May Day Eve

By:
Nicomedes Márquez Joaquín
 BIOGRAPHY OF AUTHOR

Nicomedes Márquez Joaquín

also known as Nick Joaquin
Born on May 4, 1917 – Died
on April 29, 2004
He was born in Paco, Manila
He used the pen name Quijano de Manila while writing his
works.
Filipino writer, historian and journalist, best known for his
short stories and novels.
His mother used to read poems and stories to him which made
him interested in writing.
He won a nationwide essay competition to honor La Naval de
Manila, sponsored by the Dominican Order
Joaquin was awarded a scholarship to the Dominican
monastery in Hong Kong after publication of his essay “La
Naval de Manila” (1943).
He deeply admired José Rizal, the national hero of the
Philippines, paying him tribute in such books as The
Storyteller's New Medium – Rizal in Saga, The Complete
Poems and Plays of Jose Rizal, and A Question of Heroes:
Essays in Criticism on Ten Key Figures of Philippine History.
He translated the hero's valedictory poem, in the original
Spanish Mi Ultimo Adios, as "Land That I Love, Farewell!“
Joaquín represented the Philippines at the International PEN
Congress in Tokyo in 1957, and was appointed as a member of
the Motion Pictures commission under presidents Diosdado
Macapagal and Ferdinand E. Marcos.
He secured the release of imprisoned writer José F. Lacaba. At
a ceremony on Mount Makiling attended by First Lady Imelda
Marcos, Joaquín delivered an invocation to Mariang Makiling,
the mountain's mythical maiden.
He touched on the importance of freedom and the artist. After
that, Joaquín was excluded by the Marcos regime as a speaker
at important cultural events.
At the age of 86 He died of cardiac arrest, at his home in San
Juan, Metro Manila.
 CHARACTERS
Agueda
A beautiful young woman with long
dark hair. She is bold, liberated and non
conformist.
 CHARACTERS
Agueda
as an old woman, she had a hard,
bitter,vengeful fave with graying hair.
 Agueda
Young Old
CHARACTERS
Anastasia
A mischievous old woman,
who was called a maga.
Anastasia
 CHARACTERS
Agueda's daughter
A young girl with curly hair.
 CHARACTERS
Don Badoy Montiya
A young man with curly hair, a mustache and
a scar on his cheek. He is vain, promiscuous,
a stereotypical man who intends to proves hi
s machismo.
Don Badoy Montiya
 CHARACTERS
Voltaire
Grandson of Badoy Montiya
Voltaire
 SETTING
The story happened in the year of 1847 at
badoy's house and it has a little blend of
horror and fiction because of superstitious
belief of fortune telling as well as the devil and
witch that will come out in the the mirror if
everything in the ritual will go wrong, it
continue until 1890.
PLOT SYNOPSIS
The story starts with a flashback of a
may day eve in the year 1847. There
was a party held at the house of one
of the young men who came from E
urope. The party had been in their h
onor. It was already midnight when t
he party ended and the girls went of
to sleep.
But Anastasia, a maga who was in
charged of them, started to tell
legends. It was said that if you look at
the mirror and memorize the
incantation, you will see the face of
whoever it was they were fated to
marry. Agueda decided to try it. But
Anastasia warned her that she might
see the devil instead.
She stepped out of the room and
went into the room with the big
antique mirror with a gold frame,
with only a candle for light. She
closed her eyes and whispered the
incantation. She heard a step
behind her and instantly opened
her eyes.
The scene then shifts into the
time when Agueda was telling
this incident to her daughter.
She said that she saw the devil
and that it had a moustache
and a scar like his husband.
Another flashback, and it shifts back
to that may day eve. Agueda whirled
around to face Badoy Montiya, the
one who showed himself at her
shoulder. They got into a
misunderstanding and Agueda went
away while Badoy, who was probably
drunk by that time, found himself in
love.
It shifts now to the year 1890. Do
n Badoy, who was old, found his
grandson, Voltaire, standing in fro
nt of the mirror. The same mirror
where Agueda and Badoy met. He
stopped his grandson from whate
ver he was doing and pulled him
over to talk.
This is the time when Don Badoy
narrated what he saw in the mirror
when he also did that. He said that he
saw a witch and that she was the most
beautiful woman he ever saw. Voltaire
then told Don Badoy that his mother
once told him that her grandma saw a
devil in that mirror too.
Don Badoy then realized that he
and Aguade was at peace at last.
For a moment he forgot that she
was already dead. But everything
shifted back to him. How he fell
in love in that May day eve, and
even how their marriage ended
up ruined.
PLOT TYPE:
EPISODIC
PLOT
The plot does not follow a chronological
order, wherein the story starts and ends
normally. Instead, May Day Eve started with a
flashback, then it went portrayed Dona
Agueda talking to her daughter of May Day
Eve. Then it goes back to another flashback
of how Badoy and Agueda met in front of
the mirror and the moment that happened
there. Lastly, it ends in the year 1890, where
Don Badoy was telling his grandson of the
witch he saw in the mirror.
.

