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Letras Hispanas
Volume 16
Title: Gender in Latin American Fairy Tale Parodies
Author: Helene C. Weldt-Basson
E-mail: helene.weldtbasson@und.edu
Affiliation: University of North Dakota
Abstract: Numerous important Latin American writers have parodied traditional fairy tales such
as “Snow White,” “Sleeping Beauty,” or “Little Red Riding Hood.” Based on Linda Hutcheon’s
notion that intention is significant in adaptations, I posit that Latin American male and female
writers exhibit different intentions in their use of fairy tale elements and enactment of fairy tale
parodies. The three different types of intentions posited in this article are 1) re-semanticization
of fairy tale elements, so that elements are reassigned to different characters or inverted, but
the original gender ideology is maintained; 2) covert messaging through textual distraction, in
which a message of ideological subversion is potentially present, but hidden or muted by the
prominence of other textual themes; 3) explicit engagement and subversion of traditional gen-
der ideology. Using examples from texts by Manuel Gutiérrez-Nájera, Manlio Argueta, Gabriel
García Márquez, Carlos Fuentes, Dulce Loynaz, Marcela Solá and Luisa Valenzuela, I illustrate
how the male writers use re-semanticization and distraction, ultimately failing to engage with
gender issues, while the female writers overtly subvert traditional gender ideology.
Keywords: Gender, Fairy Tales, Parody, Ideology, Intentions
Resumen: Numerosos escritores latinoamericanos importantes han parodiado los cuentos de hada
tradicionales como “Blancanieves” “Caperucita roja” y “La bella durmiente.” Basándome en la idea
de Linda Hutcheon de que la intención es significativa en las adaptaciones, propongo que los es-
critores latinoamericanos tienen distintas intenciones en sus parodias según su género. El artículo
propone tres intenciones distintas en este tipo de parodia: 1) la resignificación de los elementos
del cuento de hada, de modo que los elementos originales se asignan a distintos personajes o se
invierten, pero la ideología original de género se mantiene; 2) mensajes implícitos que resultan de
un proceso de distracción textual, en que hay potencialmente un mensaje de subversión ideológica
presente, pero se oculta o se atenúa a causa de otros temas textuales más sobresalientes; 3) una sub-
versión explícita de la ideología de género de los cuentos de hada tradicionales. Empleando ejem-
plos de los textos de Manuel Gutiérrez-Nájera, Manlio Argueta, Gabriel García Márquez, Carlos
Fuentes, Dulce Loynaz, Marcela Solá and Luisa Valenzuela, muestro como los escritores utilizan
la resignificación y la distracción, sin ocuparse de cuestiones de género, mientras que las escritoras
abiertamente subvierten la ideología tradicional de género.
Palabras clave: género, cuentos de hadas, parodia, ideología, intenciones
Date Received: 6/07/2019
Date Published: 03/11/2020
Biography: Helene C. Weldt-Basson holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University and is a professor of Latin
American Literature at University of North Dakota. Her work includes three books: Masquerade and So-
cial Justice in Contemporary Latin American Literature (University of New Mexico Press, 2017), Subversi-
ve Silences (Farleigh Dickinson UP, 2009), and Augusto Roa Bastos’s I The Supreme: A Dialogic Perspective
(University of Missouri Press, 1993). She has also published several edited collections and more than thirty
articles, focusing primarily on Paraguay, postmodernism, historical fiction, and the work of women writers.
ISSN: 1548-563322 Letras Hispanas Volume 16
Gender in Latin American Fairy Tale Parodies
Helene C. Weldt-Basson, University of North Dakota
Two separate literary trends, parody Griselda” (1946); Marcela Solá in her story
and the fairy tale genre, began to converge in “Bodas” (published in Manual de situacio-
Latin America in the late nineteenth century. nes imposibles, 1990); and finally, the stories
Particularly in the twentieth and twenty-first by Luisa Valenzuela from the section titled
centuries, both male and female writers ap- “Cuentos de Hades” from her book Simetrías
propriated and re-wrote various traditional (1993), as well as two short stories from Cam-
fairy tales in a parodic fashion. Numerous bio de armas: “Cuarta version” and “Cambio
Latin American novels, short stories and even de armas” (1982).3 These works have been
poems engage with classical fairy tales.1 The chosen both because they span a wide time
connections between these works and tales by period in Latin American narrative, ranging
the Grimm brothers or Charles Perrault such from the late 1800s (when Gutiérrez Nájera
as “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Sleeping Beau- wrote) to the 2000s (when Fuentes published
ty,” “Cinderella,” “Snow White,” and “Blue his parody of Sleeping Beauty). They were
Beard,” range from simple allusions to full- also selected because they represent a balance
blown parodies. Despite numerous articles of male and female writers across various de-
on the subject,2 some of the more interesting cades and all achieve parodies of fairy tales in
questions regarding the connection between their works.
Latin American literature and fairy tales have Parody has been defined distinctly by
not yet been examined: For example, do male critics such as Gérard Genette, Linda Hutch-
and female authors appropriate these tales eon, and Margaret Rose. In Palimpsests, Gen-
differently? How does the employment of ette defines parody as a subcategory of hyper-
certain fairy tale motifs contribute to the lit- textuality, which is the relationship between
erary message of the narrative? Can fairy tale a text (hypertext) and a prior text (hypotext)
allusions achieve the same ideological effects upon which it is based. The second text either
as fairy tale parodies or adaptations? These repeats words, actions or characters of the
are three important issues that I aim to ex- first in a new context or imitates its themes
plore here through an examination of the fol- and style without necessarily citing it. Differ-
lowing writers and works: Manuel Gutiérrez ent types of textual transformation are identi-
Nájera’s short story “La caperucita color de fied based on the “mood” employed to trans-
rosa” (published in Cuentos completos, 1958, form the prior text. Genette limits parody to a
date of the story unknown); Gabriel García playful transformation of the hypotext by the
Márquez’s “El rastro de tu sangre en la nieve” hypertext (Genette 5).
