Eloisah Vin S.

Ragodon 3 Biology - 6

The Servant Girl by Estrella D. Alfon

Summary of the Story The short story tells about a humble good-looking servant girl named Rosa. The story started Rosa washing clothes at her Mistress house. She envied the other women who were washing at the public bathhouse beside her Mistress house for her Mistress doesnt want to waste a centavo. While getting water for her Mistress, Rosa was laughed at by the other women washing clothes and it gotten worse when Sancho, a man who liked her, helped her to pump the water, causing the laughter and teasing of the other women who witnessed what happened. Because of that incident, it caused her delay to get the water to her Mistress resulted the latter to get mad at her. Rosa, in the story is portrayed as a verbally and physically abused by her not so kind Mistress. After washing the clothes, Rosa went out to bleach the clothes when an unfortunate incident with dogs happened to her, forcing her to lose her balance. She accidentally hurt her foot but was glad that the clothes she just washed didnt get wet. She found herself being helped by a man with a cochero. The man carried her like a child and helped her putting some oil on her swollen foot. After that incident, the man, who ne named Angel but at the later finding out that his name was Pedro, never left her playful mind. She slowly built an infatuation with her Angel, thinking that he was thinking about her too, wondering about her and wanting to hear her voice, too. Being admired by Sancho on the other hand, she felt indifferent after meeting Pedro not minding if others were still teasing her. Sancho treated Rosa disrespectfully, rudely, and roughly every time she met him. One day, Rosa was asked by her Mistress to buy her a bottle of wine. While on her way, she was met by Sancho who insisted on accompanying her. However, she felt disrespected by how Sancho kept looking at her dress. She became very angry and hit Sancho but Sancho slapped her causing her to hit Sancho with the bottle of wine her Mistress asked for her to buy. She hurriedly run away to the house that her mistress would understand and believe what happened to her. When she returned home, she was greeted by her Mistress hard slaps because of

what happened to the bottle. Knowing she cant fight back because of her status, she just kept on pleading that the Mistress would stop hitter her. Later that night, she decided to leave the house not wanting to ever step inside ever again. She kept on wishing for her rescuer to come and save her, having hope that her Angel can change everything. Disappointed as she was, she had to accept the truth that her Angel was only a figure of her invertion and not true as she wanted him to be. While waking to place that reminded him of her Angel, she met him however he didnt remember her. She was saddened by it and just accepts her fate. Accepting that her life story would be as a miserable servant, she came back to the house she said shed never step on again, back to her pitiful life.

Authors Background Estrella D. Alfon was a known Filipino author. She was also known as a storywriter, playwright and a journalist. She was originally from Cebu and known to exclusively write in the English language. Born in Cebu City in 1817, Estrella, not like the other writers didnt came from a family of intelligentsia for her parents were shopkeepers in the said city. In college, she took up medicine however she was diagnosed with Tuberculosis, and was sent in sanitarium making her to decide on giving up her pre-medical course, taking up a degree on Associate of Arts in the University of the Philippines. Estrella D. Alfon was known to have five children and 10 grandchildren. Her youngest daughter was a stewardess who was said to be in the Flight 163 when an in-flight fire forced to land in Riyadh, causing all aboard dead because of the late evacuation. Estrella D. Alfon died of a heart attack on-stage during Awards night of the Manila Film Festival on December 28, 1983. Estrella D. Alfon died yet she left with her memories that can never die. She published Grey Confetti, her first short story, in the Graphic in 1953. Being an exquisite writer, she was the only female member of the Veronicas, an extravagant group of writers in 1930s led by Francisco Arcellena and H.R. Ocampo. The group Veronica was said to be recognized for writing exclusively in English formed prior to the Second World War. Being a regular contributor to Manila-based national magazines, her name was cited severally in Jose Garcia Villas annual honor rolls. Writing the fairy

tale for the City in 1950s brought her to court for it was condemned by the Catholic League of Philippines saying it was obscene. Only having a degree in Associate of Arts, she was designated to be a professor of Creative Writing in her Alma Mater, the University of the Philippines, Manila. A member of the U.P. Writers Club, she sometimes held the National Fellowship in Fiction post at the U.P. Creative Writing Center in 1979.

