Examples Of Machismo In Chronicle Of A Death Foretold

998 Words4 Pages

Some attention grabber that I do not have yet. Angela Vicario lives in a Columbian society in the 1950's. Her society controls women from when they are born but the men are controlled by Machismo. Machismo is a big idea in her society and is followed be everyone. The idea of Machismo is men being superior to women and the idea of them being in control of the women. The women's lives are laid out for them and they are able to do almost nothing to be able to change it. Angela has been controlled since she was born just like all of the other women in her way of life. This limits them in their opportunities in life and they have no chance of being who they want to be. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the author illustrates …show more content…

If a woman is not a virgin until marriage, no is going to marry her and no one will want to or be allowed to marry her. Once a woman loses her virginity before she gets married and it is found out, her family loses their honor and are outcast. On the other hand, due to the idea of machismo, the men in society feel they need to show their strength and are allowed to not remain virgins until marriage and can sleep with whoever they want without any word to them or their family. Angela Vicario was not a virgin when she married Bayardo San Roman and the only people she told were two women who worked with her. When discussing Angela's virginity with the women the narrator states, "...they taught her old wives' tricks to feign her lost possession" (38). Angela needed to fake her virginity when she married Bayardo San Roman or else he would return her to her family and the Viarios would lose their honor. On their wedding night, Bayardo San Roman found out that Angela Vicario was not a virgin and returned her to her family, without any of Angela or the Vicario family's input. If Angela Vicario had been allowed to lose her virginity, she could have looked within herself and decided if the man who took her virginity was the man she wanted to marry. Angela could have also gone against what society has made the goal of her life to be, revealed her secret, and prevented her self from marrying a man and building a family with him. Conclusion goes