(1976); Carlos Fuentes’s “La bella durmien- Linda Hutcheon defines parody as an
te” (published in Inquieta compañía, 2004); ironic imitation of a prior text (34), while
Manuel Argueta’s novel Caperucita en la zona Margaret A. Rose (273-74) concentrates on
roja (1977); Dulce Loynaz in Jardín (1954); the differences between past and contempo-
María Luisa Bombal in “La historia de María rary parodies, emphasizing that postmodernHelene C. Weldt-Basson 23
parody can be both metafictional and comi- it. . . . There are all kinds of reasons
cal, whereas in the past, parody tended to be for wanting to adapt . . . An adapta-
either one or the other. In other words, for tion can obviously be used to engage
Rose, parody is either meant to poke fun at or in a larger social or cultural critique
. . . political and historical intention-
make a comment about a prior text.
ality is now of great interest in aca-
According to another important critic, demic circles, despite a half-century
Noé Jitrik, the key element of parody is the of critical dismissal of the relevance of
“modification of the reading, but not only artistic intention to interpretation by
that of the base text, but of both texts: the formalists, New Critics, structuralists
change in reading text A, leads to reading text and poststructuralists alike. (92-94)
B in another way” (my translation), 15].4 In
other words, for Jitrik, a new version of a text I propose that three distinct inten-
must also oblige us to re-read the original text tions characterize Latin American fairy tale
differently—hence implying an engagement parody: 1) re-semanticization of fairy tale
with the ideology (understood as a belief sys- elements, which entails extracting elements
tem) behind the original text. from the original fairy tale and without
This quick overview illustrates that there changing them, employing them in a new
is a lack of consensus regarding the definition context that gives them new meaning, usu-
of parody, but that critics agree that parody ally by techniques such as inversion; 2) covert
in some way imitates or transforms a prior messaging caused by textual distraction that
text, although its intentions may vary (play- hides or obscures the central message to some
ful, ironic, comic, ideological). The question degree, and 3) explicit subversion of gender
of what these intentions are leads us directly stereotypes. I will examine the employment
back to our initial question of how men and of each of these intentions in turn. Re-seman-
women writers have employed fairy tale ele- ticization occurs when the essential ideology
ments, and how women have changed their of the original fairy tale is maintained, but the
parodic appropriation.5 various fairy tale elements are assigned to dif-
I suggest that understanding how ferent protagonists or inverted, thus resulting
women writers have modified fairy tale par- in a change of meaning; In distraction, there
ody requires an analysis of intention. In her is a narrative situation in which subversion
book A Theory of Adaptation, Linda Hutch- of the fairy tale’s original gender ideology is
eon emphasizes the importance of intention present, but the message is obscured because
in any form of adaptation (of which parody of other textual elements or themes that take
is a subset). Hutcheon divides her book into precedence in the narrative. Explicit gen-
the “who, what, when, where, and why” of der engagement characterizes those stories
adaptations, focusing on each one of these whose main purpose is to deconstruct fairy
questions in a separate chapter. Hutcheon’s tale gender ideology, and that do so overtly as
discussion of the “why” of adaptation is of the main point of the story.
particular interest for a study of the connec- Cristina Bacchilega explores the rela-
tions between fairy tales and Latin American tionship between fairy tales, their parodies,
literature. Hutcheon states: and gender ideology in her book Postmodern
Fairy Tales. Bacchilega identifies three key
It is obvious that adapters must have elements that elucidate how fairy tales make
their own personal reasons for de-
their ideology seem “natural” rather than
ciding first to do an adaptation and
then choosing which adapted work being a social construct: 1) the third-person
and what medium to do it in. They narrator usually present in classic fairy tales,
not only interpret that work but in suggests that this narrative position and its
so doing they also take a position on ideology are “natural” and authoritative; 2) the24 Letras Hispanas Volume 16
use of nature metaphors to assume a “natu- returns to marry Avenant, now owner of all
ral” correspondence between women and the wealth, and is clearly marked by the nar-
nature; 3) the use of the mirror or mirror- rator as the true wolf in the story: “Si no os
ing process to conflate nature with ideology. habéis burlado de mi cuento, queridos y hon-
These three concepts are key to an analysis of rados lectores, ¡debéis convener conmigo en
Latin American fairy tale transpositions since que los tiempos, las jóvenes y los hombres
many parodies either enact or subvert them han cambiado mucho! Hoy ya no es un lobo
to respectively reinforce or reveal gender ste- quien se engulle a la chicuela; la chicuela es
reotypes present in classic fairy tales. quien engulle al lobo” (469).
One of the earliest of the Latin Ameri- Gutiérrez Nájera subverts the stereo-
can fairy tale parodies that illustrates my con- types of the male as sexual predator and the
cept of re-semanticization is Manuel Gutiér- female as innocent and naïve victim pres-
rez Nájera’s “La caperucita color de rosa.” ent in Perrault’s version of “Little Red Rid-
The story explicitly engages with “Little Red ing Hood, however, he does not subvert the
Riding Hood” by stating on its second page: fundamental ideology of the original text.
“A la costumbre de usar ese tocado un poco Although the author negates the original
extravagante debía el sobrenombre con que stereotypes, he does not question the origi-
era conocida más bien que con su semejanza nal story’s stereotypical portrayal of women,
con la Caperucita encarnada que el malvado but rather merely replaces the old stereotypes
lobo encontró tan confiada como tierna y with new ones through inversion: the young
suculenta” (Gutiérrez Nájera 459). As Fer- girl becomes the dangerous financial (rather
nando Burgos Pérez notes, Charles Perrault’s than sexual) predator, and the young man
classic version of “Little Red Riding Hood” is becomes the innocent victim of her feminine
didactic and moralistic, teaching the danger wiles. Hence, stereotyping of women remains
of sexuality to innocent young girls (Burgos a fundamental tenet of story, as it was in the
80). Although this reference directly connects original fairy tale of “Little Red Riding Hood.”
