May Day Eve" is a short story written by Filipino National Artist Nick Joaquin.

Written after World

War II, it became one of Joaquin's “signature stories” that became a classic[1] in Philippine
literature in English. Together with Joaquin's other stories like The Mass of St. Sylvester, Doña
Jeronima and Candido’s Apocalypse, May Day Eve utilized the theme of "magic realism" long
before the genre was made a trend in Latin American novels.[2] Published in 1947, it is a story
originally intended for adult readers,[3] but has later become a required and important reading
material for Filipino students.
The major characters in May Day Eve are Badoy, Agueda, Anastasia, Warren, Agueda's
daughter, and Badoy's Grandson.[5] Agueda and Badoy have different personalities. Agueda
was described to be a bold, liberated, and a non-conformist young woman who was “ahead of
her time”. While Badoy was characterized in the beginning as a promiscuous young man who
wanted to prove his machismo, he realized that he was “deliriously in love” with Agueda.