Originally published 1 January 1971 | ||
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.
Contents
Presione aquí para información sobre René Marqués en español.
Characters
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.
En Español:
La obra comienza con el hombre acostado en una cama cuando los tres amigos, el amigo político, el amigo poeta y el amigo filósofo, son guiados por el criado. En el tiempo que pasan en la habitación, discuten cuál de ellos tiene una profesión más importante y cómo les afectará la muerte de el hombre. Para ellos, su muerte va a beneficiar a cada una de sus vidas. La reunión es una discusión muy egoísta, y hasta delante de el hombre muriendose, un hombre que se considera "grande" e influyente en la ciudad. Después nos enteramos que el hijo ha sido el amante de la segunda esposa de el hombre, la mujer, y está persiguiendo agresivamente también a la enfermera, solo por su grande inseguridad de aver vivido detrás de la sombra del poder y la grandeza de su padre. Las sombras que simbolizan diferentes partes del moribundo y no son visibles para el resto de los personajes son las que siguen: la sombra roja simboliza su carne, así como su línea de sangre; la sombra negra simboliza su espiritualidad y su alma; la sombra azul simboliza el poder de la inmortalidad dentro de su grandeza. El hombre finalmente cumple su búsqueda de la inmortalidad a través de sus obras, después de morir al finalmente. Cuando muere el hombre, la mujer queda feliz por finalmente ser "libre." El hijo continúa la sensación de inseguridad y la enfermera al fin se entrega a los avances de el, hijo.
La descripción de el escenario de la obra es literalmente "España, Italia, Francia, que importa?" y el tiempo es "Hoy." Esto demuestra la aplicabilidad de los temas que se abordan en la obra a cualquier parte del mundo en cualquier momento-- estos son los fallos humanos. También ilumina los fallos humanos de la avaricia, la lujuria, y la inmadurez en los personajes de el hijo y la mujer. Marqués comenta sobre la idea que la literatura, la filosofía, y la política ve a todo por sólo un lado de la vida cada uno. También sugiere cómo es universal que todos queremos dejar alguna impresión detrás cuando morimos e incluso que los más grandes hombres no podemos ser inmortal en la carne o en la espiritualidad.
Themes
Context
Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony. After War of 1898, Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States. Now, Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States—neither statehood nor independence. In the 1950s, many Puerto Rican Migrants moved within the United States.
"Marqués views submission to United States domination as a forfeiture of political sovereignty for economic gain" (Martin). 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.