Marginalized Groups and the Mirror Image In the Works of Mayra Santos-Febres

Abstract

Nuestra señora de la noche is based on the historical figure Isabel Luberza Oppenheimer, a legendary madam from Ponce who lived in the early twentieth century. Santos-Febres uses the character Isabel la Negra to symbolize a rebellion against racism and the subjugation of women by patriarchal society in Puerto Rico. Using the sociological theory of Aída Hurtado, the article demonstrates how the actions of the female characters rotate around the white male incarnated in the character Fernando Fornarís. The article also shows how Isabel's reaction of rebellion is based on her rejection by Fornarís, who abandons a pregnant Isabel to marry a white woman of high society. Similarly, the article develops the way in which the alcoholism and madness of the legitimate white wife are due to her total dependency on the white male who is dominant in society. In this sense, Fornarís becomes the narrative axis of the novel.