NAME Kaye Alyssa T.

Enriquez COURSE/YR BSMA-4 DATE November 20, 2018 SCORE____

“The Ring of General Macias” (Josefina Niggli)

A. With a partner gather at least three textual proofs from dialogue on the following themes and give
your response/comment. Be sure to name the character who spoke the lines at the end of your chose
passage (enclosed in parentheses).
Your
Themes Quotes (Speaker)
thoughts/response/ comment
The meaning of honor a. “I shall be very proud that he died Most of the quotes try to define
in all his courage… in all the honor as having the courage to fight
greatness of a hero.” (Raquel) for what they believe in. The
characters hold honor in a high
b. “…dying for what you believe in - regard as something greater than
that's the finest death of all.” their lives. It entails sacrificing their
(Cleto) lives for a certain cause. They see
being honorable as staying true to
their duty to their country and/or to
c. “Men must fight for what they the revolution until their very last
believe is right. It is an honorable breath. I see how the play
thing to die for your country as a emphasizes bravery and sacrifice for
soldier.” (Raquel) the greater good as the meaning of
honor.
Domingo’s high regard a. “My brother worships you. He has Although we never see General
and love for his wife never even looked at another Macias or Domingo in the play, we
Raquel woman since the first day he saw can tell how much he loves his wife
you.” (Marica) from the testimonies of the other
characters. The General holds his
b. “The general wanted to save his wife in high regard and he is very
own life. He said he loved you and proud of Raquel as he talks about
he wanted to save his life.” (Cleto) her to them. He thinks of her as a
brave and wise woman. Domingo
c. “The General has bragged to us would do anything to be with
about you. He says you are braver Raquel again which is why he
than the most men. He says you forsakes his duty to his country in
are very clever.”(Andres) order to live.
Raquel’s high regard a. “I saved you from the Federals I can say that Raquel is certainly
and love for her because I want to save my proud of her husband and how he
husband Domingo husband's life.” (Raquel) has gone to war to serve his country,
just like the honorable men before
b. “And is so my husband a great him in his family. In the start, she
man. He is of the family Macias. All considers her husband brave as he
of that family have been great goes into battle even with the
men. All of them - brave and possible risk of dying since it would
honorable men.” (Raquel) be an honorable thing to die as a
soldier. As the story progresses, she
is faced with a conflict in order to help
save the General’s life. She uses her
c. “I want you to tell him that I never wit to hide Andres and Cleto so that
knew how much I loved him until they would not be found by the
tonight.” (Raquel) federal soldiers. In the end, she
shows just how much she loves her
husband by preserving his honor and
killing the two revolutionary spies.
B. Write a well-organized essay commenting on the love that Raquel and Domingo had for one another, paying
attention to the quotes below and the relevant quotes you gathered with your partner about them, and taking
into account other relevant details and complications shown in the play, such as Cleto and Andres perceive
Domingo to be a traitor and a coward for wanting to save his life; Raquel kills them both even though their
deaths would certainly result in Domingo’s own death, and others. Be sure to have the requisite introduction
and conclusion.

“The general wanted to save his own life. He said he loved you and he wanted to save his life.” (Cleto)

“I want you to tell him that I never knew how much I loved him until tonight.” (Raquel)

They say that “All is fair in love and war”. This phrase seems to be fitting for the story of Domingo
and Raquel’s love as it is set during the Mexican Revolution, where loyalty and betrayal come to be a
crucial issue. The phrase means that nothing is off limits during war time and when you’re in love.
Throughout the play, we get to see glimpses of the love that Domingo and Raquel had for one
another. Domingo holds his wife in high regard as he tells the spies about her sharp wit and courage.
By giving his ring in order to not be killed, he forgoes his duty and ends up betraying his country.
Andres and Cleto may have perceived this as an act of cowardice because they see that there is no
greater love than a person’s love for his own country, but I think that in the mind of Domingo, he
wanted to save his life so that he would have a chance to be reunited with his beloved wife Raquel.
He loved her so much to the point that he was willing to sacrifice his reputation all for the sake of love.
On the other hand, we have Raquel who believes that it is an honorable thing to die for your
country as a soldier. She is very proud of how her husband comes from a line of honorable men who
have served their country. When the intruders come into her home and present her with her
husband’s ring, she is determined to save the two spies from the federal soldiers in order to save her
husband’s life. However as the series of events proceed, she discovers the truth about how her
husband betrayed his country to save his life. She then faces the conflict of saving her husband but
living in shame for the rest of their lives, or remaining loyal to her country even if it means getting her
husband killed. In the end she chose to kill the two spies even though this would lead to Domingo’s
death. I think that Raquel did this because she did in fact love her husband and she considered that if
anyone got word of his betrayal, his reputation would be ruined. Raquel shows just how much she
loves her husband by choosing to preserve her husband’s honor.
In a no holds barred situation, the circumstances are so extreme that you can find ways to
justify all your actions. There can be numerous interpretations to the phrase I cited in the beginning,
but I choose to see it as how in both love and war, one is willing to do anything for their cause. In the
case of Domingo, he was willing to sacrifice his duty to his country to be with Raquel again.
Meanwhile in the case of Raquel, she was willing to kill the two spies to preserve the honor of her
husband even if it meant losing him.