Classical Backgrounds to English Literature

In the Time of the Butterflies

Study Questions

• What does religion mean to Patria, and why does she lose her faith? How does she eventually reconcile her faith with her politics?

• Dede is probably the most difficult of the sisters to get a handle on. What motivates her? How might you interpret her as an Ismene figure? Is she a selfish Ismene, or is she an Ismene that cares deeply about the well-being of her sisters?

• Contrast Minerva’s self-representation with her sisters’ (especially Maria Teresa’s) representation of her. How do the two representations differ? Is Minerva a different kind person than others perceive her to be?

• What is the significance of Maria Teresa’s nightmares about her father, and how do these nightmares reflect her inability to love? What is different about her relationship with Leandro / Palomino?

• This is a question I mentioned briefly in class but that I’d like you to consider in more depth through this reading: The idea of the “tragic hero/ine” seems almost commonplace. But is it possible to be both a tragic figure AND a heroine, considering that tragedy (to use Henry Harper’s definition) denies an individual free choice and heroism, as commonly perceived, means choosing to do the right / courageous thing?