Gutiérrez Nájera’s version of “Little Red Rid- Gutiérrez Nájera does not employ na-
ing Hood” to the original, it is hardly neces- ture or mirror motifs common in fairy tales
sary for the reader to make this association. in his parody. However, he does make im-
In Gutiérrez Nájera’s tale, Little Pink Riding portant use of his third-person narrator. As
Hood is portrayed as the antithesis of her already noted, the third-person omniscient
predecessor. Instead of characterizing the narrator has a “naturalizing” effect on story
protagonist as innocent and inexperienced, content—everything that is presented is dis-
the third-person narrator tells us that she sociated from an individualistic perspective
is: “Provocativa, voluntariosa, vanidosa, glo- and gives the impression of absolute truth.
tona, caprichosa, curiosa, e hipócrita” (459). This particular narrator conveys a critical
Little Pink Riding Hood is portrayed as a gold note through his evident sarcasm. When he
digger whose aim in life is to become a rich presents Little Pink Riding Hood as a series
baroness. She meets the young, handsome of negative adjectives as previously quoted,
and naïve Avenant (who is really the equiva- ending in “hypocritical,” he states: “Reunía,
lent of the original Little Red Riding Hood en suma, todas las cualidades que son nece-
because of his innocence) and attempts to se- sarias a una joven hecha ya y derecha” (459).
duce him into marriage. She eventually learns The generalizing implications of this com-
that Avenant does not actually have any as- ment and others joined with the naturalizing
sets, and that they all belong to his father, effect of third-person omniscient narration,
the Baron. Little Pink Riding Hood quickly communicates the idea that all young women
abandons Avenant in favor of his father, who are opportunistic and hypocritical—a veri-
dies before they can marry. At this point she table misogynist ideology confirmed by theHelene C. Weldt-Basson 25
previously cited “moraleja” with which the adventures are narrated in a non-chronolog-
story ends. By resemanticizing the same ele- ical order that is often confusing. The reader
ments of “Little Red Riding Hood” (one cun- must piece together the details of their narra-
ning person and one naïve victim), within a tive adventure.
new context, Gutiérrez Nájera ends up creat- In the love story between Hormiga
ing new stereotypes without engaging in an and Al, the characterization of Hormiga as
ideological questioning of the original fairy Caperucita and Al as “el lobo” is a variation
tale. He offers a complete semantic inversion, on the original story. Although Al frequently
in which the same didactic principles exist in refers to Hormiga as Caperucita, and she to
reverse, and men are the innocent ones who him as “un lobo,” these playful references re-
must beware of women. In both the original inforce to some degree the original ideology
tale and Gutiérrerz-Nájera’s rewriting of it, of the “Little Red Riding Hood” tale, because
there is a fundamental reduction of the mul- Al ends up being the negative male predator,
tidimensionality of women. like the wolf, who cheats on Hormiga and
Manlio Argueta’s political novel Cape- abandons her when she becomes pregnant.
rucita en la zona roja is another good exam- Moreover, the language employed in their
ple of re-semanticization because it transpos- dialogues reinforces the connection between
es the characters and places present in “Little women and nature:
Red Riding Hood” into its narration. Argueta
weaves together two plot lines—one romantic —Que más querés, te llamás Cape-
and one political—by tracing the narrator, Al’s rucita, sos el bosque lleno de flores y
romantic relationship with Genoviva (who is conejos.
—Y vos el lobo.
“Little Red Riding Hood”), principally in the
—No soy lobo. . .
odd-numbered chapters, with the political —Vieras que feo te ves, con unos
fight of a group of revolutionaries, of whom grandes dientes y unos ojos de fuego
Al and Genoviva are members, primarily in y el pelaje gris y tus patas con grandes
the even-numbered chapters. The novel takes pezuñas listo a abalanzarte. . . .
place in the 1960s, tracing the underground —¿De quién es esta naricita tan gran-
popular fight against the right-wing Salvador- de?
an government, largely controlled by an oli- —Tuya y es para olerte mejor
garchy of fourteen rich landowning families. —Y estas orejas inmensas
—Son para oírte mejor. Y te vas con
The novel intricately attempts to employ ele-
la cestita al hombro, entre lirios del
ments from “Little Red Riding Hood,” but ul- campo (¡mirémoslos!) Con paso de
timately fails to question the ideology behind qué lindo bocadito. (15-163)
the original fairy tale. Rather than imitate the
story of “Little Red Riding Hood,” the novel Hormiga/Caperucita is identified with
uses its motifs: the district where the protago- the forest full of flowers and rabbits and goes
nist/narrator Al lives is “el bosque” (the for- off among the irises in the field. Although
est); the police are “Los lobos” (the wolves) this association of women with nature is not
[as is alternately Al himself on the romantic proposed by a third-person omniscient nar-
plane] and his girlfriend Hormiga/Genoviva rator, it is not questioned by the narrative.6
is “Caperucita” (Little Red Riding Hood). According to Bacchilega: “That long tradition
Eventually, Genoviva becomes pregnant and of representing women both as nature and as
Al abandons her. Al’s revolutionary group is concealed artifice contributes to the success
ultimately betrayed by Guillermo, the brother and power of such images in the tale of magic
of one of the revolutionaries (Charrier), and . . . women are commonly identified as be-
the members end up dead or in prison. Frag- ing closer to nature than to culture which in
ments of the characters’ lives and political a patriarchal system makes them symbolic of26 Letras Hispanas Volume 16
an inferior, intermediate order of being” (9). donde me miro, me haces caras feas mientras
Thus, although Hormiga/Caperucita is given yo pego gritos de loba porque me asusta tu
a narrative voice in Caperucita en la zona figura metida en el espejo” (34). The second
roja, it is not used to subvert traditional gen- time she comments: “yo en esta habitación
der ideology. mirándome al espejo, esperando que apa-
Another way in which traditional gen- rezcas tocándome los hombros, acariciando
der ideology is maintained in Argueta’s novel mi panza . . . Soy una tonta recién bajada del
is through his employment of the mirror mo- volcán . . . esas muchachitas analfabetas que
tif. We noted earlier that Bacchilega suggests ignoran lo que es estar detrás de un espejo
that the mirror motif is used in traditional mirándome un letrero de despedida desde el
fairy tales as a means to conflate nature with anochecer hasta el alba” 86). What Hormiga
an anti-feminist ideology. Although Little sees in the first instance and wants to see in
Red Riding Hood in the Red-Light District the second, is not her own image but that of
parodies “Little Red Riding Hood,” the mir- Al. In other words, the man controls the im-
ror motif is most associated with the fairy tale age in the mirror—woman’s identity is that
of “Snow White.” According to Bacchilega, bestowed upon her by patriarchal society, and
Snow White’s birth mirrors elements found she cannot see her real self or exist without
in nature: her skin is white as the snow and him. Despite this suggestive use of the mir-
her lips as red as the blood that appears on ror image, the character Hormiga does not
her mother’s finger when she pricks it on the display awareness or protest her subservience
sewing needle. Bacchilega reflects on mirrors to patriarchal society. She rather longs for the
and the mirroring process thus: return of her lover, without whom she lacks
an identity.
