Women Characters of Alicia Yanez Cossio.

• Author: Navarro, Consuelo
• Position: LITERATURE - Critical essay

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Considered one of the best known Ecuadoran writers both in and out of the country, Alicia Yanez Cossio published works in all of the literary genres: novel, short story, poetry, essay, theater, and even children's books. She is a numerary member of the Ecuadoran Academy of Language. Her works have been translated into English, Italian, and German, and some have also been adapted for television. Not even motherhood or her job as a teacher has kept this octogenarian Quito native from realizing her vocation as a writer.

The female characters in Yanez's books are usually strong women who live in a conservative social environment. Two of her characters are modeled after Quito women closely tied to the history of Ecuador. The first is Mariana Paredes y Flores, who has been called the "azucena" (Madonna Lily) of Quito. She was born in 1618, beatified by Pope Pius IX in 1853, and canonized by Pius XII in 1950. The second character is Dolores

Veintimilla de Galindo, a poet from the Ecuadoran period of romanticism. She was born in 1829 in Qulto but left the city and lived in Cuenca until her death.

The titles of the books, Aprendiendo a motif [Learning to Die], and Y amarle pude [And I Loved Him Still ...], tell us something about each of the protagonists, both of whom lived short passionate lives. (Mariana died at the age of 27 and Dolores at 28). Yanez recounts the personal history of each woman showing them as victims of their social environment. Mariana passively accepts her destiny to expiate the sins of society, while Dolores tries to defend herself from slander in a painful and ultimately unsuccessful struggle.

Aprendiendo a motif is the story of Santa Mariana de Jesus who lived during the time when the Royal Audience of Quito was part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. Her story is told by an omniscient narrator who comments on events and criticizes colonial mentality as well as the role of the Catholic Church in the exploitation of the Indians and in the education of women. The narrator's commentary is filtered through a character who is also a witness, a converted Jew by the name of Xacinto de la Hoz, who has come to Quito from Ceuta as a refugee of the inquisition.

Aprendiendo a morir tells the story of the Baroque period of New Spain in a way that has certain parallels with the writings of the Mexican philosopher Edmundo O'Gorman. For O'Gorman, the Baroque period was a time in which the mystical trance of a nun, the...