). The stereotypes placed on women are also found in María de los Ángeles’ mother’s advice. Her mother states that “brides still generally prefer traditional gifts” and that “brides ask for Reed and Barton” (104). Her mother is telling María how to live and what to ask for, ensuring that María will assume the role of “traditional” bride in an “Enchanted World of Brides” (103-104).
  Catholicism in the story also provides an understanding of politics and class during this time. It is evident that with the ornate wedding including “diamonds,” “three thousand orchids,” and “rock crystal vases imported from Ireland,” María de los Ángeles belongs to a very wealthy family (108). Even more, the father’s relationship with the nuns and continuous donations to the school imply that belonging to the faith is a privilege associated with the wealthy. Politics also play an important role in the story; the father believes that social gatherings “are good for business” and he is later on disappointed when María cancels the baptism (110). Even more, the politics in María’s life force her to constantly feel constrained as her parents continue to have control over her life and dictate what she can or cannot do.
  Although DelRosso provides a portion of evidence, it does not completely connect with her claims. Her evidence that Ferré includes different stories within his story has nothing to do with her claim as she later goes on to say, “Ferré´s ‘Sleeping Beauty’, however, relies equally on stories, tales, and traditions from Catholicism.” In order to keep this evidence, she should rephrase her claims, stating that the use of different myths and fairytales in Ferré’s “Sleeping Beauty” present different understandings of race, class, gender, nationality, and politics in the Catholic religion.

•   jacobsoh // Oct 10th 2014 at 1:45 am

  The first part of DelRosso’s claim that “‘Sleeping Beauty’ (…) provides a prime example of how Ferré employs Catholic traditions to rethink the stereotypes placed on women today and to reconsider the role of Catholicism in current understandings of race, class, gender, nationality, and politics” is a well thought out claim backed up by evidence which you can easily find examples of it in the text. From the start of the story you can easily tell Catholicism plays a big role in Maria de Los Angeles’s family and life. The correspondence between Fabiano and the Reverend Mother shows the close-knit relationship the family has with the church in their everyday lives. The ideas of Catholicism, however, are also used in relation with politics, class, and social status. When Fabiano wants Maria de Los Angeles to have a big lavish christening for her son it is because these social events “serve to strengthen the bonds of personal loyalties” as well as “are good for business” (110). Catholicism is used to guide their actions along with the religious values, but also serves as an excuse to do things that may be beneficial on a monetary or social level.

  The second part of DelRosso’s claim that “this story invokes and reworks such myths and fairy tales as Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, Giselle, and The Red Shoes. Ferré´s ‘Sleeping Beauty’, however, relies equally on stories, tales, and traditions from Catholicism” is also true, but not as backed up as the first part of her claim. It is clear the relationship this story has to the original tale sleeping beauty. This story is clearly seen when Felisberto awakes Maria De Los Angeles from her deep sleep with a kiss. However I did not clearly see the relationship between the fairy tales and the Catholicism traditions. It seems DelRosso could have combined these two parts of her claim to make it a more cohesive and succinct claim with evidence.

•   Madeleine // Oct 10th 2014 at 1:46 am

  Jeana DelRosso’s first sentence, “Sleeping Beauty’ (…) provides a prime example of how Ferré employs Catholic traditions to rethink the stereotypes placed on women today and to reconsider the role of Catholicism in current understandings of race, class, gender, nationality, and politics,” is a claim. She follows it up with a piece of evidence, ” Ferré´s ‘Sleeping Beauty’, however, relies equally on stories, tales, and traditions from Catholicism.”

  I thought it was very interesting to hear from the perspectives of the father, Fabiano Fernández, the Reverend Mother from the Academy of the Sacred Heart, Felisberto, and pieces of María de los Angeles’ thoughts also all in this one story. Jeana DelRosso claimed that Ferré used Catholic traditions to explain stereotypes on modern women in “Sleeping Beauty,” and I think this was best shown through the various lens of the different characters.

