In the Time of the Butterflies: Supreme Blog

What does the way women are depicted in contemporary fiction say about our culture and identity? Evaluate the purpose of presenting women in this way in your novel.

There is a large difference between the women in In the Time of the Butterflies and the women in our own society today.  The interesting part is that there is no definite or single depiction of women in the novel.  Each woman goes about her life in a different way, and throughout the novel these things change.  When you look at America you see something very similar.  Earlier in Americas history women were not as involved as they are today.  In America there was a large women’s rights movement.  Women fought to do more than stay at home and care for their husband.  They fought for the right to vote.  In the novel there isn’t a specific women’s rights movement, but a revolution.  But men alone aren’t operating this revolution; women are playing just as large a role.  So in this uprising we see a gain in women’s rights going along with it.

How are women depicted in contemporary fiction and media? During your reading of the novel, comment on the ways in which women are being portrayed. Consider relationships, experiences, situations, etc.

In The Time of the Butterflies focuses around four main characters, the Mirabel sisters: Dede, Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa. The book weaves narrations and diary entries by all of the sisters throughout the book, each of which depicts a very different image of women during the time period. One of the sisters, Dede, goes to a Christian school, and eventually marries her cousin, a future that had previously been wanted by her parents. During this time a rebellion is taking place towards the current government. Women are playing a large role in this, being just as active as many of the men. Two of the Mirabel sisters take part in the revolution, Minerva and Maria Teresa.  Minerva is especially different from the other sisters in the role she wants to play in society.  She works towards becoming a lawyer, and is deeply involved in the underground working against Trujillo and his regime.  Maria Teresa becomes interested in the underground in her time at high school.  This leads her to follow in Minerva’s footsteps and take part in working against Trujillo.  We see these two sisters standing out from other woman in their environment because the typical Dominican woman is seen as staying home and tending to her family.  Patria is unlike her two sisters in that she marries and has children almost as soon as she is done with high school.  She fits a more typical Dominican stereotype as she stays home and cares for her husband and children.  She does not work or take part in the underground for the time being.  Dede is more like Patria than her other sisters.  She too quickly marries and has children to care for.  The difference between the two is that Dede does not stay at home, she works.  She helped run her father’s store and helps her husband.  The novel uses the Mirabel sisters to portray women as beginning to rise from their stereotypical rolls.  They are working towards a new government while fighting the current one.