What are the effects of this mirroring Argueta also introduces a political anal-
process? . . . Of course, the mirroring ogy to the “Little Red Riding Hood” story, by
is overt when the (step)mother inter- evoking its story elements within the context
rogates her magic glass and the beau-
of police brutality and the police raid on the
tiful Snow White appears before her
instead of her own waning beauty. On
house where the rebels print an underground
one level, in typical fairy-tale style the newspaper. Perhaps the section that best il-
mirror simply externalizes the natural lustrates this use of the fairy tale is the one
process of life and change . . . On anoth- that creates a parallel between the wolf ’s in-
er level, though, the tale’s magic trick vasion of the grandmother’s house in “Little
is to conflate once again the natural Red Riding Hood,” and the police raid on the
with the ideological, thus presenting Manuel’s house. Chapter Two, section eleven
the mirror’s judgment as unques- which re-narrates the wolf ’s presence at the
tionably authoritative. . . . No matter
grandmother’s house in “Little Red Riding
whose voice we hear, its judgment has
power and credibility because seeing
Hood,” prefigures the police raid in section
is believing: we forget that the mir- 12:
ror’s reflected or refracted image is
framed. (33) El sol enredado, en el pelo de Cape-
rucita . . . Veo la casa de la abuelita . . .
For Bacchilega, the mirror naturalizes con la enferma que está la pobre. . . .
Güenos días, agüelita, aquí le traigo
the judgments and values of patriarchal so-
naranjas para que las chupe. “Ay, miji-
ciety. This aspect of the mirror is confirmed ta, para que se anda sacrificando con
by the two episodes in which Hormiga/Cape- lo peligroso que es el bosque—piensa
rucita views herself in the mirror. The first que piensa la agüelita. Que din-don
time she sees her reflection in the mirror, suena la campanita eléctrica cuando
Hormiga states: “Siempre estás en el espejo puya el timbre de la puerta. ¿QuiénHelene C. Weldt-Basson 27
es? Una voz ronca como tempestad de sangre en la nieve” as an attempt to subvert
pescador en Yoro, aunque ella piensa the fairy tale myth of the beautiful princess
que quizás la abuela está enferma de who is rescued by her prince and lives hap-
la garganta. Yo abuela ábrame que pily ever after,7 but I believe it is an excellent
tengo frío—y el lobo feroz se pone las
example of my second category of intentions,
pantuflas para darse aires de abuela
. . . Rico bocadito el que me voy a co- distraction. The title of García Márquez’s
mer piensa el lobo cara de bandido y story evokes both Snow White and Sleeping
tocando la pistola en su cintura, por Beauty, although it is mainly an “imitation”
si las moscas. “Voy mijita.” El muy ca- of the latter. In García Márquez’s tale, the
brón. (66) wealthy and beautiful Nina Daconte mar-
ries the equally handsome and wealthy Billy
Compare this passage to the description of Sánchez. During their honeymoon in France,
the police raid in section 12: Nina pricks her finger on a bouquet of roses.
Billy eventually gets her to a hospital, but she
Naranjas agrias de la noche . . . No- has already lost too much blood and dies. The
sotros no nos imaginábamos que la fact Nina’s “prince” did not save her and there
Guardia Nacional iba a caer . . . Yo is no happily ever after, may suggest to some
vivo con mi abuelita, pero me agarró
that García Márquez is attempting to subvert
la noche y por eso me quedé a dormir
aquí en casa de estos compañeros de the fairy tale myth of women’s necessary de-
estudio . . . y no nos estés engañan- pendence on men for a happy and safe life.
do con esto de tu abuelita en Cojute, However, is this really the main point of Gar-
pues vos siempre has vivido aquí en El cía Márquez’s story? A deeper analysis reveals
Bosque. Manuel es tu marido . . . No other concepts and intentions behind “El ras-
sé cuánto tiempo estuve presa. Al fin tro de tu sangre en la nieve.”
me sacaron libre A Pichón y Feliciano The most incisive analysis of “El ras-
nunca los volví a ver, desaparecieron. tro de tu sangre en la nieve” is Arnold M.
(67)
Penuel’s “A Contemporary Fairy Tale: García
Márquez’s “El rastro de tu sangre en la nieve.”
The repetition of the elements of the oranges, the
Penuel correctly points out that the author’s
grandmother, and the forest in the second pas-
main focus in the story is to explore:
sage suggest a parallel with the Little Red Riding
story narrated in the previous section, as does the
the cultural origins of individual psy-
intromission of the element of the pistol in sec- chology and culturally conditioned
tion 11, which conversely introduces the police modes of being . . . The novelist ex-
element into the original fairy tale. By transpos- plores three modes of being: that of
ing the story elements to a political plane, Argu- Billy Sánchez, that of Nena Daconte,
eta recontextualizes the ideology of the original and that of the French. Billy drama-
story: now the innocent victim is not Little Red tizes the Hispanic mode of being,
Riding Hood but the leftist rebels, while the evil and Nena, who has attended a Swiss
wolf are the National Guard members and the school, exemplifies a synthesis of cul-
tures. Billy’s cultural shock in France
forest is the neighborhood where the protago-
throws in relief certain fundamental
nists live. The elements taken from “Little Red values of French culture. Billy’s inabil-
Riding Hood” do not question the gender ideol- ity to rise above his instincts, to order
ogy of the original tale, but rather, like Gutiérrez them through reason and foresight is
Najera’s La caperucita color de rosa, resemanticize culturally conditioned. (Penuel 242)
these elements within a new context.
Some critics, such as Mayrse Renaud, In other words, Billy Sánchez represents Latin
have seen García Márquez’s “El rastro de tu American irrationality; French culture, full of28 Letras Hispanas Volume 16
rules and restrictions (such as not allowing Nena is clearly intellectually superior to Billy
Billy to see Nena at the hospital for a week) in the story.
represents excessive rationality; and Nena is a Nonetheless, it is difficult to see any
fusion of the two. other engagement with the gender ideology
Penuel’s interpretation of the story, which behind “Sleeping Beauty” in “El rastro de tu
I believe to be correct, indicates a completely sangre en la nieve.” If Billy Sánchez is a failed
different intention behind the tale than that of prince, he is a failed prince not because there
traditional gender ideology subversion. The fo- is a flaw in the gender ideology presented in
cus of García Márquez’s story is cultural clash Sleeping Beauty, but rather there is a flaw in
and culturally conditioned differences. In- his cultural upbringing in Latin America.