  In my personal experience, it has always seemed that the church places a focus on family. So, it was ironic for me to read that the Reverend Mother was more interested in María de los Angeles’ education and possible path towards becoming a nun than her marriage. The father and mother were much more concerned with their daughter finding a suitable husband. Then, while María de los Angeles was faced with these two opposing pressures for her future, she personally did not want to have children. Not having children completely goes against stereotypes, because most adult women define their identities and purposes as grown women as the role of mother. The church would have encouraged children as the basis of family and to lead the children to Jesus, while María de los Angeles’ parents wanted a grandchild to carry on the family name and inherit the family fortune and business. However, it seems as if María de los Angeles was forced to conform to the community standard because she did in fact have a son, despite her initial decision not to. At the same time, she did continue to rebel against Catholic stereotypes in her faith community and family by refusing to have her son baptized. Ironically again, when her son is orphaned and raised by the grandparents, the son is christened and baptized after all. This play on how the events pan out suggest that the Catholic stereotypes in the story rule and ultimately will persist.

•   Cailin // Oct 10th 2014 at 1:57 am

  The evidence in Delrosso’s comment comes in with her stating that fairy tales are used in the story, and that Catholic traditions are employed as well. Her claims are that stereotypes for women and the role of Catholicism are reworked and rethought.
  From the story, her claims can be supported by Maria de los Angeles’s characterization, and how she breaks away from the typical mother role by continuing to dance, despite having a child. She also refuses to enter the convent, though the school she attended was encouraging her to discern this call. However, the claim that the story “relies equally on stories, tales, and traditions from Catholicism” cannot be supported as strongly. While the parallels to the fairy tales are obvious, there are no clear parallels to Catholic stories that stand out as much as the fairy tales do. Instead of claiming that the story relies equally on fairy tales and Catholic stories, the author could state that both are important and influence the story, even though their presences are not equal in strength. The presence of Catholicism is heavy through Don Fabiano’s correspondence with Mother Martinez with their discussion of Maria de los Angeles’s future and how they each envision it; however, neither reference stories from the Bible or draw parallels to them as Maria does to fairy tales in her mind.

•   chicasi // Oct 10th 2014 at 2:34 am

  The story “Sleeping Beauty” by Rosario Ferre had Maria de los Angeles dancing as a talent and profession, while sounded by people restricting her of her skill, setting her life around for their preferences. Maria and her father, Don Fabiano Fernandez, are very religious. Fabiano usually writes letters to Reverend Mother Martinez updating her about his daughter’s life, which included her desire to dance. Fernandez and Martinez continuously write letters to each other regarding Maria and how they believe what could be best for Maria and her life. Maria’s life was controlled by the duo and she was unable to follow her passion for dance. The duo decided for Maria to marry, have children, and stop dancing altogether. Both Martinez and Fernandez believe their actions are God’s work.

  I believe Jeana DelRosso’s assumption that the story “provides a prime example of how Ferré employs Catholic traditions to rethink the stereotypes placed on women today” is similar to how I interpreted it. Maria wasn’t able to voice her thoughts because Martinez and Fernandez continuously monitored her life. Reverend Mother Martinez is a symbol for Catholicism and uses religion to manipulate Don Fabiano Fernandez to decide his daughter’s future, excluding her from dancing and getting her a husband and raise children instead. Maria, however, is not interested in having children because she wanted to continue dancing. Maria choosing to not have children lifts the stereotype that women must become mothers. I believe that Catholicism is implying that women are the inferior gender in this story, yet Maria tries to break free of the standards placed on her and continued her desire to dance, even after accomplishing what Fernandez and Martinez expected what was best for her away from the world.

  In the end of the story, Maria and her husband, Felisberto, die after he decided to stop her affair with another man who appreciated her dancing. Religion is still a significant factor in the end of the story, since Fernandez writes to Mother Martinez about his daughter’s death. DelRosso’s claim that the story “reconsiders the role of Catholicism in current understandings of race, class, gender, nationality, and politics” explains that despite being able to individualize yourself, religion affects a significant part around you, as shown by Maria’s fate. Similar to how Fernandez was manipulated by religion to control his daughter, others can be manipulated by religion to believe it is God’s will for issues and stereotypes about race, nationality, and gender to occur.

