Angela's Wedding Night Secrets

In Gabriel García Márquez's Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the night of Angela Vicario and Bayardo San Román's wedding is a pivotal moment in the story. The wedding itself is a grand affair, with Bayardo's wealth on full display, and the festivities continue long into the night. However, the newlyweds' departure to consummate their marriage marks a turning point. Angela, who was pressured into the marriage by her family, is unable to fake her virginity, leading Bayardo to return her to her family. This revelation sets off a chain of events that culminates in tragedy.

Angela's lack of virginity is exposed

Angela Vicario's lack of virginity is exposed on her wedding night with Bayardo San Román. Bayardo returns Angela to her family home after discovering that she is not a virgin. Angela's mother, Pura Vicario, is awakened by a knock on the door in the middle of the night. She opens the door to find Bayardo and Angela, the latter's dress in tatters. Bayardo refuses to enter and pushes Angela inside. He kisses Pura on the cheek and thanks her, calling her a "saint". Pura, realizing what has happened, flies into a rage and savagely beats her daughter.

Angela's friends had advised her to use tricks to fake her virginity, such as staining the conjugal sheets with mercurochrome. However, on her wedding night, Angela is unable to feign virginity. Bayardo's discovery of Angela's lack of virginity leads to the end of their marriage. Bayardo returns Angela to her family, and she is subjected to a brutal beating by her mother. This incident highlights the double standards and brutality of the social conventions surrounding women in their culture.

Angela's family had coerced her into the marriage despite knowing that she did not love Bayardo. They saw the marriage as a social and economic opportunity due to Bayardo's wealth and prestigious family background. Angela's lack of virginity becomes the motive for the murder of Santiago Nasar, as she names him when her brother asks who took her virginity. However, the narrator implies that Santiago may not be guilty, and the true culprit is never revealed.

Angela is beaten by her mother

Angela Vicario's mother, Pura Vicario, wakes to find Angela and Bayardo San Román at her door. Angela's dress is in tatters, and Bayardo refuses to enter the house. He pushes Angela inside, kisses Pura on the cheek, and thanks her, calling her a "saint". Pura Vicario realises that Angela is being returned because she is not a virgin.

Pura Vicario beats her daughter for the next two hours. She does so stealthily, without waking her husband or other daughters. The beating is so violent that Angela is left on the verge of death. Pura's rage is driven by her entrenched beliefs about purity and honour. Angela's lack of virginity is a source of shame for the family, and Pura's violent response is underpinned by a sense of duty and a need to restore the family's honour.

When Angela's twin brothers, Pedro and Pablo, return home, they ask Angela who took her virginity. Angela names Santiago Nasar, who will be killed by the twins five hours later. Angela's choice seems random and inexplicable, and it is suggested that she could have picked any man's name. Her accusation is inaccurate and unreliable, and she may have been traumatised by the events of her wedding night and the beating by her mother.

The beating by Pura Vicario highlights the double standards of the culture depicted in the story. While it is culturally acceptable for men to have premarital sex, women are expected to remain pure until marriage. Angela is abandoned by her husband and beaten by her mother because she is not a virgin when she marries.

Angela names Santiago Nasar

Angela Vicario's wedding night to Bayardo San Román ends in disaster when Bayardo discovers that Angela is not a virgin. He returns her to her family home, and her mother, Pura Vicario, beats her. When Angela's twin brothers Pedro and Pablo arrive home, Pedro asks Angela who took her virginity. She names Santiago Nasar.

Angela's accusation is likely false. She is known to have been chaperoned constantly by her mother or sisters, and no one had ever seen her with Santiago. Santiago himself only had relationships with his fiancée, Flora Miguel, and the prostitute, Maria Alejandrina Cervantes. Angela's friends also told her that most women lose their virginity in childhood accidents, which could refer to abuse. Angela's own mother is extremely conservative and controlling, accompanying Angela and her fiancé to their future home to chaperone them two months before the wedding.

Angela's choice of Santiago's name seems to be random. She is pressured by her brother to name her lover, and she "found it at first sight among the many, many easily confused names from this world and the other". Santiago's name is picked "from the shadows", and any man's name would have sufficed. Angela's choice is also influenced by the patriarchal society that values her only for her virginity. All men, as complicit in this society, share some blame for what follows.

Angela's accusation leads to Santiago's death. Her brothers, Pedro and Pablo, feel a social obligation to uphold their family's honour by killing the man Angela names. Santiago is the protagonist of *Chronicle of a Death Foretold*, and his murder is the central event of the novel.

Bayardo's family is introduced

Bayardo San Roman's family is introduced to Angela Vicario's family to confirm his identity and social status. Bayardo's family arrives in a Model T Ford, and includes his father, General Petronio San Roman, a war hero; his mother, Alberta Simonds, a beautiful mulatto woman from Curacao; and his two young "provocative" sisters.

General Petronio San Roman is famous and well-known, having been recognised by the townspeople from his pictures in the news. Alberta Simonds, in her youth, was proclaimed the most beautiful woman in the Antilles.

The introduction of Bayardo's family confirms his status as a wealthy, eligible bachelor, and Angela's family is excited about the match. However, Angela herself does not want to marry Bayardo, despite the social expectations and obligations. She is pressured by her family and eventually coerced into the marriage, which is arranged in a short four-month engagement.

Angela's family pressures her to marry Bayardo

Angela Vicario's family pressured her to marry Bayardo San Román due to a combination of social expectations, financial need, and the prestige of the suitor. Angela's family was poor, and her parents knew that she did not love Bayardo but coerced her into the marriage anyway. Her mother, Purísima del Carmen (also known as Pura Vicario), demanded that Bayardo prove his identity, which he did by introducing his entire family, including his famous father, General Petronio San Román, a war hero. This display of wealth and status convinced the Vicarios that Angela should marry Bayardo, despite her lack of affection for him.

Angela's family also played a role in the short engagement period of just four months. Bayardo was in a hurry to get married, and the Vicario family did not object, even though it was customary for engagements to be longer. The Vicario family's excitement about the match is understandable given their modest means and the prospect of their daughter marrying into a wealthy and prestigious family.

Angela's family also had a role in organising the wedding, which was a grand affair with extravagant gifts and days and nights of dancing and revelry. The whole town participated, and Angela's family had to make extra space in their house and even borrow the house next door to accommodate all the guests. Despite Angela's reluctance to marry Bayardo, her family was determined to see the union take place, and they ensured that the wedding was a memorable event.

In addition, Angela's family was complicit in the effort to conceal her lack of virginity before the wedding. Angela's friends taught her tricks to fake her virginity, such as using mercurochrome to stain the conjugal sheets. This was done to maintain the appearance of purity and honour, which were highly valued in their society. Angela's family was aware of the importance of these rituals and may have felt that the marriage would be jeopardised if the truth were revealed.

Finally, after the wedding, when Bayardo returned Angela to her family because she was not a virgin, her mother, Pura, beat her severely. This act of violence can be seen as an extreme manifestation of the pressure and expectations that Angela's family had placed on her. Pura's rage and sense of honour were so strong that she was willing to physically harm her own daughter to uphold the family's honour.

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