“The Shrouded Woman” by Maria Luisa Bombal is a beautiful and somewhat tragic unfolding of Ana Maria’s life. The concept of this book is that Ana Maria is now dead and being prepared for her sending off from this life. Since Ana Maria is dead, she is now finally revisiting her entire life and delving into the complex relationships she held with her family, lovers and others. While reading the book, I felt there was an unique lens of objectivity, that is not very common for me to feel while I read fiction. What I mean is that most fiction works that are written in first person perspective, so while I read them, I am thinking about why the story is being told in a certain way and I also try to consider the possibility of the story being different if it was being narrated by someone else. However, her recollection of her memories felt raw and unfilitered and I think this is strongly tied to the fact of her death. To me, this account of her life was herself trying to honour and commemorate the complicated life that she lived.
Now discussing what I personally thought was the most interesting reoccuring theme in the novel, was the potrayal of women and their interpersonal relationships. Ana Maria suffered a tremendous heartbreak early on in the novel, with a young man named Ricardo. This caused her to be submerged in a whirlwind of emotions, but most importantly, I think she became permanently attatched to the idea of being with Ricardo. “You had marked me forever.” (169). This is what she remarks when she remembers how they touched for the first time. I think this is connected to certain gender norms and stereotypes of the time frame of this novel. That being in a romantic relationship with another man as a woman, must mean that you are eternally connected and committed to them, even if this notion is not reciprocated back to you. While Ana Maria shows signs of being in competition with other women in her life, such as her own sister, she is also aware and maybe slightly sympathetic to other women who are battling strong insecurities and uncertainities. An example of this comes much later in her life, when her son Alberto explains a dilemma of the fact that he loves a woman Silvia, but Silvia is convinced that Alberto thinks a woman named Maria Griseldo is more beautiful. In my opinion, this is one of the first and only times we see Ana Maria put aside her competitve nature with other women and admits she understands how Silvia feels, being compared to another woman. I think Bombal did a great job of exploring the complexity and layers to womanhood of the time. It highlighted how in every phase of Ana Maria’s life, there was a man that was a central portion of her life, that she devoted majority of her time and energy to, whether it be Ricardo, her husband or her sons. It also displayed a complicated relationship with her daughter Anita and how Ana Maria almost felt a jealously of her intelligence. I think this novel having a backdrop of the “protagonist” being dead, made the novel quite an different lens to understand the story through.
Discussion Questions:
- Do we think that Ana Maria sees Alicia (her sister) in her own daughter Anita?
- Do you think there was any real aspect of love for Ricardo, or was it more of an infatuation?