As I started to read “Shrouded Woman” by Maria Luisa Bombal, my initial thoughts were mixed emotions of grief and sorrow. The first few pages, I was saddened to read how her sons saw their own mother. How they were annoyed by her and avoided giving their mother any compliments. I find the story very descriptive and somewhat similar to the description in “Paris Peasant” in terms of how the setting was described. As I first started the course, I believed that Romance Studies would just be the study of romance in literature, somewhat like Romeo and Juliet. When reading the “Shrouded Woman”, it is exactly what I thought romance literature would be, especially in chapter 4 when she described her first love, Ricardo. Although there was an aspect of romance, it seemed somewhat upsetting. Especially when Ricardo did not want to marry her and they hung out for the last time. Despite the small aspect of romance, it was also considerably dark, with the attempt of suicide. Along with that, Ricardo leaving and leaving her alone and pregnant also left a dark note, far from what I anticipated a romance story to be.
Out of all of the stories we have read so far, I feel as if this is my favourite. Unlike the other two stories, this story had a structure and story line I was able to follow. It felt like I was able to fully imagine the story in my head and it felt clear. While reading the scenes made sense and the dialogue was interesting to follow, unlike Paris Peasant, which made it more enjoyable to read. This was not related directly to the reading, but the text that was available on the website had photocopied annotations on it. While I was reading through, it was also fun to read the annotations and think about another perspective of a reader.
Another aspect why this story stood out to me while reading was the fact that the narrator was dead. It was interesting to read about the events of Ana Maria’s life and how it played out. Although Ana Maria is dead, it feels as if we as readers are still able to feel and experience her emotions. Additionally, I also enjoyed the reading from the perspective of the narrator being dead. It was as if we were looking over the past memories as well as coming to closure with Ana Maria’s life. Overall, the “Shrouded Woman” left me feeling sorrowful but with a sense of closure.
“While I was reading through, it was also fun to read the annotations and think about another perspective of a reader. ”
Ha! But watch out… we have no idea who left those annotations; some rando writing in library books! 🙂
“the “Shrouded Woman” left me feeling sorrowful but with a sense of closure.”
I like this. Do you think this is how Ana Maria ends the story, too?
Funny that you mention the writings in the margins! When I was scanning this text I was super struck by the amount of pencil markings and I hesitated before proceeding, wondering whether or not I should in fact take time to erase all these musings before making the copy! But that almost felt like an equal case of vandalism…
It’s like someone left their own blog post within the text.
I was also saddened by how Ana Maria’s sons treated her, but even more so her husband, Antonio. To me, Antonio seemed to embody every toxic trait a husband can have, and thus it isn’t surprising his sons didn’t know how to properly respect their mother, as they never saw their own father do it.
However, it was interesting when, later in the story, Ana Maria felt a sort of compassion towards her husband, realizing perhaps she had done some things wrong in their marriage too.
I also found the story chilling and sad because Ana Maria is dead, and when she was alive, she was not really living, but merely passively going through life without much closure. The ending was very poignant because it summarized her life and the fact that she was already dead and her real death actually gave her a chance to achieve some closure. As a woman, I find this story particularly emotional because I know many women in Ana Maria’s shoes. Sadly, most societies, even liberal societies, are patriarchal and women have to navigate a world designed and shaped by men.
Hi! I agree with you, the story definitely had a strong sorrowful tone to it. It seemed that all the relationships and happenings of her life were doomed. Even in death, she was tasked with finding peace with all her sorrows and just accepting them. It seems living in this book means to feel passionate and in Ana Maria’s case, it specifically meant passionately angry most of the time. This is also the reason I find this book sorrowful because she wanted to live to feel her anger and not necessarily what we would consider positive emotions.
I really appreciate what you said in your blog post. This was definitely a book filled with lots of emotions, and had the power to evoke different responses from me. I found it so profound how intensely Ana Maria could fall into and out of love, not only with other men but with her life. It was really telling of her character when she was alive. Before I started reading this novel, I didn’t think I would gain such an understanding of a character, especially since she was dead for the whole book (omit this statement for flashbacks). I also found the end of the book, it seemed like the narrator really made it seem like it was a new beginning; death was simply not the end for her, and I found that very beautiful yet intriguing.
Hi! I really enjoyed reading your blog post. I like when you said “unlike the other two stories, this story had a structure and storyline I was able to follow.” I agree with you. Though I did enjoy the other two book’s, they were difficult and extremely challenging to follow. I noticed that while reading the shrouded woman because I was more interested in the narration, I was able to follow the structure with ease and even finish the book! The fact that the readers knew she was dead made it even more interesting. it is a perspective few books follow. The change was nice!
Thanks for sharing.