Literary Theory The author being female brought up genuine emotions of women. Estrella D. Alfon

narrated the story expertly and with ease. Different roles of women in the society appeared in the story: a mistress; a servant girl; women full of gossips; and women who judged people by only looking on what is outside. The female characters in the story are Rosa, the protagonist and her Mistress, a secondary character. The images women have in the world today are different. Some are stereotyped being weak, slow, good at gossiping, etc. In this short story, Servant Girl, there are characters that were a product of stereotype like the women who liked teasing Rosa in the story and Rosa herself, being a servant only. Sancho and Pedro are the two male characters in the story. Sanchos character was portrayed as a disrespectful man who enjoyed being rude and rough towards Rosa whom he liked. On the other hand, Pedro was the cochero Rosa was infatuated with. He treated Rosas swollen foot and helped her the first time they saw each other however the second time the encountered each other, Pedro only recognized him because Rosa reminded him yet his attitude towards Rosa was civil and he treated her nicely. Estrella Alfon saw how women were being treated in the society. She knew how to characterize each character. She described each character neatly and told the story well. The authors culture minimally affected her attitude towards the character. In the story, feminism is seen through how the society treats a woman with inferior birth. The story depicts the struggle this kind of woman had how they are dominated in the society. As compared with the dominant males, the female characters in the story had small differences. The women on the public bathhouse and also the Mistress being rude and sometimes nice to Rosa are almost the same on how Sancho did treat Rosa. As for Rosa, she was a down to earth girl who was unconsciously aware on how she looked like.

Literary Criticism

The short story, The Servant Girl written by Estrella Alfon is a feminist story which enacts the flounder of women in the society and at the same time showed a womans weaknesses. Writing from her heart, she genuinely brought out the emotions making the story more personal most especially if the one reading is a female. The intimate writing greatly affected the female readers. Alfon described Rosa as a servant girl, down to earth and beautiful but was weighed down by the society and by her fate in life. The story doesnt only involved feminism but it also portrayed the Marxism Theory of social classes in most of societies. She exhibited how the one in the upper class looks down on average people. Rosa, thinking about her status although stronger than her Mistress couldnt fight back. Women back in the authors time delineated by Rosa was seen as a victim of discrimination and social status quo, treating her more like an object rather than a persona in the story. The males being dominant in culture accomplished to set a division between males as the subjects and the females as the objects which had been accepted willingly by the society. Rosa, in the story was characterized by her inferior birth, object of mans imagination, action and intention which is stereotypical. Rosa, as what the writer portrayed her, was a woman who attempted to dispatch the disadvantages of her fate given by lack of fortune. Assuming that the writer also pitied Rosa, she only wept with Rosa in the whole story and didnt give her a chance to fight back. However, she understood her quietly while writing her story. The female protagonist was hoping for her blind infatuation to save her from doom. Rosas mind and heart were shaded by Angels image and thus, mired the truth of reality. Because of her situation, shes desperate to find her sanctuary through her false love with the cochero (http://shielairinco.multiply.com/reviews/item/4). It was showed what a woman can become when infatuated with a man, gullible and dependent. Rosa, being saved by her knight and shining armor was falsely calmed with a sense of security becoming indifferent with everybody else. However, when reality sets in, she was disappointed. The story didnt only show how disappointed Rosa, she was also physically hurt and emotionally oppressed when the truth finally break in. The author, Estrella D. Alfon, told the story in a way that the readers can see how a female is pictured by the society. The story was definitely an eye-opener to advocate right treatment to patient and hard-working servants and as well for gender equality.

The character portrayed by Rosa was admiring for having a lot of patience and perseverance despite of her being maltreated by her Mistress and being left alone and isolated from the others. The Servant Girl can be compared to the story of Cinderella for both were maltreated by the people that surrounded them. However, Cinderella did have a happy ending with her prince charming. As for Rosa, she just accepted how her life can be, cruel. The story all in all showed different qualities and sides: being kind and hospitable to strangers; how affections bloomed from ones gratitude; what is human nature; how respect is earned; what are different qualities men can possess; how the upper class discriminate the lower class; when reality sets in; infatuation over someone and disappointments in general.

Bibliograhy Sturgeon, C. (2001). The Best Filipino Short Stories. Retrieved September 13, 2012 from http://sushidog.com/bpss/stories/servant.htm

Woolf, V. (2009). Retrieved September 15, 2012 from http://shielairinco.multiply.com/reviews/item/4