deed, Nena Daconte, the female protagonist, Moreover, the entire second half of the story
disappears (when she is interned in the hos- (from the time Nena is interned in the hos-
pital) after the first few pages of the story, and pital) is focalized through Billy’s viewpoint,
the rest of the tale follows Billy’s unsuccess- shifting the emphasis of the story to a purely
ful attempts to visit his wife in the hospital male perspective on the events. Although
because of French rules and regulations and gender stereotypes do arise in the story, they
his failure to find out what has happened to are never overtly questioned or subverted by
her. The story focuses almost exclusively on the protagonists. For example, Nena Daconte
a male protagonist. Within this context, the falls in love with her would-be rapist (she and
fact that Nena Daconte pricks her finger and Billy fall in love after he breaks into the locker
falls asleep in the car (and eventually forever room at the beach club wielding a weapon
in death), seems more like an isolated fairy and as part of a gang). This is an example of
tale motif, rather than a transposition or par- what Michele Barrett has identified as the
ody of the original tale. technique of “compensation.” According to
Once again, García Márquez, like Gutiér- Barrett, “compensation” is an element of ide-
rez Nájera, does not employ the mirror and ological portrayal that stereotypes women by
nature motifs, but he does employ the third- representing them as morally superior (108).9
person omniscient narrator.8 The author is In this case, Nena Daconte’s moral fiber is ex-
famous for his use of a very neutral-sounding, aggerated because she is able to forgive her
matter-of fact third-person omniscient narra- would be rapist and marry him. Often, when
tion, that is responsible for having the reader female writers appropriate this technique,
accept magical events as “natural” in many of they invert or question it in some manner.
his narratives. According to Ricardo Gullón, For example, in Isabel Allende’s story “La
García Márquez’s narrators report events venganza,” Dulce Rosa falls in love with her
“as a reporter would—calm and untouched, rapist, but rather than marry him, she com-
without comment and without passing moral mits suicide and condemns him to a life of
judgments on what has happened” (27). This guilt. In this way, Allende’s story punishes
same type of narrator makes the reader accept the rapist and overturns the stereotype that
cultural stereotypes (the irrational Hispanic, the woman is actually morally superior and
the rational Frenchman) as natural and true. capable of totally forgiving her rapist (Weldt-
The only possible subversion of traditional Basson, Subversive Silences, 129). Moreover,
gender ideology occurs in Nena Daconte’s in “El rastro de tu sangre en la nieve,” Nena
association with high culture as a saxophone fails to challenge Billy’s gender stereotypes.
player and polyglot. Since fairy tale-women After Billy has been driving for hours Nena
are normally associated with nature and thus is afraid to even suggest that she replace him
considered inferior, Nena Daconte’s link to at the wheel: “Nena Daconte hubiera queri-
culture thus breaks with the stereotype of do ayudar a su marido en el volante, pero ni
the fairy tale-heroine, as well as the fact that siquiera se atrevió a insinuarlo, porque él leHelene C. Weldt-Basson 29
había advertido desde la primera vez en que from Germany) is the “sleeping beauty” of
salieron juntos que no hay humillación más Fuentes’s tale. Baur slowly relates the back-
grande para un hombre que dejarse conducir ground story to Caballero/Richter of how
por su mujer” (161). he brought Caballero/Richter’s and Alberta
In summary, “El rastro de tu sangre en Simmons’ dead bodies to Mexico at the end
la nieve,” is an indirect negation of the myth of World War II. Caballero/Richter was previ-
of Prince Charming and male superiority, but ously unaware of his own true identity. At the
this possible message is largely overshadowed tale’s end, it is revealed that the narrator of the
by the story’s focus on cultural conditioning story is Baur’s Mennonite wife, who states:
and stereotypes, which serves as what Radner
and Lanser call a textual “distraction” from a Emil, ¿crees que salvas tu responsa-
feminist message. In their article “Strategies bilidad resucitando una y otra vez a
of Coding in Women’s Cultures,” the two fem- Georg y a Alberta? ¿No te das cuenta
que yo misma estoy siempre a tu lado?
inist critics define distraction as the creation
No me importa que nunca me mires
of a textual “noise” that obscures the intended o me dirijas la palabra. Soy tu mujer.
feminist message (414). It is one of six coding . . . Me has despojado de nombre, me
strategies defined by Radner and Lanser that has vuelto invisible . . . Un día tendrás
are traditionally employed by women writers que verme a la cara. Yo sé que solo me
(especially in earlier centuries) who needed usas para darle voz a tus espectros. Él
to soften their criticism to make it more ac- no me miró. Nunca me mira. No ad-
ceptable to a male-dominated public. Ulti- mite mi presencia. Pero yo sé porque
mately, García Márquez’s use of distraction estoy en esta casa embrujada. Estoy
para contar. (210)
attenuates any feminist ideological decon-
struction that may lie behind his appropria-
At first glance, it appears that Fuentes’s
tion of “Sleeping Beauty.”
version of “Sleeping Beauty” is historical and
Carlos Fuentes’s “La bella durmiente”
political: his “sleeping beauty” is a victim of
is another good example of the technique
the Nazis, and her lover, a Nazi himself, is
of distraction. Fuentes presents a somewhat
killed by his compatriots because he attempts
different take on the fairy tale parody by
to save his Mennonite lover by listing her as
venturing into the genres of horror and the
already dead so she will not have to return to
fantastic but does so by grounding his tale in
the camps after serving in his house. Baur,
world history. There are two sets of protago-
who had returned to Germany in 1945 as a
nists. First, there is the German Emil Baur,
double spy, recovers their bodies, which were
who emigrated to Mexico after WWI, and the
found embraced while in a truck en route to
Mennonite woman whom he marries at age
being buried in a mass grave. Although Baur
55, Alberta Simmons. The second pair of pro-
alleges that the reason for his salvation of the
tagonists is the couple Baur brings back from
pair is that their love has somehow touched
Germany in 1945. The couple is not alive
him, the long descriptions of Baur’s politi-
but are the corpses of a Mennonite woman
cal affiliations and machinations suggest that
(also called Alberta Simmons) and her lover,
something more is at work in Baur’s resuscita-
the German officer Georg Richter. Richter is
tion of the pair. At the beginning of the story,
the real identity of the doctor Jorge Cabal-
Baur is clearly identified as being politically
lero, who is called to Baur’s house, allegedly
aligned with the Kaiser during WWI, and as
to cure his narcoleptic wife. What Caballero
fomenting pro-German sentiment among the
discovers upon arrival is that the wife, whose
Mexicans:
body is totally cold, revives at his touch and
comes alive when they make love. In this De nuevo, Baur explotó con habi-
sense, Alberta Simmons (the corpse brought lidad el sentimiento pro alemán de30 Letras Hispanas Volume 16
los mexicanos, en abierta contradic- que manipulaba mis palabras y dirigía mis ac-
ción con la política antifascistas del tos hacia el lecho de Alberta y mis manos ha-
presidente Lázaro Cárdenas. Baur, cia el brazo desnudo de Alberta” (195). Thus,
con orgullo, señalaba la existencia de if Baur/Alberta can be said to be the doubles
grupos de choque nazis en México,
of Georg/Alberta, then the significance of Al-
los “camisas Doradas” que invocaban
como santo patrón nada menos que al berta’s narration at the story’s end becomes
general Pancho Villa.” (166-67) clear: She demands recognition of her own
identity from Baur, to be more than a body,
Similarly, we are told that Baur proudly dis- an instrument of his desires and obsessions.
