La dama del alba

La Dama del Alba ("The Lady of the Dawn" in Spanish) is a play by playwright Alejandro Casona. It is a Fantasy Drama in which Death personified is the main character. It takes place in a small village in the Spanish Principality of Asturias. The play consists of four acts.

Synopsis

Act I

The Narces family is introduced in this act. It is revealed that the mother mysteriously lost a daughter, Angelica, to the large river in their town four years ago. Angelica was married to a young man named Martin three days before her apparent death. Her body was never found, and thus no proper burial was performed. The memory of her death still dwells in the minds of her family. The play starts on the anniversary of her death. La Peregrina(pilgrim) shows up at the door, who is traveling on the Camino de Santiago, or "Way of St. James," as it is translated into English. Since pilgrims are said to bring blessings upon the houses they visit, the family allows her inside. The grandfather recognizes her, but doesn't remember where. The children play a game with her and she laughs in a funny way, which scares the children. She says she had never laughed before. She was also surprised by the fact that she felt she had a beating heart. Suddenly the lady becomes fatigued and falls asleep, and tells the children to wake her up before nine, which they fail to do because they went to bed.

Act II

The Grandfather realizes that La Peregrina is Death; he recognizes her from a near-death experience he had years before. He pleads with her to leave his family alone, as they have suffered enough already because of her. This time, the pilgrim lady was here to kill Martin, but she missed her chance when the children made her tired. Death—who is described in very human terms in the play—explains she is merely fulfilling her mission, and doesn't like having to be present whenever someone dies. Meanwhile, Martin brings back Adela, who tried to commit suicide in the river. The pilgrim lady admits that she wasn't expecting the young girl's death.

Act III

Adela becomes part of the family, unwittingly beginning to take the role that Angelica had once had, as daughter, lover, and surrogate mother. She tries to make the mother happy by wearing Angelica's clothes and trying as much as possible to appear to be Angelica. Martin reveals two secrets: 1) Angelica was not dead; she had run away with a lover. Martin knew this, but allowed the family to believe she was dead so as not to ruin their memory of her. and 2) Although he has been rough and has not spoken very much to Adela, he is really in love with her. Martin also describes the pueblo's dislike of Adela, who they think is trying to take what was rightfully Angelica's, and trying to take away Angelica's husband. He decides that he must leave to protect Adela from the pueblo's anger, but later decides against it.

Act IV

Angelica comes back during the festival of San Juan, unknown to her family. She had been miserable and her lover had left her. She wants to resume her previous life, just the way before she left it. La Peregrina tells her that is not possible: she has already been replaced by Adela, and to join her in the river (that is, to commit suicide) as it is her time to die, and in order to preserve her image and prevent any shame from being brought upon the family. When Angelica's body is found, seemingly perfectly preserved after supposedly being dead for years, the mother announces that Angelica is a saint. An appropriate burial is finally held, allowing her family to finally deal with her death. La Peregrina then leaves, commenting on how she envies mortal existence and love.