The Role of Women in Carmen Laforet's Short Stories

themes as identity-development, autonomy, Christian values, and social repression, some of her short stories are also invaluable contributions to the consistent messages of feminism and social criticism present in much of her work. Greatly masked by Catholic themes such as charity, love and sacrifice—partially resulting from the author's own spiritual conversion in December 1951— the stories' social criticism is nevertheless not difficult to discern, though scholars have generally overlooked it. Between 1944 and 1954, Laforet published a total of 14 short stories; 10 were published as collections, the remaining four—"El infierno," "Recién casados," "El alivio," and "El secreto de la gata"—were published in the periodicals Ínsula (1944 & 1952), Destino (June 1953) and Bazar (March 1952) respectively. The following analysis will focus on six stories— "La muerta," "El veraneo," "Rosamunda," "Un matrimonio," "El alivio" and "Recién casados"— that best represent Laforet's social commentary as portrayed in the struggle—ideological, physical and, in some cases, economic—to reconcile the role of women and the nature of their relationships with the oppressive expectations of an ultra-conservative culture. The pervasive theme of identity-development in Laforet's works and the author's attempt in life to determine her own role and personal philosophy in an ideologically-repressive dictatorship underscore the importance of this article's approach. While identity-development is not central to "La muerta," the significance of María's role and its impact on the family delicately challenge the ideals of Franco society's restrictive ideology. María is the regime's model spouse—the devoted and perpetually amiable mother and housewife, as Otero illustrates—but her contributions do not earn her family's appreciation during most of her life. While this prompts the reader's sympathy, the narrative also draws pity for the husband Paco who has worked for decades like a "burro de carga" to provide both food for his family (Novelas 266)—which includes two bickering and unhelpful daughters—and medication for María who has battled numerous grave illnesses for the past 20 years. Paco has not shared his wife's admirable happiness during this difficult period, and to recover sacrificed pleasure, he plans to wed a neighbor, "una viuda de buenas carnes" (266), after María's death. Although the story does not allude to the embarrassing public reaction that a widower would provoke by re-marrying in 1950s Spain—as Rafael Torres describes—, Laforet explains that Paco's change of heart instead results ultimately from appreciating his wife's effect on the family, particularly when after three years of paralysis, María miraculously walks again. Yet gratitude and change do not culminate until shortly thereafter when, with María's death, the daughters remarkably begin sharing household chores without argument, and their father, Paco, now motivated by renewed interest in his own children and grandchildren, consequently spends more of his free time at home as his desire to remarry disappears. Also reinforcing Paco's newfound esteem for his wife's virtues are his son-in-law's comments that María had been a saint. The story's conclusion reiterates María's profound influence on each family member, and Paco realizes that her lingering spiritual presence in the house has consoled everyone since her death: "Quizá por eso había vivido y muerto ella, así, doliente y risueña, insignificante y magnífica" (270). On the surface "La muerta" certainly reflects Roman Catholic values of