•   Hannah // Oct 10th 2014 at 2:36 am

  In DelRosso’s remarks on “Sleeping Beauty,” by Rosario Ferré, she makes several claims followed by supporting evidence. She claims in the first sentence that Ferré is making a statement on stereotypes of women and Catholicism. She then uses evidence that the story incorporates certain “myths” and “fairytales.” She further gives more evidence by stating that Catholic stories are also used, though she gives less specific evidence. I would support Ferré’s claims with evidence from the story, such as how the stories and myths were used. For example, she references the story of Sleeping Beauty. I would describe exactly how María fell into a sleep and didn’t awaken until a prince kissed her, which is parallel to the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty. I would also do more research of other references made in the story such as Coppélia, Giselle, and the Red Shoes. I would include research of Catholic stories and tales. Then I would do a compare and contrast of these stories to the events that took place in “Sleeping Beauty.” I would make the claims of DelRosso more accurate by maybe including more information on how the stories relate to the events in “Sleeping Beauty.”

•   medinaeg // Oct 10th 2014 at 2:51 am

  In “Sleepy Beauty” by Ferre the claims made by DelRosso that the stereotypes placed on women are represented in the text. First Fabiono is the head of the household and is in charge of the work to provide for his family. In the Bible men are those who lead and women are the followers. Fabiono also is worried about his fortune, which is why he preferred to have two children, one male and one female. Thus allowing one to carry on his legacy and one to protect and if God willed he would have directed the daughter on the “Divine path.” Having only Maria de los Angeles as a child, does not allow Fabiono to have his ideal path in life. Maria is provided for with everything even in time of death, feeling “comfort to spare no expense at [Maria’s] funeral.” Having a daughter he allowed her to live her life, supportive and allowing her to dance, which was her passion. But once her passion did not follow the path of God she was forbidden from dancing and had to go back on the path of God. This was not an agreement or compromise between the father and daughter but an order. Maria’s opinion did not matter in her life due to her being a women and her father being in charge. Which is why her only condition to Felisberto was to be able to dance. She knew her passion and wished to follow it even to her death. Straying from the path of God or simply following her own path seemed drastic to those who had power over her. When she did not allow her child to be “christened” was an enormous ordeal, her father had no voice in this and the christening was the first path in life of a baby that will follow the path of God. The child was the heir to Fabiono’s fortune and needed to be able to follow the path of God even at the expense of a women or mom.

•   applegsa // Oct 10th 2014 at 3:55 am

  In Jeana DelRosso’s response to “Sleeping Beauty” by Rosario Ferré, she claims that Ferré’s story works to point out how Catholicism affects stereotypes of women, both in the story and in modern society. While this is a good point, and could potentially be backed up with strong evidence from “Sleeping Beauty”, it is her own claim. The second part of DelRosso’s response, however, is factual, stating simply which stories and famous works inspired Ferré’s “Sleeping Beauty”.

  DelRosso’s claims could be supported easily with quotes from Ferré’s story. Quotes surrounding the character Maria de los Angeles would especially be helpful towards supporting her claim. Maria is a character who is controlled by the male figures in her life, such as her father and husband. Her father especially is the person in control. Much like in the bible, the men traditionally have all of the power.

  If DelRosso were to expand on her claim more, by stating what specific “Catholic traditions” she was referring to in her response to the story, her claim would be able to be more supported and therefore become more accurate.

•   Aden // Oct 10th 2014 at 4:21 am

  In Ferre’s “Sleeping Beauty,” Catholic traditions are very apparent and can be used as lenses in which to give the story a deeper meaning. The juxtaposition of the massive wealth of the Beautiful People to the pious lives of the nuns serves to highlight the unholy materialism of the BP. They are supposedly Catholics yet they are clearly very gluttonous and some even sleep on a “genuine race car” (91). They also covet their peer’s possessions, as a woman had an identical brooch made because she “couldn’t resist it” (92). These people are not devout and Ferre makes it clear with his characterization. Delrosso’s remarks on class seem to be founded. Don Fabiano gives money to the Church and he is therefore a good Catholic; it is as simple as that. The Church is painted in a bad light when it is shown that they do not want Maria de los Angeles to become a dance star for their own gluttonous reasons. Rather than saving her soul, they drop hints that they want her to become a nun (94). If she were to become a nun all of her family’s money would eventually go to the Church. Ferre is tainting the Church’s image in his story. The role of women in this tale is made more poignant by looking at it through a patriarchal lens of Catholic tradition. Don Fabiano worries that a “heartless scoundrel” will enchant his daughter and take all of her money (96). There is no faith in her as a helpless female. Boys are “helpful” and daughters are a “comfort” in the eyes of her father (96). She needs a “husband to protect her” says her father (96). Women are valued for managing the “family budget” and keeping their “home a shelter of peace and love” (105). In terms of race, Maria’s father hopes that her son keeps his blue eyes, which ties into white superiority, which was present in Puerto Rico in a time when white Americans owned much of the island and wealth (110).

