The Judge's Wife Analysis

Victoria Fiore

Professor Mink

English EN102

24 November 2014 “The Judge’s Wife”

In, “The Judge’s Wife,” included in chapter eight of Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing, the author, Isabel Allende creates a story entangling drama, romance and destiny. In the first part of the story we meet Nicolas Vidal. He was born a bastard to a prostitute, Juana the Forlorn, and was foretold at birth, by the midwife that he would lose his head to a woman (Allende 285). Keeping this in mind, he has hardened his heart to allow no woman to come close to him, emotionally or physically. As his terrible life progresses, Vidal’s opposition of the law grows immensely, and, in turn, forms into

The beginning of the story reveals to us who the characters are as well as the past of Nicholas Vidal and his upcoming encounters with the law. The major conflict occurs when Hidalgo sets the trap with Vidal's mother (Allende 286). Then there are a series of crisis including the protests to let Vidal’s mother go including that of Casilda's and the townspeople, the suicide of Vidal's mother, Vidal's gathering of this information, Hidalgo's untimely death, Casilda hiding her children in a nearby cave, and the meeting of Casilda and Vidal. The climax is reached as Vidal is rushed away by Casilda to avoid incarceration, but instead chooses to accept his fate (Allende 289). Although the main characters were given distinguishing characteristics, they remain flat and dynamic characters. The protagonist is Nicolas Vidal. The antagonist is Judge Hidalgo. The point of view is omniscient limited as we can see into the thoughts of Casilda and Vidal, at certain points. The setting does not play an important role in the story. The most important literary element of the story is characterization, in which we find the characters’ strengths and weaknesses. The major connection that can be assembled in this story is that this undermined, dependent, and fragile woman is the only person that can stand up against the most feared criminal in the region. Allende’s feminism breaks through this story to prove that women are

Being one of the largest humanities subjects, literature should be valued, as well as, studied to embrace the true philosophy that is provided. Literature cultivates an improbable amount of abilities that make it an indispensable part of education (The Value of Literary Study). Studying literature involves reading, thinking, writing and analyzing, and while stimulating those abilities, general empathy and sophistication in vocabulary increase. Literature not only provides pleasure and relaxation, but it builds experience for further comprehension in other academic areas. History and literature are inextricably intertwined (Why Study Literature par. 10). History is not just cut and paste documentation, most of our historical information came from literature of that time period. We saw what tragedies took place and how they managed to get through their problems, which can better equip ourselves to predict and prepare for the future. Imagination may be the real reason people choose to study literature (The Value of Literary Study). Literature helps us to sympathize with the characters, and maybe even someone we know who is in a similar predicament. Empathy is one of the things that bonds us as human beings; being able to feel for somebody else’s problems when they clearly do not affect us at all is why valuing literature is so important.