“I am glad you are here,” she continued,” for now you have heard from my own lips that she is not unkind to me, as some people say. Listen,
senora, the fault was mine. Look at me. Look at me. There was some mistake that made me the mother of so beautiful a girl. I am difficult. I
am trying. You and she are great women. No, do not stop me: you are rare woman, and I am only a nervous… a foolish…a stupid woman. Let
me kiss your feet. I am impossible. I am impossible. I am impossible” 38.
From the conversation in the dialogue above, Dona Maria wants to convince Perichole that what happen to her is her fault. It is her fault because she
is a mother of a beautiful and brilliant girl. While, she believes that she is only a stupid and ugly mother. She cannot be an idol-mother for her daughter. Therefore,
it is fair if Dona Clara left her alone in desperation. It shows that Dona Maria really loses her self-confidence. She feels so little and has nothing to be proud of
in front of her daughter.
6. Dona Maria is an unfaithful Christian
Feeling of being unloved makes Dona Maria loses her faith in God. The only thing she wants from God is her daughter to love her, but she cannot get it.
Her daughter’s rejection and her assumption that no one really loves her leads her to believe that God does not love her either.
“The knowledge that she would never be loved in return acted upon her ideas as a tide acts upon cliffs. Her religious beliefs went first, for all she
could ask of a God, or of immortality, was the gift of a place where daughters love their mothers; the other attribute of Heaven you could
have for a song” 20- 21.
Another situation that shows Dona Maria is not a faithful Christian is when she hears about her daughter’s pregnancy. Dona Maria is worried about it,
as she knows that her daughter will become a mother. If Dona Clara is being a
mother; she will know what Dona Maria feels as a mother. Hopefully, Dona Clara will love her. So, this event is an important thing for Dona Maria, she wants her
daughter to give birth to her child in a good condition. She does everything that she believes can help her daughter in the delivery. Dona Maria practices a
superstitious belief for her child’s protection. She does not allow a knot in the house, as it is a symbol of bad luck. She also marks every second step on the
stairs; and someone who accidentally steps on the mark will be driven from the house with tears and screams.
“She fell into the most abominable superstition. She practiced a degrading system of taboos for a child’s protection. She refused to allow
a knot in the house. The maids were forbidden to tie up their hair and she concealed upon her person ridiculous symbols of a happy delivery. On
the stairs the even steps were marked with red chalk and a maid who accidentally stepped upon an even step was driven from the house with
tears and screams” 46.
Even though Dona Maria also follows religious belief, it cannot prove that she is a good Christian. She does it because she is not satisfied if she only applies
the rites of pagan worship. She wishes God will give a sign whether the delivery will be alright. She does both superstitious and religious belief to make the
efficacy greater. It shows that Dona Maria does not really believe in God. “But the Marquesa did not only satisfy the rites of paganism; she studied
the prescriptions of Christianity as well. She arose in the dark and stumbled through the streets to the earliest Masses. She hysterically
hugged the altar-rails trying to rend from the gaudy statuettes a sign, only a sign, the ghost of a smile, the furtive nod of a waxen head. Would
all be well? Sweet, sweet mother, would all be well?” 47.
