The legend of La Llorona is one of the most well-known stories amongst Latina/os everywhere. There are several themes embedded within the story, and the versions we hear vary from one person to another. Thus, the interpretations of the story also differ from person to person. Most versions often depict La Llorona as a disempowered, disenfranchised woman who fell victim to the circumstances determined by her gender, race, class, and social status. In recent times, these interpretations have been challenged by scholars who have argue that she is a strong, powerful woman whose cry echoes a longing for equality and justice.
          I have come across several different versions of the legend of La Llorona myself, so I am going to present to you the patchwork quilt I have sown together after taking everything in: The story features a young indigenous girl who falls in love with a Spanish nobleman. They do not get married, but they do raise three children together. The nobleman’s family does not approve of the relationship. They would like to see the nobleman marry a woman of his same socioeconomic status so they keep pressuring him to go through with a previously arranged marriage. He does not love the white woman he is engaged to, but he succumbs to family pressure and leaves the indigenous girl so that he can marry the white woman. His new bride is unable to have children, but she is willing to take in the nobleman’s children as her own. He recognizes this as an opportunity in which he can continue to manifest his love for his children by providing them with comforts they are unable to enjoy otherwise. The indigenous girl is left angry, resentful, and frustrated when the nobleman informs of her of what he plans to do. She lets him believe that she will let him carry out his plans as he desires, but the indigenous girl’s revenge against the nobleman comes in the form of homicide and suicide. She finds that death is the only outlet through which the can resist the nobleman, so she drowns all three of her children at a nearby river before taking her own life too.
          In “La Llorona: Archetype and Interpretations,” Arturo Ramírez examines the legend by first interpreting it as a mere battle for child custody. He recognizes that the struggle between he two parents is uneven – the woman is in a much more disadvantageous position because she has her gender, race, class, and social status working against her. There does not even exist the possibility for compromise between the man and the woman. The indigenous girl could either accept or reject the nobleman’s proposal, but she does not have the means necessary to act against the nobleman. Her gender, race, class, and social status make it so that she does not possess agency. The indigenous girl opts for an extreme form of passive resistance, yet death appears to be the only outlet through which she is able to act against the nobleman and maintain her integrity.
          This analysis can be a little dangerous. Ramírez acknowledges that this story has often been used to enforce discipline, behavior modification, and self-improvement. The story is able to do this because of the oppression that is embedded within its framework. The story is heavily influenced by PATRIARCHY, and we must move away from a single, narrow, masculinized understanding of the legend and begin to see it as an ever-evolving emblem of gender, sexuality, and power. I could go on with an argument on how La Llorona has been reinterpreted, calling on specific scholar work and case studies to support my claims, but I rather leave you with this list of suggested reading that may further spark your interest in the subject:

• “La Llorona: Decolonial and Anti-Patriarchal Cultural Politics” by C. Alejandra Elenes
• “The Legend of La Llorona: Excavating and (Re)Interpreting the Archetype of the Creative/Fertile Feminine Force” by Maria L. Figueredo
• “La Llorona,: The Third Legend of Great Mexico: Cultural Symbols, Women, and the Political Unconscious” by Jose E. Limon
• “La Llorona: Archetype and Interpretations” by Arturo Ramirez
• “Letting the legend of La Llorona Go, or, Re/Reading History’s ‘Tender Mercies’ by Cordelia Candelaria

          …and on a final note, I refuse to include any kind of image on this blog post because I feel that the images of La Llorona that are currently up on the internet are all reflectant of the disempowered, disenfranchised woman that is no more. Happy Reading!