Oriana

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Also, I will argue that Oriana saw Maria had emancipated herself of the machista constraints that have held women down by the male-dominated cultural institutions and social system. Oriana had a need for the likes of Maria. She needed someone who would not be shy about finding and airing all the dirty little secrets lying under the dust of the past. Maria was also needed because of the remaining living secret – the unknown/unidentified dweller of the estate who happens to be the fruit of the passion between Oriana and Sergio. This person had to be protected and released from his/her sequestered life in the hacienda. True to her character Maria stepped up to her role as the landlord of the estate and informed her husband that the house would not be sold.

Feminism is very much present in this film. We can readily see it in the character of Maria who portrays a strong independent self-directed woman throughout the film and is accentuated at the end of the film when she announces to the husband her decision not to sell the property as opposed to the typical action of having or allowing the man to make the decision. A second and more subtle way in which feminism is present in the film is when Oriana and Sergio are at the party and she initiates their dancing together, then she stands up before Sergio and contrary to the socially accepted way of the man leading on the dance floor Oriana leads.