Hello all, welcome to another blog, this time we will be talking about “The Shrouded Woman” by María Luísa Bombal. Honestly I was incredibly surprised by this book, I had heard about the book and thought it was interesting but I didn’t think it would be the kind of book I would loose myself in, however I stand corrected, I found myself going on and on, continuing to read, I think one of the factors that helped is that I enjoyed the writing style of Bombal, I didn’t find it to be particularly difficult, specially when compared to other authors we have read, like Proust. The thing that I enjoyed the most out of this book is the seamless transitions that occur between reality and the fantasies created by the main character.
I found this book to have many interesting topics spread across the narrative, such as death, desires, repressions, fantasy, etc, but the theme that I found the most interesting and what I will be focusing on in this blog post is Female Identity, more specifically the struggles that come with that, some of which are still present in our society today. The woman in the story has a metaphorical veil that aids in the concealment of emotions and desires, in order to protect them from the societal expectations on women. Her marriage also seems to be more of a social contract instead of a commitment of two loving people, and her husband could be interpreted as confining the woman. Across the story, the woman wants freedom from societal norms and expectations, and she finds that in a mysterious lover which in a way frees her from her “prescribed” role as a wife.
The protagonist often finds herself reflecting on her life, and it is interesting to see the contrast between her life in reality and her thoughts. The book then gets really interesting when reality and fantasy start mixing, and eventually ends leaving some questions in the air.
Overall I think this might be my favourite book we have read so far in this course (even if we hav not read that many) I absolutely loved the way Bombal wrote this and I think it is a book that will leave you thinking for a couple of minutes.
My question for everyone is did you enjoy the style of writing in this book or would you have preferred something different? If so, What would you have preferred?
Something that comes to mind after reading your blogpost and your final question has to do with expectations. Both Ana María and the characters around her have expectations about themselves and others. Bombal also plays with them when writing this novel. Does that have to do with the constant fracture that Bombal makes with respect to more traditional novels?
Hi Ximena! I really liked your comment regarding how Ana Maria has a metaphorical veil that hides her emotions. I also really enjoyed this modernist style of writing, I think it helped connect with the characters on a deeper and more emotional level although we know that it is a work of fiction.
– Ava
Hello Ximena, I really relate to what you said about the seamless transition between scenes. It was to the point that I almost didn’t realize the perspective sometimes shifts between narrator and first person as Ana Maria which someone else pointed out to me later on. For your question, I actually really enjoyed the writing style of this book. I found it to be almost a little like poetry? It has really beautiful writing and I also think it conveys emotions so poignantly that I really enjoyed reading along.