I thought it would be interesting as we are discussing the literary technique of the uncanny and The Hungry Woman, which partially stems from the Mexican urban legend of La Llorona, as a springboard to compare it to another American folklore legend of “Bloody Mary”. There are many similarities to both stories and their ultimate cultural admonition but what I found in each was their use of mirrors as a reflection of something supernaturally skewed from reality.
There are many different variations of the story of La Llorona but one in particular has become one that stands out above the rest. A young Indian woman becomes infatuated with a Spaniard who is a part of higher society. His opinion of her lower status becomes a reason he won’t marry her. She births three children by him but he still cuts all ties. In order to win his affection, she drowns the three children one by one in the lake but he still refuses her. Her actions lead her to madness and her spirit is said to represent “death and misfortune”.
The most popular version of the legend of “Bloody Mary” is said to have stemmed from Queen Mary I of England who was cursed from numerous miscarriages and false pregnancies. The legend says that people stand in front of a mirror and chant the name “Bloody Mary” numerous times until she appears behind covered in blood.
One of the main things I took from both legends is the identity of women in both stories. They are represented as destructible, vengeful, and temperamental women who should be feared and avoided. With the discussion of doubling in the uncanny in literature, I found it noteworthy that this author made the connection between mirrors in connection to Bloody Mary, and the reflective nature of the lake to La Llorona. Both have the supernatural feeling of gloom and perpetual dread. They also both share a connection with eyes, which are also a form of reflection. La Llorona’s eyes, in some versions of the legend are deformed because of all the crying she has endured over the loss of her children and the loss of her lover. In the case of Bloody Mary, she has been said to scratch the eyes out of anyone who dares look directly at her.
In The Hungry Woman, we are first introduced to the character of Medea in a psychiatric ward. She is driven to madness after her exile for being a lesbian and an ex Revolutionary in a dystopian society. The very first introduction has the stage directions including a mirror: “MEDEA is downstage, looking directly into a one-way mirror through which all activities in the psychiatric ward can be observed” (Moraga 10). The mirror represents a glimpse into her soul and as a literal representation of the actions she has taken and the consequences of those choices. Mirrors are described again as a mediatory of her past and present: “She abandons the breakfast, crosses back to the wall of mirror, examines her face” (Moraga 11). Mirrors are in the middle of her present conditions in the ward and her past reflections in Arizona. These stage directions are pivotal and can be easily passed over if not examined closely. Medea is in a state of self-reflection in her time in the ward. She has nothing to do except sit with her choices in life and deal with them in her own way. That’s why a mirror literally and figuratively separates her past and her present situation: “(At the mirror) My chin is dropping … One morning I’ll open my eyes and the shades will be drawn permanently” (Moraga 12). Mirrors offer her a glimpse into the woman she has become.
All of these women act out of pure emotion and suffer the consequences of their actions. The reflective nature of a mirror plays a huge part in all their stories and add an uncanny element of distortion.
Works Cited:
“Bloody Mary and La Llorona”. California Folklore. N.p. 1 Aug. 2007. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.
Moraga, Cherrie L. The Hungry Woman. Albuquerque: West End Press, 2001. Print.
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I found this blog post very interesting. I never thought of comparing La Llorona to Bloody Mary but there are definitely similarities. I would also add that all three women (La Llorona, Bloody Mary, and Medea) disrupt the expectations put on women. They are expected to have children and then love and care for these children. La Llorona and Medea are both able to have children but they fail to care for them when they kill them. Bloody Mary cannot have children at all which renders her useless in a society that expects women to precreate. All three of them are seen as outsiders to be avoided. They are seen as something that should be feared and someone that you do not want to become.
I thought this connection and comparison between Bloody Mary and La Llorona was very clever. Both women are common legends and are part of folklore. I grew up hearing of both women (and as a child, a friend and I looked into a mirror and called Bloody Mary, hoping to see her!). The similarity of mirrors in the Bloody Mary story and in The Hungry Woman is very interesting. In addition, it is interesting and unfortunate to see how women have been vilified throughout the ages and on a global scale. Their demonization has been created throughout history. They are directly valued based on procreation and their roles as mothers. While being a mother is viewed as a positive role, there is so much weight placed on this role that they are not seen as individuals. As depicted in La Llorona and Bloody Mary, women are creatures to be feared for they are conflicted, dangerous, and even evil. Women have been blamed for the woes of the world, dating back to the Garden of Eden.
I definitely agree with this blog post. The connection between the creepiness of the Gothic and a mirror’s reflection is very strong. We can see the usage of mirrors as elements of suspense and horror throughout literature and movies. I hadn’t thought about the Bloody Mary relationship with La Llorona and Medea but if we consider them to be renegade, ghostly, feminine figures of horror who defied the norm of the submissive, pious women and we take into account the recurring usage of mirrors in these folk tales, I can see how these women are all linked by an universal theme.
This post was unique in the sense that I would of never picked up on this. I think the mirrors, and how they are used in order to bridge the gap between the past and the present is spot on — but I also think the mirrors add to the gothic elements of both stories. In The Hungry Women, the mirrors play a major role in separating Medea’s life in the asylum and her memory of her past.