Description:

Gilberta, a poor female factory worker living in Mexico City, must navigate the extremely limited opportunities she encounters. She finds dignity through labor, education, and revolutionary ideals but she lives in fear that her secret past sexual transgression will be discovered.

Excerpt:

GIBLERTA: Maybe. I only know that today, when I left the factory, I left with Don Carlos, and I don’t exactly understand how it happened. I don’t know why I decided to, but instead of coming home, I went with him to a hotel.

LUCÍA: Enough! (Covering her face in her hands. Pause).

GILBERTA: (With a slow and painful voice). When I left, he handed me a banknote. I opened my hand and dropped the bill. No, I couldn’t take that paper. I felt likeI was burning up. It was like he wanted to pay me for something that was priceless, something that could not be bought with money.

LUCÍA: What are you going to do now? What are you thinking?

GILBERTA: I don’t know. An infinite number of dark things are crying at the bottom of my being. I feel like a hopeless rebel against my destiny.

LUCÍA: Child! (In a panic).

GILBERTA: I'm frustrated with everything. I no longer want this life of misery and struggle. I no longer want to play this role of a beast of burden, always working and submissive. I want my share of happiness. I want to laugh like others, spread love, enjoy life (heated).

LUCÍA: Gilberta! You scare me.

GILBERTA: Why should I sacrifice myself when there are others, no better than me, who don’t have to? I spend hours working hard to make the same money they throw away so carelessly.

Translators' Note:

As we translated Sombra y Luz, we were mindfull of the high value placed on sexual purity for women in turn-of-the-century Mexico. We did our best to use historically-accurate language and to capture the intense emotions in the dialogue, even if they sound antiquated today.

Darkness and Light, PDF:

Citation:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.