•   Estiven // Oct 10th 2014 at 4:42 am

  In the “Sleeping Beauty” some of DelRosso’s claims are that Catholicism is a lot more involved in the importance of social class, wealth, and the perception of women then it traditionally should. In the story Catholicism emphasizes and cherishes the importance of social class, wealth and how women should act. A high Social class almost seems like a requirement of the church because without a high social class the person is deemed not valuable because they don’t have much to offer. When referring to the groom the newspapers and even the church focused on the degree of the groom and from what University he received it.” He also announced that he is so happy with his daughter’s choice (the groom has Ph.D. in marketing from Boston University)”(Ferre 103). To the church the status of the groom is the most valuable and defining factor of him. The same issues arise about wealth; the church isn’t to suppose to be spending money on expensive drinks at the beach or at expensive restaurants but SAPs still keep on doing it. When referring to the SAPs Ferre states “ They get together every Sunday at the Caribe Hilton’s terrace Café for brunch, where they comment on the weekends parties. There they tan themselves at the beach and sip pina coladas all day”(103). Catholicism is suppose to help people have faith and hope and that if they act as a productive citizen of society there will be a place in heaven for them. Is not supposed to be about the material values and possessions. Finally, Catholicism through the persistence of the reverend mother tries to shape how a woman should act. The reverend mother criticizes Maria de Los Angeles because she feels a young lady should not be expose to dance and perform the way she did on stage in front of men. In order to get the Sacred Medallion from the church Maria needed to stop dancing. The Mother states “ It saddens us that now our daughter will never be the recipient of the Sacred Medallion”. The church refused to give Maria the medal until she stop dancing in protest of her actions, until she gave up what made her happy.
  Most of the evidence I found fit the claims listed above, but one of the few pieces of evidence that did not fit the claim came from Maria de Los Angeles’ mother. Elizabeth proved not everybody values wealth above all but instead happiness can only come from peace and love and not possessions. When referring to true happiness, Ferre says, “ if you believe in God and in his word, if you are a good wife and the mother, one who manages the family budget well and makes her home a shelter of peace and love, if you are a caring neighbor, always ready to help those in need, you will be happy indeed” (105). In order to make this evidence fit the claim we would reshape the claim by saying that the church uses social status, and wealth to evaluate the value of person but not all the people in the community see it the same way. Others instead find the value of life to be more than just about money, they see the true purpose of life and the character of a person through how satisfied and content they are.

