The role of women in Francoist society represented in Carmen Laforet's Nada(Nothing) - Essay Example

The role of women in Franois society represented in Carmen Laforet's "Nada" Nada (which literally means nothing in Spanish), has been translated from Spanish into English by Edith Grossman. The novel revolves around the life of a young woman seeking a trace of peace and sanity from the sheer ugliness of her war torn country and chaotic home life. The Novel has an Introduction by Mario Vargas Llosa and was awarded the Premio Nadal in 1944 .This novel was previously translated as Andrea by Charles F. Payne (1964) and as Nada by Glafyra Ennis (1993) .The novel ranks high in the literary world and it is said that the novel is a reflection of the authors life herself who was 23 at the time of writing the novel. The writer converted to Catholicism in 1951 and wrote many other novels, yet this is her most famous novel to date. Laforet's novel Nada is a prominent example of the novelistic form of Bildungsroman (self-cultivation") which is generally an exploration into the social or psychological growth of the main male character or protagonist from childhood to maturity .Many academics have interpreted Andrea's life to be a as a female version of the male Bildungsorman. This novel ranks among the most important literary works of post-Civil War Spain. The Novel is almost a reflection of Laforet's own life and as the story revolves around the life of the young protagonist, Andra who after being orphaned goes to live with her extended family in the war torn Barcelona to attend University. Before I go on to discuss the role of women in era as represented by Nada it would be worth mentioning the social circumstances the war torn Spain was reverting to in order to "heal" itself from the war damage. According to Lannon(1991)1, " all separation and divorce petitions were suspendedthe law which had introduced civil marriage was annulled.the right given to women by the 1931 Constitution, to retain a nationality different from that of their husband, was removed.the Divorce Law of 2 March 1932 was repealed and divorces already granted under the law, that involved canonically-married people, were declared null and void..the legalization of abortion by the Catalan Generalitat in December 1936 was swept away together with all vestiges of Catalan autonomy, abolished on 5 April I 938 as insurgent forces advanced on Catalonia..It was particularly evident from wartime legislation on education that the place of women was to be separate, subordinate, and domestic.. The ending of co-education was formalised stipulated that all women teachers must teach in girls" Lannon goes on to highlight the subjugation of women's rights in the name of religion and reform when he writes 2 "Inspectors were urged to establish local courses for women teachers, to help them prepare their pupils for their 'important maternal function.The very fact that this was a civil war, erupting from bitter ideologicaldisagreements, made it inevitable that conflicting views about Spanish social structure, including the role of women, were at issue"(Lannon,1991). In her 3article,Mayock has also depicted the tightening noose over the freedom of the female sex when she writes in the words of Morcillo Gomez that the Universal Law 1943 aimed at entrenching the family values thereby giving the "Falange's Feminine Section the duty of maintaining Catholic values in Spanish Women" thus stating that the women now had the duty to defend traditional family values and preserve the culture and "maintain happiness in the home. With this background one can well understand the frustration the whole society was going through and in the words of Mayock(2004) this was a time of the emergence of the "archetypal female protagonist of the post war period: entrapment and exile."4 This extended family consists of her Uncle Roman (who is depressed), the controlling character of her Aunt Angustias, her abusive Uncle Juan and his wife Gloria. The aftermath of the war has left them poor and they live in a congested apartment. The novel shows how the aftermath of the war and the financial difficulties pervade into the atmosphere of the house causing frustration particularly amongst the women of the novel. The story unwraps in outbursts and drama for example when Juan reveals Angustinas' long-term affair with a married man and at the time Gloria's gambling habits are discovered. As a woman trying to get university education Andrea finds herself frustrated and melancholy, "I realized I could endure everything: the cold that permeated my wrong clothes, the sadness of my absolute poverty and the dull horror of the filthy." (pg 77) Andrea misses the warmth of her family and envies the picture perfect families of her friend's houses. At another time she says "I felt a wretched, useless sadness there by myself. The truth is I didn't know anyone and I felt out of touch." (pg 181). The scenes between Andrea and Ena show a platonic affection between the young women which is evidence of the lighter moments in the novel, "Until then no one I loved had shown me so much affection and I felt gnawed by the need to give her something more than my company." (pg 52) The novel has the Personal and the National histories of the Andrea and Spain intertwined. The social and political implications of the post war era figure closely in the society's personal relationships and gender relations. In Nada we see Spain through the eyes of a woman. Laforet shows us a sexually repressed society with heavy tones of incest and guilty coming from sexual relations as sex is viewed as taboo to the overtly religious Catholics. Laforet shows the sexual dilemma's faced by the protagonist who feels confused at the peak of her youth by the repressed and hidden sexuality of the people around her. It is a religious and social taboo to mention sex yet everybody is desperate for sexual expression. Therefore it emerges like a repressed snake which returns with a vengeance in the form of incest. For example the novel shows sexual tension between Andrea and her uncle Roman. Later as the novel unravels there is a discovery that Roman also once had an affair with Gloria(pg 58). Roman and his maid Antonia have an interesting sexual chemistry.He often equates her to his dog and this downgrading treatment makes her feel more and more erotically aroused. All these themes demonstrate Spain's isolationism during the 1940s impacting upon peoples lives. Andra is then a like a child lost in toy store. The eighteen year old has to find her own values and make her own decisions. Another female character is of her aunt Angustias, who is the voice of the conformist character of the Francoist society and has repressed her sexuality by becoming a nun after an unsuccessful affair and leading her life as a punishment. She is not particularly liked by the young Andrea who finds her too bossy and Angustias disapproves of Andres accusing her of being immoral .For Angustias female emancipation is a disease and tries her best to control and subjugate Andrea. Basically Angustina is also an example of the hypocritical veil women were made to wear at that time as during her time at the church she is also carrying on an affair with a married man.In contrast her aunt Gloria is a is portrayed as shown as a different woman who despite the society's hypocritical values retains her rebellious and free state of mind. Despite the fact that she had affair with her brother in law in the past Andrea feels closer to her in a friendly way and admires her open ways which are otherwise looked down by the society. In conclusion the male dominated Francoist society has a large role to play in the subjugation of women. There is no place for a single independent woman in this society. She can either get married or become a nun. Gloria is an emotionally and physically battered woman. Roman offers his brother Juan a gun to kill his wife and all this shows how women get a second class treatment in that society. Andrea finds her self shocked as one of the young men she is dating boldly declares that he does not believe that there is a thing like female intelligence. Throughout the novel women are encouraged and conditioned to accept the patriarchal view of their existence.. Women are dismayed at the birth of daughters and the only escape they see from the convent and marriage is to be labelled as mad. Andrea is a young woman battling all these themes of the repressed society. Her mind cannot accept these themes imposed upon her. Infact all the women are battling these themes in their own twisted ways in the Novel. Some do it under the deceptive veil of conformism, others like Gloria are fearless and not afraid of the backlash. The novel shows a constant tension and a constant struggle emerging with in the women slowly being stripped of their legal rights and freedoms in the name of religion and modesty. Andra represents the minds of many young women of the time. There was not just one Andrea who had a mentally disturbing time in that society. Every young female was traumatised with the repression and subjugation which was so characteristic of the Francoist Society. Bibliography 1. Frances Lannon,Women and Images of Women in the Spanish Civil War Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 6th Ser., Vol. 1. (1991), pp. 213-228. 2. Mayock Ellen, The Strange Girl In Twentieth Century Spanish Novels ,Chapter 2 New Orleans University Press of the South 2004 3. Laforet Carmen "Nada",(1945)Translated by Edith Grossman. _____________________________________________________________ Read More