plays a portrait of Hitler in his domicile, and In this sense, Fuentes succeeds in engaging
that Dr. Caballero finds his political leanings with the original gender ideology of “Sleeping
abhorrent. Thus, when Alberta, Baur’s wife, Beauty,” that reinforces the passivity and lack
rhetorically asks “¿crees que salvas tu respon- of self-identity of the female. Nonetheless,
sabilidad resuscitando una y otra vez a Georg his emphasis on the historical and political
y Alberta?” her comment suggests that Baur’s dimension of the Georg/Alberta love affair
actions to some degree are an expiation of his serves as a distraction from the story’s gender
identification with Nazi crimes. This focus message that is similar to the distraction used
initially appears to separate Fuentes’s version by García Márquez.
of “Sleeping Beauty” from any connection to In contrast, women writers’ engagement
questioning or reaffirming traditional gender with fairy tales has been more extensive and
ideology. However, at the end of the story, overt than that of male writers, constituting
Fuentes surprises the reader by revealing that my third category of intention, explicit en-
the narrator is not a third-person omniscient gagement with and subversion of traditional
narrator, but rather Baur’s mysterious wife, gender ideology. The tales that I will examine
who was only briefly mentioned in passing here can be divided into two groups: those
earlier in the story, and whose identity seems that explicitly parody fairy tales, and those
to be fused with that of the Mennonite whose that employ fairy tale elements or simply al-
corpse was brought to Mexico. The “real” lude to fairy tales but do not strictly adhere to
Alberta Simmons, the Mennonite from the the definition of parody. From the group of
Mexican colony, accuses Baur of ignoring explicit parodies I will analyze Jardín by Dulce
and denying her presence and existence, rel- Loynaz; “No se detiene el progreso” and “Ava-
egating her to the role of the narrator of his tares” by Luisa Valenzuela (from “Cuentos de
specters. Hades”), and “Bodas” by Marcela Solá.10 As
Alberta’s narrative voice is undoubtedly examples of stories with significant fairy tale
the key to unlocking the meaning of Fuentes’s allusions, I will examine “La historia de María
story. Without denying the political/histori- Griselda” by María Luisa Bombal, and “Cu-
cal dimension of the tale, Alberta’s voice at arta versión” and “Cambio de armas,” both
the end creates a parallel between herself and from Luisa Valenzuela’s Cambio de armas.
the revivified corpse, because they share the The early twentieth-century Cuban
same name and are both lifeless—one liter- writer Dulce Loynaz loosely parodies the
ally, and the other metaphorically. The fact tale of “Sleeping Beauty” in her novel Jardín,
that the two women share the same name written in 1935 but unpublished until 1954.
speaks to their lack of identity in Baur’s eyes: The novel traces the life of Bárbara, a young
as women, they are conflated, all the same, woman who lives alone in a house by the sea
without individuation. Similarly, we are told surrounded by a garden. She finds letters
in the story that Baur controls the thoughts written to her great grandmother by her lover
and actions of Georg Richter/Jorge Caballero. and reads them to occupy her time. Eventu-
Caballero states that Baur was: “un demonio ally, a captain is shipwrecked on the beachHelene C. Weldt-Basson 31
near her home and they fall in love. She leaves Bárbara is the “sleeping beauty” who is awak-
her childhood home to marry the captain and ened by the ship captain who is shipwrecked
together they have a family. They live in a big on the shore of her house and who brings
city and Bárbara becomes somewhat over- her to the city, thus also awakening her from
whelmed by the modern, busy atmosphere. her quiet life in the country surrounded by
Toward the end of the novel, Bárbara desires nature, she takes the parallel/parody this far,
to return to her original house. Her husband without examining what Loynaz does to the
accompanies her on the journey, but only she ending of the fairy tale. This ending contains
disembarks from the ship. Bárbara finds ev- the key to Loynaz’s intentions upon appropri-
erything changed, because now a large town ating “Sleeping Beauty” in her novel.
has been built up around her home. She en- In Jardín, Barbara’s garden is generally
counters a fisherman who offers to guide her. described as a devouring prison that impedes
A large wall crumbles and falls, killing Bár- Bárbara from attaining freedom (represented
bara at the novel’s end. by the traditional image of the sea) and expe-
Although contemporary critics such as riencing life. It is alternately referred to as “el
Elzbieta Sklodowska, Clementina R. Adams, jardín negro” (49), “el jardín malo” (51) and
Elena M. de Jongh, and Verity Smith agree “el jardín de la muerte” (51). It is simultane-
that Loynaz’s novel is feminist,11 interpreta- ously identified with the man who writes the
tions of the novel have varied greatly, and only letters to the other Bárbara (her great-grand-
Smith’s article “Eva sin paraíso” engages exten- mother) that the protagonist finds in a pavil-
sively with the novel’s use of “Sleeping Beauty.” ion located on her property “Jardín, jardín,
According to Smith: también es él,” p. 131). Finally, in her dreams,
she is separated from the captain, the man
En Jardín . . . Loynaz muestra una she loves because “el jardín crecía y crecía,
actitud ambivalente hacia el cuen- levantando una muralla verde, infranqueable
to de “La Bella Durmiente . . . ” Por entre los dos” (175). Before departing with
una parte Dulce María presenta una
the captain, Bárbara attacks the garden, pull-
crítica o glosa feminista del cuento (la
mujer debe esperar el beso del hom-
ing out all the roots of the plants, destroying
bre para salir de su sueño) pero tam- its power.
bién lo usa para expresar su hostilidad These descriptions of the garden lead
ante el ritmo demasiado acelerado de the reader to believe that the garden is Bárba-
la vida urbana (de sello masculino) . . . ra’s enemy, the force impeding her search for
El cuento de hadas sirve para reme- identity. However, the novel’s ending seem-
morar el tiempo mítico, indispensa- ingly contradicts this idea. Before examining
ble, según esta escritora, para el bien- this conclusion, it is important to trace Bár-
estar psíquico. (267) bara’s life in the city and with her husband,
the captain.
