All Women Are Whores

Prostitution, Female Archetypes, and Feminism in the Works of Augusto Roa Bastos
  • Helene Carol Weldt-Basson
Chapter

Abstract

Although over four hundred articles and several books have been written about Augusto Roa Bastos, very few of these studies focus upon the role of women in his fiction.1 Female characters have not appeared central to the author’s work until his last novel, Madama Sui (1996), in which the protagonist is courtesan to the dictator modeled on Alfredo Stroessner, who governed Paraguay from 1954 through 1989. However, if we now look back over Roa Bastos’s six novels populated by very strong male characters, such as Cristóbal Jara, El Supremo, and Félix Moral, among others, it is clear that women have always been present and occupied a significant role in his narrative.

Keywords

Transformative Power Female Character Ambiguous Figure Sexual Nature Female Protagonist 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Helene Carol Weldt-Basson 2010

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  • Helene Carol Weldt-Basson

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