Attention grabber In a Colombian town during the 1950s, the pretense of machismo is so great, a women's sole purpose is to marry. The novel, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, depicts the constant oppression of women through a young woman's struggles. Angela Vicario destroys her family's honor by losing her virginity before marriage, leading to the murder of her accused perpetrator, Santiago Nasar, by her twin brothers. Santiago's death exemplifies machismo because the Vicario brothers are required to kill Santiago to maintain family honor. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Márquez, the author illustrates the oppression of women through Angela Vicario's limited independence designated by her family, in order to display how the
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Once married, Angela plans to fake her virginity when she and Bayardo consummate their marriage. In brief, Bayardo discovers Angela is not a virgin, causing Bayardo to return Angela to her family. Angela is considered an abomination to her town and family, breaking their honor. Everyone of the town questions why she would ever lose her virginity and are disgusted she would ever try to fake her virginity for marriage. "On the other hand, the fact that Angela Vicario dared put on the veil and the orange blossoms without being a virgin would be interpreted afterwards as a profanation of the symbols of purity" (Márquez 41). Angela wearing the veil which symbolizes purity is considered an act against the town's religion, thus demonstrating how women are expected to be holy for their husbands. Women are restricted from being around even their fiancée before marriage, which sheds light on why the town found Angela's actions extremely unacceptable. The way the town claims Angela's actions to be unacceptable exemplifies how women are treated as objects to men, demonstrating how women can lose their identity when married. In contrast to the expectations of women keeping their virginity, it is considered acceptable if the men sleep with other women and go to whore houses. The men of the town often lose their virginity to the "town whore" which is considered normal to the …show more content…
Angela's punishments for losing her virginity before marriage and breaking her honor is a prime example,"She was in the habit of stopping and chatting with Angela in the village baked by salt where her mother had tried to bury her alive" (Márquez 88). Angela felt the pressure of the gender roles from not only the men of her family, but from her own mother. Her mother gave Angela little to no independence when she made Angela move to a new remote island. "The only thing I can remember is that she was holding me by the hair with one hand and beating me with the other with such rage that I thought she was going to kill me" (Márquez 46). The Vicario family feels the town's judgement bearing down over them, causing the family to hide Angela from the rest of the world since she is viewed as a disgrace. Although Angela faces brutal punishments for her "dishonorable" actions, she knew the consequences of her actions before she revealed her secrets to Bayardo. '"I was very easy,' she told me, 'because I'd made up my mind to die'" (Márquez 91). Angela spoke these exact words, admitting she was aware of the way her family would react, revealing how women are aware of their limited roles in society and the outcome of their dishonorable decisions. The women then live in fear of destroying their families honor and submit to the gender roles due to
Once married, Angela plans to fake her virginity when she and Bayardo consummate their marriage. In brief, Bayardo discovers Angela is not a virgin, causing Bayardo to return Angela to her family. Angela is considered an abomination to her town and family, breaking their honor. Everyone of the town questions why she would ever lose her virginity and are disgusted she would ever try to fake her virginity for marriage. "On the other hand, the fact that Angela Vicario dared put on the veil and the orange blossoms without being a virgin would be interpreted afterwards as a profanation of the symbols of purity" (Márquez 41). Angela wearing the veil which symbolizes purity is considered an act against the town's religion, thus demonstrating how women are expected to be holy for their husbands. Women are restricted from being around even their fiancée before marriage, which sheds light on why the town found Angela's actions extremely unacceptable. The way the town claims Angela's actions to be unacceptable exemplifies how women are treated as objects to men, demonstrating how women can lose their identity when married. In contrast to the expectations of women keeping their virginity, it is considered acceptable if the men sleep with other women and go to whore houses. The men of the town often lose their virginity to the "town whore" which is considered normal to the …show more content…
Angela's punishments for losing her virginity before marriage and breaking her honor is a prime example,"She was in the habit of stopping and chatting with Angela in the village baked by salt where her mother had tried to bury her alive" (Márquez 88). Angela felt the pressure of the gender roles from not only the men of her family, but from her own mother. Her mother gave Angela little to no independence when she made Angela move to a new remote island. "The only thing I can remember is that she was holding me by the hair with one hand and beating me with the other with such rage that I thought she was going to kill me" (Márquez 46). The Vicario family feels the town's judgement bearing down over them, causing the family to hide Angela from the rest of the world since she is viewed as a disgrace. Although Angela faces brutal punishments for her "dishonorable" actions, she knew the consequences of her actions before she revealed her secrets to Bayardo. '"I was very easy,' she told me, 'because I'd made up my mind to die'" (Márquez 91). Angela spoke these exact words, admitting she was aware of the way her family would react, revealing how women are aware of their limited roles in society and the outcome of their dishonorable decisions. The women then live in fear of destroying their families honor and submit to the gender roles due to