•   grandam // Oct 10th 2014 at 4:59 am

  DelRosso makes three main claims; Ferré uses Catholicism to rethink gender stereotypes, he reconsiders Catholicism through the lens of contemporary issues of “race, class, gender, nationality and politics” and he employs equal use of Catholic stories and traditional tales in his writing. She sites Ferré’s use of Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, Giselle, and The Red Shoes as evidence to support her claims. In addition, DelRosso could use other parts of Ferré’s story to back up her assertions. The main instance of Ferré’s move towards a more modern take on the stories is found in the beginning married life of Maria. Her husband seems to have little control over her and allows her to work outside the home. In addition, she asserts that she will not have any children. This is a grand departure from the traditional female stereotypes. Her new husband’s inability to contain her will to live outside of her pre-determined box shows the strength of her conviction. Ferré continues to challenge the status quo with his portrayal of the “BPs”. “Now the BPs have a new group, who call themselves the SAPs (Super Adorable People)… They tan themselves at the beach and sip pi¬na coladas all day. If you consider yourself “in” and miss these beach parties, careful, you might just be on your way “out” of the fashionable scene” (103). His use of acronyms seems to mock the seriousness with which they form their secret societies and plan their carefree lives.
  DelRosso’s claims are somewhat supported by Ferré’s story, but there are also many parts of Ferré’s work that don’t fall into DelRosso’s argument. Much of Ferré’s story portrays women as objects; objectifable clothes hangers for fancy garments or the ambitions of their male counterparts. “Robert Martínez and his Mary… George Ramírez and his Marta (Marta was also in a Pena original—I love his new look, pearl-grey egret feathers on silk georgette)” (91). The use of the possessive “his” when referring to these men and their wives portrays women as solely property. Mary is not Mary Martínez in her own right, she is rather “his Mary”. Ferré tackles issues of class in his tale but does not portray the characters in a new or positive way. He instead allows them to continue on their old paths to increased wealth and social separation. “So as to free the BPs from those inevitable little drips and drabs, as well as from those little whiffs of perspiration, brought about by the terrible heat of our island, a heat that not only ruins good clothes but also makes elaborate hairdos droopy and stringy” (103). This passage refers to the installation of an air-conditioning system in a church as the salvation for the appearance of the “beautiful people”. Note that the salvation of their soles, despite the deep held Christian beliefs they claim to have, is of secondary importance. Later in the story, Ferré writes about Giselle losing her virginity to an intrusive, almost rapist figure; Loys. This passage is a mix of traditional, stereotypical male actions with modern elements. “Loys always succeeds in his objectives and he’s not about to let Giselle get away from him, he’s bent on finding her hiding place in the woods as to take away her dewdrop lightness, so she can never be a Willy again… he won’t get her pregnant, he’ll put on a condom… They’re not angels as they had deceitfully seemed, they’re demons… their glossemer wings are tied to their backs with barbed wire… she knows it’s too late, there’s no escape now” (107). The discussion of pregnancy and condoms seems out of place in a story that otherwise had an old-fashioned air. Loy’s fixation on her however, follows in line with history.
  Rather than omit the inconsistencies, DelRosso could change her claims to better encompass the entirety of the tale: ‘Sleeping Beauty’ (…) provides a prime example of how Ferré employs Catholic traditions to rethink the stereotypes placed on women today and to reconsider the role of Catholicism in current understandings of race, class, gender, nationality, and politics. This story invokes and reworks such myths and fairy tales as Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, Giselle, and The Red Shoes. Ferré´s ‘Sleeping Beauty’, however, relies equally on stories, tales, and traditions from Catholicism as it portrays a woman trying to break out of the molds of tradition. The contrast between Maria and her fellow characters provides the basis of her struggle between contemporary dreams and historical expectations.

•   Kienan // Oct 10th 2014 at 6:01 am

  Jeana DelRosso has a strong argument when talking about Rosario Ferré’s “Sleeping Beauty”. When she says that “Sleeping Beauty provides a prime example of how Ferré employs Catholic traditions to rethink stereotypes placed on women and to reconsider the role of Catholicism”, she brings up an interesting point although she does not mention it. This point is that a religion with a substantial backing such as Catholicism can influence an entire culture even though a larger percentage of the population may not have the same religion. This is a claim because there is no concrete evidence to support this argument. The sentence, “If you believe in God and His word, if you are a good wife and mother, one who manages the family budget well and makes her home a shelter of peace and love, if you are a caring neighbor, always ready to help those in need, you will be happy indeed” (105) supports DelRosso’s argument heavily that a woman’s role and Catholicism are connected deeply in society.
  The lavish life that Maria de los angeles and her family live is not a bad thing, but being Catholics, the way that they write about what they have and what brand it is in their letters is not humble in any way. In Mark 10:21, a man tells Jesus that he wants to be a better man and Jesus responds with, “Go , sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” The man does not want to lose his possessions, so he left disgusted and did not follow Jesus’ directions. The characters in this story write to the nun asking for prayer because their daughter died, but then they say that she was wearing a certain brand name dress when she was buried. The wedding, for example, seems to be all about what type of silk carpet is on the ground or the type of art on the walls or the brand of crystal that is being used and where it is all imported from. Everything seems to be about going big, but losing the purpose of faith and not focusing on the possessions. The nun wrote about it when she said, “Seeing your daughter join our community would perhaps be heartrending for you at the moment, and you might perhaps feel that the empire you have built, the half-dozen distilleries that dot the coasts of the island will one day disintegrate” (98). Mr. Fernandez is so wrapped up in his economic success that he loses his focus on God and everything that he says he is about, he becomes mere empty words.

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