LA101H E-Portfolio

Below is the Link to my E-Portfolio for LA101H.
Please click the picture or the link below to access the page.

http://almeida-la101h-eportfolio.weebly.com/

Corona de Sombras - Imagery in Spanish Theater

This week, to finish my Rhetoric and Civic life blog up, I thought I would do something slightly different. In my Spanish 253W class, we are currently reading the play Corona de Sombras by Rodolfo Usigli. The play tells the story of Emperor Maximilian and his wife, Carlota. The couple travelled from their home in Italy to rule Mexico when it was conquered by European forces. However, opposition from the local indigenous forces, namely opposition from Benito Juarez, as well as pressure from the French crown to surrender the Mexican territory to them, placed both Max and Carlota in a tricky situation. The play, told from an elderly Carlota's point of view, discusses their first year in Mexico, as well as the declining political climate that, ultimately, results in Maximilian's execution and Carlota becoming insane.

There are multiple images present in the play, the most dominant being the recurring image of "luz" (light, in Spanish). Carlota continuously asks for light and, this constant desire for light reflects her desire to understand the events that had taken place (of which she has vivid memories) and, the lack of light was used to symbolize Max's untimely fate, as well as her confusion about why Max had to die.

As with many plays, the main characters appeal to the pathos of the audience. Demonstrating a strong marriage that is challenged by war, distance, and the pressure to live up to the expectations of the people, Max and Carlota's characters win the audience's support and, when Max's death is discovered at the end of the play, the audience is left devastated. The only consolation that they have is that, when both Max and Carlota die, they will meet in the forest that represented their love.

a photograph of Max and Carlota

Corona de Sombras is a play that expands on a well-known historical tragedy, playing to the emotions of the audience and using imagery to get the audience to truly understand Max and Carlota's story and the essential part that they played in making Mexico what it is today.