Character Analysis
The Ideal Woman
Okay, so she's not Miss America…or Miss Colombia, for that matter, but Purísima del Carmen and her daughters are basically the ideal women in this society.
Purísima del Carmen is meek (at least in appearance) and completely devotes herself to taking care of her husband and her children:
She devoted herself with such spirit of sacrifice to the care of her husband and the rearing of her children that at times one forgot she still existed. (2.15)
Her daughters are quiet, always in a state of mourning, and totally self-sacrificing. This was great news for Purísima del Carmen, of course:
"They're perfect," she was frequently heard to say. "Any man will be happy with them because they've been raised to suffer." (2.15)
In case you don't quite catch our drift, the ideal woman in this society almost doesn't exist. She's completely self-effacing, lives to suffer, and is totally subject to the will of the men around her. It's not a pretty picture.
If the fate of Pablo and Pedro is what happens to men in a society fueled by machismo, then Pura and her daughters are the female equivalent. So it's no wonder that Pura beats Angela for two hours straight when she finds out that she hasn't exactly been following the perfect daughter script. By going off the beaten path, Angela threatens everything about her mother's way of life. She basically destroys everything that her mom had worked for.
Still…we don't know about you, but we'd much rather be Angela than her mom any day.