El Hombre Y Sus Sueños

El Hombre Y Sus Sueños is a 1946 play by Puerto Rican playwright René Marqués. The story takes place in the room of a dying man—El hombre—who is perceived to be asleep and almost dead by the people who come and go from his room, discussing who he was and what legacy he would leave behind. Through the shadow characters, Marqués demonstrates that immortality is not achieved in flesh or in religion. As he does in the majority of his work, Marqués comments on society's need to leave a legacy, as well as other problems, in the play. Themes include the following: polarizing right and wrong, color symbolism, paths to immortality, egotism, death, legacy, time, and more.[1]

Characters

  • El Hombre (The Man) - The dying man
  • El Hijo (The Son) - The son of the dying man and the lover of La Mujer
  • La Mujer (The Woman) - The dying man's second wife and the son's lover
  • La Enfermera (The Nurse) - The nurse taking care of the dying man
  • La Criada (The Maid) - The maid concerned with the dying man's spirituality
  • El Amigo Político (The Politician Friend) - The politician friend of the dying man
  • El Amigo Poeta (The Poet Friend) - The poet friend of the dying man
  • El Amigo Filósofo (The Philosopher Friend) - The philosopher friend of the dying man
  • El Sacerdote (The Priest) - The priest that prays in the room for the dying man
  • El Criado (The Male Servant) - The male servant
  • La Sombra Roja (The Red Shadow)
  • La Sombra Negra (The Black Shadow)
  • La Sombra Azul (The Blue Shadow)

Synopsis

The play begins with the dying man lying in a bed when the three friends, Amigo Político, Amigo Poeta, and Amigo Filósofo, are led in by El Criado. In their time in the room, they discuss which one of them has a more irrelevant profession and how El Hombre's death will affect or benefit each of their lives. The meeting is a selfish discussion about and in front of the dying man who is considered to be "great" and influential. We later learn that the son has been the lover of El Hombre's second wife, La Mujer, and is aggressively pursuing La Enfermera as well—all out of insecurity from living in the shadow of his father's power and greatness. The shadows all symbolize different things parts o the dying man and are not visible to the rest of the characters: The Red Shadow symbolizes his flesh as well as his bloodline, The Black Shadow symbolizes his spirituality and soul, and The Blue Shadow symbolizes the power of immortality within his greatness. El Hombre eventually fulfills his quest for immortality through his works, after dying at the end. Upon the death of El Hombre, La Mujer rejoices about finally being "free," El Hijo continues feeling insecure and alone, and La Enfermera gives up and gives in to El Hijo's advances.

The setting of the play literally translates to "Spain, Italy, France, who cares?" and the time is set to "Today." This is emphasizing the applicability of the topics addressed in the play to everywhere in the world at any moment—these are human faults. He also highlights the human faults of greed, lust, and immaturity in El Hijo and La Mujer. Marqués comments on the idea of literature, philosophy, and politics all seeing only one side of life each. He also suggests how it is universal that we all want to leave something great behind and even the greatest men can not be immortal in the flesh or in spirituality.

Themes

  • Polarizing right and wrong
  • Color symbolism
  • Paths to immortality
  • Egotism
  • Death
  • Legacy
  • Time
  • Greed
  • Lust
  • Father/Son relationships
  • Spirituality
  • Philosophy
  • Politics
  • Intellect

Context

Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony. After War of 1898, Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States.[2] Now, Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States—neither statehood nor independence.[3] In the 1950s, many Puerto Rican Migrants[4] moved within the United States.

"Marqués views submission to United States domination as a forfeiture of political sovereignty for economic gain" (Martin).[5] After the 1940s, the United States started providing structure to make Puerto Rico industrial. Marqués, as a member of the Nationalist Party, opposed the United States' involvement in Puerto Rico in this way. In his work, Marqués often commented about the politics of his time in regards to the colonization and control of Puerto Rico in this way.

Marqués’s Life

René Marqués was a playwright and novelist from Arecibo, Puerto Rico. He was a supporter of the independence of the Puerto Rico as a member of the Nationalist party. (Aquí se puede encontrar informacíon sobre el Partido Nacionalista de Puerto Rico y Revolución nacionalista de Puerto Rico en español.) He was also a part of the artistic and literary group of Boricua intellectuals The Generation of the 50s. He was born in Arecibo on October 4, 1919. He received a degree in agronomy in 1942. Later, a Rockefeller Foundation Scholarship gets him into the New York theatre scene being in the United States

Marqués founded organizations like the Experimental Theater of the Ateneo (Tanghalang Ateneo). He was always involved in arts education and was a board member for many organizations. At the same time, he was also involved in community development and the theatre scene in Puerto Rico as well as the theatre scene in the United States. Marqués died March 22, 1979.[6]

Works

  • Peregrinación (a volume of poetry, 1944)
  • El Hombre Y Sus Sueños (play, 1946)
  • El Sol y Los Mac Donald (play, 1947)
  • Palm Sunday (play, 1949)
  • La Carreta (play, 1951)
  • Juan Bobo y La Dama de Occidente (play, 1955)
  • Otro día nuestro (short stories, 1955)
  • La muerte no entrará en palacio (play, 1956)
  • La víspera del hombre (novel, 1957)
  • Los soles truncus (play, 1958)
  • Un niño azul para esa sombra (play, 1958)
  • Cuentos puertor/riqeños de hoy (short stories, 1959)
  • En una ciudad llamada San Juan (short stories, 1960)
  • Carnaval afuera, carnival adentro (play, 1960)
  • La casa sin reloj (play, 1960)
  • El apartamiento (play, 1964)
  • Mariana o el alba (play, 1968)
  • Sacrificio en el Monte Moriah (play, 1969)
  • David y Jonatán – Tito y Berenice (Dos drama de amor, poder, y desamor). (plays, 1970)
  • La Mirada (novel, 1976)
  • Inmersos en el silencio (short stories, 1976)

References

  1. ↑ Lamb, Ruth S. Three Contemporary Latin-American Plays: Rene Marques; Egon Wolff; Emilio Carballido. Xerox.
  2. ↑ Carrion, Arturo Morales. Puerto Rico: A Political and Cultural History. W. W. Norton & Company.
  3. ↑ Monge, José Trías. Puerto Rico: The Trials of the Oldest Colony in the World. Yale University Press.
  4. ↑ Hernández-Alvarez, J. "The Movement and Settlement of Puerto Rican Migrants Within the United States, 1950-1960". Missing or empty |url= (help)
  5. ↑ Martin, Eleanor J. René Marqués. Twayne Publishers.
  6. ↑ Barrea-Marlys, Mirta. Encyclopedia of Latin American Theater.
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