The Unsatisfied Desire: A Literary Critical Analysis of ‘Dead Stars’

Paz Marquez Benítez’s story entitled Dead Stars was written during the year of 1925.
The synopsis begins with the characters, and they are Alfredo Salazar, the son of Don Julian, and
a bachelor. He is also engaged to Esperanza, a woman who is intelligent and beautiful. She
became the longtime partner of Alfredo and eventually became his wife. Then there is Julia
Salas, the other woman of Alfredo. She is not that beautiful but is optimistic, quite the opposite
of Esperanza. He met Julia as the sister in law of their neighbor Judge Del Valle. He fell for her
charms, but eventually, their love story did not nourish, for Julia needed to leave, and Alfredo
needed to marry Esperanza for the sake of his self-image. After how many years of being happily
married, Alfredo coincidentally visited Julia’s hometown. There he saw her unmarried, and her
looks has changed. There, he realized that his feelings for her were long gone, just like a dead
star.

Historicism:

The fact that it was written early in the 20 th century, the year 1925, was the era of
American postcolonialism in the Philippines. Their culture was shown in the story – the way they
act, talk, dress, and even the tradition of arranged marriage was evident. Alfredo and Esperanza
were already set to unite through God’s grace as early as they were still young. Both of their
parents were planning to get them married immediately. Also, the culture of forbidden love was
shown. Julia and Alfredo almost had an affair, which signified that the law did not yet control
adultery. In today’s time, committing such a hideous act can be against the morals of a man.

Feminist Literary Criticism:

Esperanza and Julia are both victims of gender roles. The story was written in 1925.
Thus, feminism was not common in the Philippines during that time. Gender equality was still a
taboo, and patriarchy dominated the society – from households down to the functions of the
state. Women back then were limited to domestic obligations and as an accessory to men.
Alfredo is the one who decides when to get married while Esperanza is submissive to him as
what the wives should do. Then, Julia is portrayed as meek and fragile, easily be deceived by the
flowery actions and gestures of Alfredo. It is as if women are dependent on men; that is why they
needed a partner because they cannot stand by their own feet. Also, Alfredo treats women as
their options. He sees Esperanza as an intelligent woman that is why he is slightly intimidated.
Still, Julia, on the other hand is just an average type of woman and sees her as his second choice
because he viewed Julia as the opposite of what Esperanza is, and to achieve what was lacking
on him. It states that women are being used to satisfy men’s shortcomings.

Reader-response Criticism:

This story marks as a piece, for it is still being honored until today. It has lessons that
teach us about contentment and satisfaction. Committing unfaithfulness and adultery not just by
men but also for women does not make someone more of a person. It is against in the eyes of the
law and the legitimacy of the marriage would be questionable. Alfredo did not love Esperanza
that much because if he did, he would not consider Julia as his second choice. No matter how
much a woman tries to be the best version of herself, if a man would want to cheat, then he
would. Whether the connection between with Julia and Alfredo was real, the fact that committing
an affair is immoral, then their love will never be valid for as long as they are hurting someone
silently like how Alfredo made an intelligent Esperanza a fool out of his love. No one deserves
to be cheated on and no one should receive a half portion of love.