The Bridge of San Luis Ray is a novel written by Thornton Wilder. The story presents a dilemma as to whether the tragedy that occurred is as a result of divine intervention or by chance. The setting of the novel takes place in Lima, the capital city of Peru. It talks about the demise in titular San Luis bridge’s collapse when five people were crossing it. The novel explores the lives of five people who perished in the bridge and reveals their life struggles for survival. Moreover, it talks of the sadness that is created by the undying love of the Marquesa de Montemayor for her daughter Clara who resented her love. During the breaking of the San Luis Rey Bridge, the people crossing it were the Marquesa, Pio, Esteban, Don Jamie and Pepita. The tragedy was witnessed by a monk (Brother Juniper) who embarked on a journey to prove that it was a divine intervention and not by chance that the people perished in the catastrophe. The five main characters in the novel’s fate is known at the beginning of the story yet their significance is still a mystery and Brother Juniper who witnessed the tragedy gets on a mission to uncover the truth.
One of the main characters in the novel is the Marquesa De Montemayor, always referred to as Dona Maria. She was an intensely superstitious and religious mother of Dona Clara. She could walk out of the theater when the play is on and rush to the church through the back of the door just to say a prayer (Wilder 67). She was one of the victims of the San Luis Rey bridge demise. She was the laughing stock of Lima as she was often drunk as she languishes for the love of her daughter Dona Clara already married and moved to Spain. She showered love and attention to her daughter through letters so as to win her love and affection. The letters she wrote were published and studied throughout Peru.
When Dona Maria gave birth to her daughter Clara she felt a lot of passion for her, she wanted to shower her with lots of love that she never got from her parents. She was a daughter to a cloth merchant who was forced into an arranged marriage and gave birth to Clara whom she loved with all her heart. She wanted to give her daughter unconditional love so that she does not go through what she herself went through in her childhood. She was never loved and longed to be loved. Even though her father was a rich merchant who showered her with luxuries, she suffered from lack of love and developed alienation at a tender age. Moreover, in the arranged marriage there was no love because she had refused to accept the love from the many suitors she had. After giving birth to Clara, she wanted to give her the best but her daughter resents her excessive affection, love and possessiveness yet she wanted her never to suffer from lack of love as she did. Clara never loved her mother as she loved her and when she got married went away to Spain with her Spanish husband. The Marquesa’s love for her daughter could only be expressed through letters because when she paid her a visit, she was indifferent with her and they could not get along anymore. Her love for her daughter is not returned and this sends her into heavy drinking and she fails to take care of important things in her life.
The Marquesa changes from a selfish love to an unselfish love when she realized that her love for her daughter was selfish and she renounced it and began a fresh life. This can be seen when Wilder writes “she longed to free herself from this ignoble bond; but the passion was too fierce to cope with” (Wilder 19). She realized that the obsession she had for her daughter was ruining her life and there was need for change. Moreover, she could offer it to other people who are in need of it. She started out by helping the less fortunate. She was among the less fortunate but she was able to help those she considered more unfortunate than she was. The Marquesa found a lonely girl named Pepita and takes her in hoping to fill both their empty lives, but unfortunately, they were both killed when the bridge collapsed. Pepita was a lonely girl from the orphanage who Dona Maria spent time with in order to forget about her daughter’s rejection and build a new life. Moreover, she had a forgiving heart, this is seen when she forgives Camila for ridiculing her in theater even after helping her in building her career. After Camila apologized to her, the Marquesa extended her a great deal of hospitality and treated her with kindness.
The Marquesa clearly adored her daughter Clara however; she becomes very distressed and unhappy because her daughter fails to reciprocate the same feelings of love towards her. For Dona Maria, love was like a continuous thorn in the flesh, “she would ask herself, almost with amusement, whether the constant pain at her heart had an organic seat” (Wilder 20). She was in despair and finally met an untimely death on the bridge of San Luis Rey in her quest for love. The Bridge of San Luis Ray novel ends with the funeral of the five who died when the bridge broke and finally Clara realizes how her mother loved and she regrets resenting her.
Works Cited
Wilder, Thornton. The Bridge of San Luis Rey, 1927. New York: HarperCollins, 2002.
