the role of women

The women’s roles in Bazán’s stories are really varied depending on the socioeconomic class of the character. For example, both the women in “Las Medias Rojas” and “En Silencio” are victims of cruel violence forced onto them by a male member in their lives. On the other hand, in “El Legajo”, the great-grandmother is able to murder her husband without being detected. When Ildara gets beaten up by her father, it is shown as an event that happens often. It is something that’s normal for women in that area/class. Similarly, the wife in “En Silencio” is killed, but the readers don’t find out if the husband ever gets punished. We are led to assume that he won’t ever be blamed for her death. Those two stories show the power men seem to have in lower class families. To the contrary, “El Legajo” shows the power a woman from a higher class possesses. It’s amazing that she is even able to think of killing her husband. The other two women don’t even think about being violent towards their dad/husband. The great-grandmother has a strong mind to think of a plan and go through with it. While comparing these examples in my mind, I think class probably had a lot to do with how these women acted towards the men in their lives.