While Sab’s main purpose is to address the major issue of slavery, it also discusses the role of women. Carlota and Teresa and the two main women characters; however, they are complete opposites. While Carlota was raised in a wealthy family, Teresa was an orphan. Carlota represents a woman of the 18th century, while Teresa represents the future woman and how most women are thought of today.
Carlota is a beautiful woman with a weak character. She is blinded by her love for Enrique, and as a result cannot see clearly. To Teresa and Sab, Enrique is clearly the wrong man for Carlota, but Carlota is not able to see this. When Enrique was questioning whether or not to marry Carlota, because he realizes that she has no money, she believes it is because, “he (Enrique) does not love me (Carlota) as much as I love him.” (89) However, after Carlota wins the lottery, Enrique returns to her, and she never questions why. While Sab is able to see through Enrique after his first encounter with him, Carlota is not able to see the true Enrique until she is married to him.
Teresa, on the other hand, is somewhat of a mystery in the beginning of the novel, but by the end her character has come full circle and the strength that she has is finally shown. Teresa is constantly out shinned by Carlota, who is too wrapped up in herself. Teresa is not considered as beautiful or as wealthy as Carlota was in the beginning of the novel, but Teresa is not as blind as Carlota is to the situation. Teresa, like Sab, realizes Enrique is not the right man for Carlota, but, again like Sab, she realizes if Enrique were to die, he would always be a hero in Carlota’s mind. While in the beginning of the novel Teresa is not thought to play a major role in the story, by the end she makes two decisions that change the novel’s outcome. First, she befriends Sab and convinces Sab that Carlota should get the winning lottery ticket, not her. By doing so, Sab dies knowing he has a friend, and Carlota is finally able to see the true Enrique, who she really does not love. Secondly, she decides to show Carlota Sab’s letter. As a result, Carlota is able to find the truth about Sab’s love for her. Carlota is now able to live in peace, watching over Sab’s grave and finally giving him her love. While Teresa is looked over at first, because she is not the prettiest or wealthiest, by the end of the novel she becomes the controlling character, and in many ways she is more “manly” in her actions than any other character.
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Very interesting. Why the term "manly" at the end? Is the goal of feminism (or Avellaneda's brand of feminism) for women to become "manly"? I might suggest that she seeks to blur the lines, to un-write the strict gender definitions of masculine/feminine that plague her time (and largely ours too). Just as Teresa becomes more "manly", Sab is, to a certain extent, feminized. Are these two thoughts connected?
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