.
PLOT DEVICE:

FLASHBACK
Nick Joaquin used flashback
to give rise to the
happenings in the past. He
used this to portray the
tragic love story of Agueda
and Badoy, and how passion
for each other resulted in
their ruined message.
Plot Pyramid
 Anastacia the maga, told the girls
about the legend; that they would be
able to know the man fated for them
to marry by reciting an incantation in
front of the mirror, but if gone
wrong,they would see a devil instead.

Exposition
Agueda tried the incantation in front of
the mirror then saw Don Badoy. They
had some confrontation and she ended
up fighting Don Badoy because he
wouldn't let her go. At that moment, he
fell in love with her but still make her
pay for what she did.

Rising Action
 Badoy saw his grandson, Voltaire,
that he once saw a witch in front of
a mirror when he caught him doing
the same incantation. Amazed of
what his grandfather said, Voltaire
told him that his grandma once saw
a devil in a mirror.
Climax
Don Badoy reminisced the time
when he saw Agueda in front of t
he mirror and when he fell madly
inlove with her. That old love had
been blinded by hatred,and that is
now rebuild but it's too late becau
se Agueda is already dead.
Resolution
Don Badoy realized that he po
nders on love that had been wa
sted. They had shared a bitter a
nd loveless marriage. He forgo
t his love to Agueda since that
may day eve.
Conclusion
 Conflict
Man vs. Man
 The conflict in the story is
between Don Badoy Montiya
& his wife, Doña Agueda. The
story reveals to its readers that
they didn’t have a happy life
after marrying each other and
they regret having each other.
 Badoy and Agueda hates
each other and they came to
the point that Agueda used
to describe a devil to her
granddaughter as Badoy,
same as Badoy describing a
witch to his grandson as
Agueda.
 THEME:
Life is full of regret, for we
always realize what we have
when it is gone.
 Love cannot be based on passion alone.
For it may result in a ruined marriage. But
since Badoy loved Agueda, he never
realized what he had until Agueda died.
What’s so tragic is that, the love they had
for each other never thought it actually
existed. And so when the time came that
Don Badoy finally remembered Agueda,
that was when he realized that their love
for each other was real.
SYMBOLISM:
Mirror
 The mirror served as the
indicator of time. It brought
back memories for both
Agueda and Badoy as they tell
their love ones of that
incident in a May day eve. It
turned the tide of emotions
for the two of them.
POINT OF VIEW
Third Person Point of
View
 It s written in the third person
point of view, with the narrator is
the one responsible for the
narration and expressions of
actions and emotions of
characters. Each line was
delivered by the characters
themselves and was elaborated
further by the narrator.
REFERENCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Joaquin
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nick-Joaquin
MEMBERS
 BOYS
Alviar, Jerryco C.
Lora, Edrianne
 GIRLS
Bautista, Erica Ilao, Danica
Buan, Angela Kaye Manjares, Ayesha
Echano, Megan Mariano, Alyssa
Garcia, Ana Reyes, Patricia Carla