Of Love And Other Demons

Also born in Spain, to a peninuslare father and a criolla mother, Father Delaura arrives in Colombia with the Bishop. He has a small frame, pale skin, and a "streak of white" (56) in his black hair. Though he is a faithful priest, Delaura is drawn to secular literature, including the love poetry of Garcilaso de la Vega, a Spanish poet to whom he claims distant relation. His relationship with Sierva María exacerbates his struggle between his secular desires and his Catholic duties as a priest, though in the end, romantic love overtakes him.

The Marquis has a personality as weak as his pale body, because "bats drained his blood while he slept" (9), which he does frequently in his orchard hammock. A shy, slow, and fearful man since youth, the Marquis never quite assimilates to life's demands of him. He inherits the wealth and land his father, the first Marquis, worked for, but does nothing on his own to preserve or increase that wealth. He loses his faith in God when his first wife, Doña Ollala, is struck and killed by lightning in their orchard.

The Bishop, though physically imposing, is "assailed by poor health" (51) and suffers from "malignant asthma" (51). Born in Spain, he is assigned to become bishop in the Yucatán, though, due to weather, he never does. Instead, he stays in the city where he first arrives in the Indies and lives in a decaying palace. Because of his handicaps, he only uses two of the palace's rooms, along with its terrace. The Bishop handles Sierva María's case according to his self-interest, to prevent a scandal with Abrenuncio.

Abrenuncio, as he's known, is a doctor "of imposing appearance" (17) who dresses in all black and often speaks in Latin, the language of the Catholic Church. He is of Portuguese Jewish descent and came in to live in the Indies to avoid persecution by the Spanish government. The Holy Office of the Catholic Church regards him as a questionable man because he practices a blend of medicine and intuition with mixed results. It's believed, though never proven, that he once brought a man back from death. From his first interaction with Sierva, Abrenuncio insists that Sierva has neither rabiesnor a demon possessing her.

The Marquis' second wife, Bernarda cannot hold a title because she is an "untamedmestiza" (8)without noble blood. With the help of her father, she schemes to marry then murder the Marquis, but she never follows through. Once a vibrant young woman, Bernarda succumbs to vice, and allows her body and mind to deteriorate as she passes her days in a drug-induced stupor, suffering from intestinal distress. She has a foul temper and contempt for the Marquis and Sierva, whom she credits with ruining her life.

The Abbess is a "lean, hard woman" (65) with a "narrowness of mind" (65) who rules the convent with great authority. Her inflexibility and intolerance lead her to distrust and despise Sierva María as soon as she meets her. A century-old feud between the Santa Clara Convent and the Franciscan Bishop causes her to also distrust the Bishop and Father Delaura, whom she sees as enemies of the Clarissan sisters.

Dominga is the "formidable black woman" (11) tasked with ruling the Marquis' house and raising Sierva. Under her care, the house stays in order and Bernarda and the Marquis live in relative harmony, with Dominga as their respected intermediary. She is "tall and bony" (11) and has an "almost clairvoyant intelligence" (11). She practices both Catholic and Yoruban faiths and saves Sierva's life when Sierva is an infant when she promises the girl's hair to the saints. Dominga passes away before the novel begins.

The common born woman with whom the Marquis falls in love as a young man and hopes to marry, Dulce Olivia is confined as an inmate in the "Divina Pastora Asylum for Female Lunatics" (10). It's claimed that learning a man's trade, saddlemaking, drove her to madness. Despite this, she has "sharp wits" (34) and it's not "easy to detect her madness" (34). Dulce Olivia maintains a relationship with the Marquis, often sneaking into his home at night to clean. After Bernarda leaves, Dulce Olivia comes more frequently and eventually lays claim to the entire house.

The only other prisoner in the convent's prison pavilion, Martina is a former nun convicted of murdering two other nuns with a "carving knife" (81) without an explicable motive. She refuses to accept that being a nun, confined to a cloister for life, is nearly the same as being held captive in prison. Throughout her imprisonment, she never gives up her obsession with being free, "even if she has to kill again" (81). She befriends Sierva and eventually escapes using Father Delaura's tunnel, which causes its resealing.

A Franciscan priest, and "former prosecutor of the Holy Office" (132), Father Aquino represents a man who marries the Old World and the New World. An American-born mestizo trained in Seville, he returns to his birthplace after decades in Spain to minister to the African slaves and poor. He lives "among the slaves like a slave" (132), and thus has more in common with Sierva María than any other free person in the city. He dies under mysterious circumstances, though, and never gets a chance to help Sierva.

An imposing and virile black man, Judas Iscariote, "a pimp, a thief, an occasional sodomite" (46), becomes Bernarda's property, willingly, and also her lover. He has an unrestrained hedonism and lacks morality. Judas introduces Bernarda to the cacao to which she becomes addicted. After his death in a bar fight, Bernarda sinks into an irreversible downward spiral that she feeds with drugs and sexual predation. She blames Judas Iscariote for her undoing.

The Marquis' first wife, Doña Olalla, a "very beautiful woman of great and varied talents" (36), is a peninsulare, or Spanish-born noble woman. She brings with her fine clothes and culture from Spain, including the "virtuosity" (37) of her musicianship. She shows patience with the Marquis' "useless" (46) bachelorhood, teaching him the theorbo, taking him to Mass, and trying to get him to sleep with her. Her death after being struck by lightning causes the Marquis to lose his faith in God.

A "vagabond Indian woman" (14), Sagunta plants the idea in the Marquis' head that Sierva may have rabies when Sagunta arrives unannounced at the Marquis' door, wrapped in a white sheet. She predicts that the eclipse in March will bring tragedy, likely in the form of Sierva's affliction. After the Marquis calls on every doctor in the city to treat Sierva's fever and none are able to help, Sagunta appears and tries to treat Sierva with folk medicine, which also does not work.

The Spanish Viceroy, a "mature, elegant" (96) man twenty years older than his young wife, is fit and vivacious, often walking around shirtless, or in shirt sleeves. He doesn't call for ceremony when he arrives, instead preferring the dances, bullfights, and cockfights the citizens organize, despite that they're prohibited by the Bishop. He never quite understands the reality of the colonies, believing that they can be controlled through enrichment in the arts and literature.