MODULE 5

Feminism Approach
Course Title: Literary Criticism
Course Code: EL 117

Name: Marinella A. Vendiola

Course and Year: BSED 3A
Date and Time Allotment: MWF (1:00-2:00)

Critic the story “Magnificence” using feminism approach

Magnificence is a short story by female author Estrella Alfon. In the face of child abuse,
a mother's bravery is portrayed in this story. This narrative is about a mother's love for
her children and how she will struggle to protect them in the face of danger despite of
being a woman. It also shows how a woman find her strength to rise up against the
man's abuse. Vicente deceived the family by showing the "good" side of him, which is
the soft and taming man. But in the latter part of the story, his true character reveals.
His real intention with the little girl was to take advantage of her innocence. The part
wherein Vicente placed the little girl on his lap, this shows either he love kids or he has
a hidden desire with the little girl.
Since the author is a woman, she was able to convey the perspective of a strong
woman, indicating a feminist viewpoint. The third person point of view was utilized to
describe the actions and feelings of the characters in the short story. The author also
altered the term "mother" in the critical point of the story, as shown in this line, "to their
mother that he had never seen two children looking so smart," to "woman" in this line,
"Finally, the woman raised her hand and slapped him full hard in the face." We may also
notice how the author constructed different stereotypes for these characters by looking
at the characters' points of view. The author first said "both very tall for their age, and
their legs were the long gangly legs of fine spirited colts," but then changed it to "both
very tall for their age, and their legs were the long gangly legs of fine spirited colts."
"And this observation their mother stated to their father, who was eating his evening
meal between paragraphs of the book on masonry rites that he was reading," the author
ended.
The classification of power is another important aspect of gender criticism in the short
story. Vicente's occupation is "only a bus conductor," while the mother, as stated in this
paragraph, is the president of their neighborhood association. "As they stood around
listening to the goings-on at the meeting of the neighborhood association, of which their
mother was president, the praise had made their mother look over them." The mother's
tone in revealing Vicente's occupation is full of concern and sadness, despite the fact
that she was recognized for being the president of their neighborhood organization. In
terms of power, the author implies that the mother is more powerful than Vicente. Also,
when we notice the differences in Vicente's voice. The story implies that the mother is
more strong than Vicente, having "his voice soft, his manner slow" and "the mother's
voice was of such a heavy quality and of such an awful timbre that the girl could only
nod her head." "Finally, the woman raised her hand and slapped him full hard in the
face. Her retreated down one tread of the stairs with the force of the blow, but the
mother followed him," while Vicente is represented as the weak one, "He made no
resistance, offered no defense."
Since there were no regulations for child protection at the time the work was written, the
author showed in the story that being a strong mother is the only way to defend your
child or children against this abuse. The societal expectations that we have in society
suggest that the father will protect us from any danger or malice, but the author of the
story argued that a woman might equally defend her children in a crisis. We also expect
to be able to trust people we know to be good, and the family had faith in Vicente until
he deceived them by committing pedophilia. In this society, anyone may be a great
pretender.
Some people act nice in order to get what they want, which is a kind of survival. Given
all of these considerations, I believe Magnificence has a lot to contribute, particularly to
women of today and to people of many genders. The story also gives us the sense that
people, regardless of their gender or character, should not be trusted easily since they
may have hidden motives. Furthermore, the author showed to us that the implications of
pedophiliac impulses were evidence that the sexual interaction between men and
women has been considered as the crucial foundation for male sex dominance over
female sex's psychological and physical dominance. Furthermore, the term "mother" is
used throughout the story while she is with her children, but when she needs to be
strong, she ensures that she will turn into a woman of strength and virtue to protect her
loved ones, implying that a mother who loves is a woman who fights.
Estrella Alfon, the author and a feminist, shows her point of view in our society that men
being the strong one and women, the weak. But in her story Magnificence, she
emphasizes the strength of a woman, specially a mother. This story is very common in
our environment. Nowadays, women, even children are being molested and abused by
people. We should protect our children from being abused by them. We may not be
beside them always, but by giving them awareness about their surroundings, they might
be able to protect themselves. A mother’s love and care should not be taken for
granted. There is something in that love that makes us safe.
Vicente's character emphasizes his darkness while the woman's character emphasizes
the mother's magnificence.
Assessment
1. Write an essay about the presented topic below.

“The Woman I admire most”

- The woman I admire most is my mother. No one compares to the love,
efforts and sacrifices she has been doing since I was a child. She has
worked as an OFW worker since I was a child until now to provide for our
needs, send me to college and give me what I want. She is a strong
woman, a loving mother and always cares for others sake. Even though
we are a broken family she is always there for me and for my brother. She
is the best woman and mother that I have. I admire her the most because
of her unconditional love that she always gives to me, to my brother and to
our relatives. I admire how she is a very strong woman to face challenges
in life with a positive mind and she always gives me strength and
encouragement when times I am down. She is the woman I admire the
most.