Smith does an excellent job of analyzing how Bárbara’s husband is portrayed as a
Loynaz debunks the traditional role of the domineering man. We are told that he enjoyed
mirror in fairy tales, (an element of patriar- her dependence upon him: “El hecho de que
chal control) because in Jardín “el espejo no le ella dependiera de él en una cosa tan pequeña
devuelve su imagen [a Bárbara] (264).” Mir- le satisfacía como un afianzamiento de su do-
rors are frequently described as “empañados” minio” (194). A page later we are told that she
(cloudy) and therefore unable to reflect one’s “belonged to him” (“le pertenecía, p. 195) and
image. Nonetheless, I think that Loynaz’s that he felt he had the right to “conformarla
Jardín is much more of a parody of “Sleeping a su gusto” (mold her as he pleased, p. 195).
Beauty” than has been heretofore recognized. Later on, he is also described as “un poco
Although Smith and others acknowledge that despótico” 219). Perhaps the most telling ci-32 Letras Hispanas Volume 16 tation is that Bárbara “creíase feliz” (believed garden, she meets a fisherman who is alleged- herself to be happy, implying that she mistak- ly leading her to the village that has grown up enly thought this). Finally, in an important around her old house and garden. As she fol- scene on the boat when Bárbara is returning lows him, a wall falls on her and kills her. The to the place of her infancy, Bárbara wishes to fisherman is a Christ-like figure who leads retire into the cabin behind the curtain with Bárbara to her final rest. At the end, Bárbara her husband, but he does not allow her to do represents the eternal situation of women im- so. The narrator states: “Pensó que detrás de prisoned in society, held behind its iron bars: esa cortina estaba el Sereno, El Dominador, “Bárbara, por detrás, por arriba, por abajo, el Amable por excelencia . . . Pensó que sólo por siempre, . . . pega su cara pálida a los bar- había entre los dos una tela flotante y liger- rotes de hierro” (247). ísima. ¿Y siempre no había estado entre ellos Another key point about this “sleeping esa finura inconsútil, esa seda impalpable?” beauty” tale is that it begins and ends with the (232). In other words, right before her return same words. The first page states: “Bárbara to the garden, Bárbara realizes that her rela- pegó su cara pálida a los barrotes de hierro tionship with her husband has been false; that y miró a través de ellos” (11). Thus, it is clear there has always been a separation between that the situation of women in society has them; that they have not been equal partners. not changed throughout Bárbara’s story—she It is this realization that leads her to disobey ends up in the same spot in which she began. the captain and go ashore that night instead Furthermore, the moon motif present on the of waiting until morning as he had indicated. first page is taken up again at the novel’s con- When Bárbara finally returns to the garden, it clusion. On the first page, the moon falls from is no longer portrayed as a stifling adversary, the sky and Bárbara catches it, burying it in but as a peaceful place, the source of her iden- the garden. The moon is a feminine symbol, tity: “Allí estaban su casa y su jardín donde and in this way, the garden becomes equated las varias luces terrenales nunca habían osado with both Bárbara and women in general. On penetrar. Allí podría dormir siquiera un poco the last page of the novel, Bárbara watches as . . . Qué buen sueño se dormiría allí. Dormir, one of the male construction workers “ha en- volver; reintegrarse al vientre tibio de la som- contrado un disco de hojalata recortado en la bra sin nacer todavía, sin saber de las luces de mas perfecta circunferencia” (247). The man los hombres” (236). Indeed, in the first part who finds the moon buried by Bárbara, after of the novel, the narrator states that Bárbara considering the possible utilitarian value of is the garden, a concept that is difficult to ac- the object, “la arroja luego con gesto desde- cept when the garden was being portrayed as ñoso” (later throws it away with a disdainful a negative force. Perhaps the fact that the gar- gesture). In other words, the moon, symbol den is first portrayed as destructive and vio- of woman, is only valued for what use she can lent, and then later portrayed as peaceful and be to man and is ultimately tossed away like a authentic, suggests the multidimensionality valueless object. In the end of Loynaz’s Jardín, of women which breaks with the traditional the sleeping princess would have been better patriarchal stereotype that conflates nature off remaining asleep instead of going off with and women as a manifestation of passivity her “prince charming.” Thus, Dulce Loynaz’s and inferiority. However, after having lived relationship to the fairy tale is clearly one of the life of the awakened “sleeping beauty,” gender engagement in which she debunks the Bárbara discovers that her true identity and ideology behind the original fairy tale. happiness were in her solitary youth, thus ne- Marcela Solá, an Argentine writer born gating the “Sleeping Beauty” myth of the need in Buenos Aires in 1936, presents a very in- for a Prince Charming to rescue the woman teresting version of “Snow White” in her col- from her sleep. When Bárbara returns to the lection of stories titled Manuel de situaciones
Helene C. Weldt-Basson 33
imposibles (1990). The opening story, “Bodas” confundido por los absurdos diálogos man-
presents Snow White about to marry the tenidos con la reina madrastra, que le pre-
woodsman who saved her life. However, un- guntaba cosas ajenas a su jurisdicción” (15).
like the fairy tale that presents Snow White We are told that the mirror is confused, and
marrying her prince and living happily ever anything but an absolute authority since there
after, Solá’s Snow White refuses to enter the are things that are “outside its jurisdiction.”
