The Virgin of Kerima Polotan Tuvera: the feminist approach "The quest to be a woman"

Introduction

“The search to be a woman” from La Virgen de Kerima Polotan Tuvera is a perfect title that shows the same meaning of what feminist criticism is about. The feminist approach defines the revelation of the wishes and real struggles of women in society. It aims to expose the patriarchal premises resulting from prejudices and the discovery of history or any type of literary piece through the analysis of characters. This article would give readers a clearer view of how feminist criticism applies its characteristics to a well-known short story called The Virgin.

Author’s background and story summary.

Kerima Polotan Tuvera was a renowned Philippine author. His works garnered some of the highest literary accolades in the Philippines, with his short story ‘The Virgin’ being one of his most notable literary pieces. The word “virgin” that you mentioned in your story implies someone who is pure and unblemished. As society dictates, to gain respect and dignity, a woman must be pure and virgin because a woman’s virginity is said to be equated with her dignity. Society dictates that a woman must preserve her virginity until she marries, as Miss Mijares did herself. She was unable to express her feelings to men because she had to protect her virginity / dignity. Hence, the story presents the struggles of Miss Mijares caused by social dictates about her individuality that prevented her from finding her own identity as a person and as a woman through the kind of feminist perspective.

Discussion (application of the feminist approach)

Miss Mijares, protagonist of the story entitled La Virgen, as a writer and as a woman revealed her wishes through her metaphors and symbols in her writing. Despite being a responsible daughter of her family, she also wanted to be loved by others, especially, she has always dreamed of having a man in her life. But her duties as a daughter and as a member of society prevented her from fulfilling her dreams. The following lines show her desire to have a man:

But neither love nor glory was behind her, only the empty and looming shadows, and nine years past, nine years. In the room of her unburied dead, she raised her hands to the light, feeling the thick, durable fingers, thinking of a mixture of shame, bitterness, and guilt for never having touched a man. “

There was also a scenario in the story that shows his romantic feelings when he got angry to find out that the carpenter had a son and thought he was married. But after the carpenter admitted that he is not married to the mother of his son, she was relieved. After that event, it suddenly rained and the atmosphere turned unhappy. The setting reveals Miss Mijares’s emotions for the carpenter. It was illustrated that she was emotionally affected by the carpenter’s revelations. With the rain and the weather as a metaphor for his feelings; test your hidden emotions with the man.

There was also a symbolic revelation about her desire to be loved. The paperweight that was molded by the carpenter into a dove symbolizes intercourse because it flies. The carpenter offered it to him, which shows that the carpenter was offering something to Miss Mijares. The fact that Miss Mijares laughed at it shows that she likes the offer. Thus, it confirms that Miss Mijares is attracted to the carpenter as implied by her acceptance and affection with the flying object that symbolizes making love in the psychoanalytic approach.

Miss Mijares’s entire life was spent fulfilling her responsibilities, such as finishing college, sending her niece to school, and taking care of her mother. That was her duty as a woman, unconditionally nurturing her family. This role that was dictated by society and perhaps her own family shaped her to be a woman for other people and not a woman with her own self. Society dictates that women must protect their virginity which is equated with their dignity which Miss Mijares respectfully accepted. Miss Mijares was portrayed not only as a woman who wanted to go beyond her roles, but also as a woman who wanted to build her own life.

In addition, Tuvera shows the inner struggle of a woman in the story. Ms. Mijares’ struggle to conform to a woman’s social expectations and hide herself was exposed and reiterated. Their struggle was symbolically demonstrated by their encounter with unknown places and the fun of the jeepney. It symbolizes her own loss because she cannot be herself and has to be the woman society dictates her to be.

In society, women are responsible for taking care of family members. This was the case of Miss Mijares, when she was the only one left to care for her sick and elderly mother. She took full responsibility for having forgotten her own life. Miss Mijares in the story can be characterized as the spinster. At the age of 34, she has yet to touch a man. Her description in the story and her life really fits her as the archetype of a spinster who has yet to be touched.

The three stages of the history of women, the female stage, the feminist stage and the female stage can be identified in the life of Miss Mijares. The female stage according to Showalter’s theory is the stage that involves the imitation of the predominant modes of the dominant tradition and the internalization of its standards. In fact, Miss Mijares has at first gone through this stage where she allows the dictates of society to rule her life. He cared responsibly for his mother and had long protected her virginity. However, as the story evolves, her character has slowly evolved until she is already approaching the feminist stage. The feminist stage can be described as a stage of protest against the rights of minorities.

Miss Mijares did not protest explicitly or politically, but there is an internal protest within her. Her experiences of being lost and the rainy days symbolize her inner protest that she has to go beyond what is expected of her. This symbolic protest actually created confusion within her, because she is torn between social dictates and her own self. The last stage was what is the female stage that can be described as the phase of self-discovery, a search for identity. The last part of the story shows that Miss Mijares has gone through the female stage. The procedural lines really imply that he freed himself from the social roles that were dictated around him:

In her secret heart, the young dreams of Miss Mijares came to life slightly, looking monstrous in the rain, close to this man, looking monstrous but also sweet and overwhelming. I must escape, she thought savagely, but he had moved and brushed. her, and where her touch had landed, her flesh leapt, and she remembered how her hands had looked that first day, tenderly stretched out on the edge of her desk and around the wooden bird (which looked like a moving and glowing dove) and she turned to him: her ruffles wet and withered, in the dark she turned to him. “

The last paragraph proves that in her heart she has gone through the protest stage and is now able to express herself, her own feelings and her own wishes. She shows that she is now capable of going beyond her social roles by revealing that she is ready to give up her virginity. Her virginity is in fact a symbol of dignity; however, it is part of the woman’s purpose to have a man who can consume that preserved virginity.

Conclusion:

The story describes the success of women in overcoming the stereotypical world of men. The protagonist was able to defy the dictates of society and was able to establish herself in the pursuit of being a woman.