El si de las ninas

One of the most interesting aspects/themes of this play was the idea of "obediencia". Dona Fransica is expected to blindly obey her mother's wishes in her matrimony with don Diego. Dona Fransica has lived her entire life obeying her mother and says multiple times throughout the book that she is obedient. Don Diego wants a wife who is completely obedient. We can see the obedience of los criados. I think this is an idea that, while different today, still exists.

In our society, children are expected to obey their parents, teachers, and other authoritative figures. Citizens are expected to obey the laws and norms of society. Soldiers are expected to obey their superior officers. Yet the blind obedience that is evidenced in the story El si de las ninas is something altogether different.

No child would be expected to disobey a command that would hurt/harm themselves or another. Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi are great examples of Civil Disobedience, the idea of purposefully disobeying what they considered to be an unjust law and then accepting the mandated consequences in order to bring light to the idea of changing or disbanding the law. And soldiers are required to disobey an order that is contrary to a mission goal or goes against common morality.

What I find interesting is the change that takes place throughout the story. While blind obedience is demanded at the beginning, in the end we see that obedience is looked upon in a manner almost parallel to what we know today. This evolution of what the word represents is truly fascinating!