Firstly, I must say I really enjoyed this read. It has probably been my favourite thus far. I found The Shrouded Woman to be very thought-provoking and interesting.
The overall feel of Bombal’s fictional world in The Shrouded Woman seems to me to be very gender-stereotypical and of course, patriarchal. The toll each of these men had on the dead narrator, Ana-Maria, was very significant and caused her an abundance of emotions. She has plenty more to say about the men in her life than to her own daughters. I found this to be very sad. But also, kind of relatable. I feel like most people would have more to say to people who have ‘wronged’ them then to people who were consistent in their life. It is especially prominent in this time era because of the way women are deemed to be in this patriarchal time. A woman’s sense of identity and fulfillment came from the man (or men) she surrounded herself with at that given point in time. I would not consider Ana-Marie to feel very fulfilled with her past life, this is because you cannot base your self-worth on mens validation. Clearly, we can see her to be bothered by all these instances even after her passing, so how additive to her life were these men really? It doesn’t seem like they were the most positive emotions.
She does express feelings of wanting it to be different, for men to not take up so much space in her life. But, this can be kind of relatable, it is very difficult dealing with emotions of being in love, anger, toxicity and heartbreak. Even though our society has developed much since this time period, these feelings are still evident today. The most important difference is that now females have a sense of purpose outside of men. Purpose can now fall anywhere between joining a workforce to simply just being alive. Thankfully, women have a lot more opportunities to feel fulfilled without the presence of a man. It just goes to show how living in a more equal and educated society can impact something as delicate as self-worth or romantic emotions. However, I do have an interesting question to pose to my classmates. Even though we live in a society that we can thrive in without a romantic partner, do you think you could die fulfilled without ever being in love? For me, I recognize that I do not have to have a man in order to feel complete, but I would be very upset leaving this world without someone to love. In my mind, one of the main purposes of life is to experience being in love, is this true for you?
Hi Tamara. I agree with you on the thought that Ana Maria seemed to spend a lot more time reflecting on her relationships with the various men in her life rather than the women. It’s unfortunate that her value was so tied up with the approval of men instead of being independent enough to stand on its own. To answer your question, I think one of the best parts of human life is the ability to love others. I’ve been fortunate enough to know what it feels like to be loved and to love other people, and I’m glad to have been able to experience this before I die.
Hi Tamara! I really enjoyed this book as well. I too found it disheartening that Ana-Marie focused on the various men in her life as opposed to her children or even her parents. Your point that people focus more on those who have wronged them as opposed to those who have been there for them consistently is a sad, albeit true, insight. It was disappointing to me that in Ana Maria’s final reflections, she still defined her life by her experiences with men rather than with her children; this point kind of reflects on the question you posed. Is it not possible for someone’s true love to be their children? Surely when we die if we are loved by our children that can be enough? Or even our family? I think confining love to a romantic partner is an unnecessary restriction that distorts what love can really be; a distortion that Ana-Marie certainly propagates.
-Mackenzie Dewar-Pratt.
Hi Tamara, great blog post! I agree with your insights on Ana Maria’s relationship with men as an illustration of the male-female relationship at that time, and how love plays an important role in a person’s life. I would say that love is not necessarily needed by everyone in the modern world, but love definitely was one of the most important part of everyday lives in the early 20th century Chile due to the lack of satisfactory living conditions and entertainment.
Hello Tamara! I also agree with you that I enjoyed this novel a lot. I also found it was quite tragic that Ana-Maria reflected more on the men, rather than her own children. But it does make sense that people tend to focus more on the ones who have done them wrong. It’s quite interesting that way, how there could be so many people who love her, but she focuses on the few that have done her wrong. Personally, to experience being romantically in love with someone isn’t really one of my main purposes in life. The word ‘love’ is quite vague, but many tend to think of it romantically. However, there are many different types of love out there. I’m pretty happy already having some close friends that I love, as I find that genuine friendship may be difficult to find, and even more challenging to keep.
Hi Tamara! I enjoyed this book, too; it was super interesting! I agree that the world in the novel is incredibly “gender-stereotypical.” Based on the last question from the blog post, I believe that one of the central experiences of life is to fall in love or love someone. Though, in this case, the author reflects in the text that love is a means to control women. I feel that the author could have discussed love not just romantically but also in the other types of love that one can experience.
-Muskan Shukla
I’m glad you enjoyed it… as you can see from the comments above (and from other people’s blog posts), other people seem to have enjoyed this text, too. But I wonder if you could say more about why you enjoyed it when you *also* say that you found it “very sad.”
Hey Tamara, I think the question you pose is interesting because after reading this story I was left wondering what the purpose of having a dead narrator was, but with your question, I have considered that perhaps Bombal was trying to convey a message about the purpose of life, that you also suggest at the end of your post (love). At the narrator’s death, the most significant moments in her life that she reflects on were those related to the love she experienced, so maybe this story works to offer insight into the importance of love as we live. Obviously, the love Ana-Maria experienced was tainted by patriarchy and often toxic and unfulfilling, but nevertheless, it was clearly profound! To answer your question, I agree that love is a purposeful experience that we should all be lucky to experience. Thanks for sharing your thoughts 🙂