church and proceed with the ceremony. The Solá’s story, like all the other texts writ-
story reveals that she has spent a fortune in ten by women writers, whether they are
charity, prayers, and donations in the hope parodies or simply employ various fairy tale
that God would provide her with guidance elements, directly engages with the gender
and a way out of her forthcoming marriage: ideology that characterizes traditional fairy
“Agotados por lo tanto mis fondos mon- tales such as “Snow White,” “Cinderella,” “Lit-
etarios, y también los sacrificios, ofrendas y tle Red Riding Hood,” and “Blue Beard.” In
rogativas aprendidos en los misales, libros de contrast, the male writers studied here either
piedad, estampas y hasta en los manuales de fail to engage with fairy tale gender ideology,
sabiduría atesorados en la biblioteca del re- taking the fairy tale elements in a completely
ino, no me quedo otro camino que arrojarme different direction (Gutiérrez Nájera, Manlio
al matrimonio (13). Snow White’s ultimate Argueta), or, when engaging with the gender
refusal to marry undermines the traditional ideology, do so indirectly by creating textual
gender ideology of the fairy tale in which a “distractions” that somewhat obscure the sto-
woman can only be happy by marrying a man ry’s gender message (García Márquez, Fuen-
who will protect and take care of her. Snow tes). The effect produced by such distractions
White asserts her independence at the end is to mitigate the subversive aspect of the sto-
of the tale by asking: ¿Qué otra ceremonia ry with regard to deconstructing traditional
me aguarda, en la que ya no habrá flores, ni gender ideology. In these cases, frequently the
obispo, ni luz tan siquiera? ¿Qué otra ceremo- fairy tale elements do not relate to or enhance
nia para la que solamente mi persona es nece- the main theme of the story and thus appear
saria?” (16). extraneous to the narratives, more like a dec-
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of orative motif than a substantive component
Solá’s story is her use of the mirror motif. of the text.
The protagonist who narrates her own story Luisa Valenzuela is the writer who un-
(another sign of subversion of the traditional doubtedly has challenged fairy tale gender
fairy tale), states: “Tanto rezaba yo, que la ideology the most. Many of her stories from
reina preguntaba intrigada al espejo: ¿espeji- “Cuentos de Hades,” such as “Si esto es la vida,
to, espejito, por que reza tanto mi hija,?” “De yo soy Caperucita” and “La llave,” have al-
puro piadosa que es” contestaba el espejito, ready been extensively analyzed by such crit-
servil y queriendo complacerla aun a costa de ics as Fernando Burgos Pérez, Leopoldo Bri-
la verdad” (13). Snow White indicates that the zuela, and Z. Nelly Martínez,12 so I will limit
mirror, traditional sign of patriarchal author- myself to the discussion of two of the lesser
ity and values in the fairy tale, blatantly lies to commented tales that are sufficiently repre-
the queen, thus undermining the traditional sentative of the type of employment that Va-
function of the mirror. Similarly, the mirror’s lenzuela makes of fairy tales in her work: “No
authority is undermined when the stepmoth- se detiene el progreso” and “Avatares.” “No se
er asks the mirror: “espejito, espejito, dónde detiene el progreso” is a parody of “Sleeping
está Dios” y el desdichado adminículo refleja- Beauty,” while “Avatares” combines parodies
ba un cielo inmaculadamente azul, sin nubes, of both “Cinderella” and “Snow White.”
en el que brillaba para siempre el sol y decía: “No se detiene el progreso” is one of the
allí está.” El espejito, me doy cuenta, también él few tales by Valenzuela that is not narrated in34 Letras Hispanas Volume 16
the first-person by a female protagonist, but príncipe la quiere tal cual, inocente de
rather contains the traditional third-person todo cuestionamiento vano.
omniscient narration. However, there is a La ama así y no le importa mientras
distinct ironic tone to this third-person nar- ella no intente abandonar sus aposen-
tos o enterarse de las cosas de la corte.
ration that establishes an immediate connec-
. . . La ama mientras de sus gráciles
tion to the undermining of fairy tale ideology. brazos van creciendo poco a poco
In the very first paragraph, we are told by that unos zarcillos viscosos que lo atrapan.
narrator that Brhada (whose name is a com- (75)
bination of bruja and hada, witch and fairy):
“Era sin embargo el hada más sensata de la Note that Valenzuela employs the conven-
comarca, cualidad no demasiado bien vista tional woman/nature association in a not
en aquellos tiempos por demás atrabilarios. so conventional way. As Bacchilega notes,
Nadie parecía apreciarla, a pesar de no ser women’s identification with nature is part
competencia para hembra alguna” (71). The of the patriarchal ideological apparatus that
sarcasm inherent in the statement that Brha- views women as passive and inferior. How-
da was disliked despite her ugliness which ever, at the end of the story, Sleeping Beauty
made her no competition for beautiful wom- is converted into a sticky plant tendril that
en, already suggests a questioning of the ide- traps the prince within its vines. This image
ology behind tales like Snow White based on suggests just the opposite of the traditional
the competition between beautiful women. In link between women and nature: at the end
addition, Valenzuela clearly brings the fairy of Valenzuela’s story, Sleeping Beauty is pow-
tale into the contemporary era, by positing erful and takes control of the prince. The tra-
that Brhada was not invited to the party for ditional nature trope is subverted, and as the
Sleeping Beauty because of racial prejudice: title indicates, despite being asleep for 100
“Pero en toda la comarca corrieron rumores years, “you can’t stop progress”: the progress
de omission culpera . . . por prejuicios raciales of women gaining control and subverting pa-
ya que ella era bastante oscura” (71). triarchy.
However, it is the story’s ending that Valenzuela’s story “Avatares” similarly
most effectively achieves the ideological de- subverts the traditional patriarchal meaning
construction of the original tale. The narra- of the nature/woman association. The story
tor not only signals the outmodedness of the is a fusion of “Snow White” and “Cinderella.”
original representation of women, but also The King of the North is a widower with a
undermines the passivity of the beautiful pro- beautiful daughter (like Snow White), who
tagonist in the following passage: then marries a beautiful woman (like the evil
stepmother). The King of the South, also a
El príncipe azul solo atina a cambiar- widower, marries a widow with three daugh-
le el ajuar. Es así como la quiere: con ters, and has a daughter whom they all treat
ideas de antes y la moda de su tiem- like a servant (Cinderella). What is unique
po . . . El mundo no le ha pasado por about Valenzuela’s appropriation of the tale
encima porque el mundo con todo su is the ending in which Cinderella ascends to
horror y destemplanza, no concierne the sky and fuses with the sun, while Snow
a las damas. Ella toca el laúd como White fuses with the earth, descending into
un ángel, sabe cantar y bordar y hacer
the silver mines. Moreover, the two women
bolillo, es a mas no poder hermosa,
y si de vez en cuando su cuerpo des-
meld together to become “Blancacienta y Ce-
prende un cierto olor a moho y su ninieves” respectively. The nature metaphor
vello púbico se hace como de liquen, is no longer that of patriarchal discourse, be-
al príncipe no le importa. Ella no se cause, as the third-person narrator informs
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