The short story An Act of Vengeance written by Isabel Allende left me hungry with suspense. The opening paragraph begins with the crowning of Carnival Queen. Dulce Rosa the daughter of a senator was the winner of the crown. The mothers of the other contestants harbored envy and jealousy in their hearts because their daughters did not win. While continuing to read, my mind portrayed An Act of Vengeance was going to be sought on Dulce Rosa because of the snide thoughts of the losing contestant mothers. They felt as though their daughters were more beautiful. These mothers did not hold any regards to talent or the personality and characters of the contestants, only beauty. “They admitted that the girl (Dolce Rosa) was charming and she played the piano and danced like no other” (Allende, p.15). The mothers believed that Dolce Rosa only won the crown because her father was a powerful man. A few months later tragedy struck the home of the Senator and these mothers were overjoyed that Dolce Rosa suffered so much pain, but in the end it is safe to assume that these same mothers helped Dolce Rosa rebuild her life after tragedy struck.
Dolce Rosa father died trying to protect his house and his daughter. When he knew that he was going to be the last man standing he unlocked the door to the room he secured his daughter in to take her life, she asked him to let her live so that she could avenge his death. He decided to honor her pleading. She said, “Don’t kill me father, let me live so I can avenge both of us”, (Allende, p.17). Senator Anselmo knew what Tadeo Cespedes was going to do to his daughter, but he saw the determination of revenge on her face. His daughter was 15 at the time of his death. Tadeo Cespedes raped Dolce Rosa, the death of her father and her stolen innocence removed the child from her. She buried her father and after the ceremony carried on with life with the passion of revenge fueling her day to day living. Dolce Rosa did rebuild her life with only one purpose in mind and that was to plot and plan her revenge on the man who brought the devastation to her life on the day she was crowned Queen of the Carnival.
It has been thirty years since her life took a turn for the worse. She continued on with life as usual as if her father was still alive, but without him. In the thirty years since her father’s death all Dolce Rosa thought and planned was the revenge she was going to get on Tadeo Cespedes. Dolce Rosa every waking moment and sleepless nights was on the revenge that was supposed to befall Tadeo Cespedes at the hands of herself. He consumed her mind so much that she fell in love with him subconsciously.
Tadeo Cespedes also could not get the evilness that he did to Dolce Rosa thirty years ago out of his mind. He decided to go make peace with her. He loved her thirty years ago and he still loved her now. He has never been able to be with another woman after her, even though what he did to her was a travesty.
Arriving at the Orellano mansion did not go unnoticed by Dolce Rosa; she waited thirty years for this moment. Dolce Rosa came out of the darkness as soon as Tadeo Cespedes stepped into the mansions courtyard. In that instant that they both faced each other, she knew instantly that all the hatred and anger that she held contempt for him for thirty years had dissipated into love for the man she promised her father to avenge for his death. As the days went on they spent an abundance of time together. They decided to get married.
Some may feel as though Dolce Rosa betrayed her father with the love she held for a man that killed her father and stole her innocence. In my analysis, of An Act of Vengeance I do believe that Dolce Rosa got the ultimate revenge on the man that ruined her life for the rest of her life. Even though she loved the man that caused her this irreparable pain, she knew in her heart that she could not marry the man that killed her father. She did not live thirty years plotting her avenge just to be swooned by the man that stole her innocence. She definitely was not going to allow her father’s death to be in vain.
I believe once Dolce Rosa knew Tadeo Cespedes loved her she changed up her game plan of revenge. Dolce Rosa was able to disregard the way she felt for her tormentor; even though her heart would be hurt for the love she held for him, she also knew that her heart would hurt even worse if she did not avenge her father’s death.
She used Tadeo Cespedes love for her against him. Dolce Rosa allowed the man that stole her of innocence to get close and comfortable with her. She knew that he would look for any malice that she may have towards him, so she played her cards with no flaws as the loving bride to be. On the day of her wedding she looked at herself in the mirror and knew the ultimate sacrifice must be made. Dolce Rosa killed herself. She knew that would be the ultimate revenge on Tadeo Cespedes. She knew that he loved her more than life itself and that he was going to die a miserable man. He would never be able to love another. Her death also signified the pain she was going through. She loved the man that killed her father and stole her innocence. She knew that she could never be his wife. She did get her revenge in the end, but she also hurt herself in the process of her revenge.
References:
Charters, A. (2015). An Act of Vengeance. In The story and its writer (9th ed., pp. 15 - 20). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins.
References: Charters, A. (2015). An Act of Vengeance. In The story and its writer (9th ed., pp. 15 - 20). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins.
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