The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder

First published: 1927

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Philosophical realism

Time of plot: Early eighteenth century

Locale: Peru

Principal Characters

• Brother Juniper, a Spanish friar
• The Marquesa de Montemayor, a lonely old woman
• Pepita, her maid
• The abbess Madre María del Pilar, the director of the Convent of Santa María Rosa de las Rosas
• Uncle Pio, an actor-manager
• La Périchole, an actress
• Manuel, a foundling
• Esteban, his brother

The Story

On Friday, July 20, 1714, the bridge of San Luis Rey, the most famous bridge in Peru, collapses, hurling five travelers into the deep gorge below. Present at the time of the tragedy is Brother Juniper, who sees in the event a chance to prove, scientifically and accurately, the wisdom of that act of God. He devotes himself to investigating the lives of the five who died and publishes a book showing that God had a reason to send each one of them to his or her death at exactly that moment. The book is condemned by the church authorities, and Brother Juniper is burned at the stake for going too far in explaining God’s ways to humanity. Through a strange quirk of fate, one copy of the book is left undestroyed, and it falls into the hands of the author. From it, and from his own knowledge, he reconstructs the lives of the five persons.

The Marquesa de Montemayor was an ugly child and is still homely when she matures. Because of the wealth of her family, she is able to marry a noble husband, with whom she has a lovely daughter, Doña Clara. As she grows into a beautiful young woman, the marquesa’s daughter becomes more and more disgusted with her crude and unattractive mother, whose possessive and overexpressive love leaves Doña Clara cold and uncomfortable. The daughter finally marries a man who takes her to Spain. Separated from her one joy in life, the marquesa becomes more eccentric than ever and spends her time writing long letters to her daughter in Spain. In order to free herself of some of her household cares, the marquesa goes to the abbess Madre María del Pilar and asks for a girl from the abbess’s school to come and live with her. Pepita goes to live with the marquesa, unhappy that her beloved teacher is sending her away.

When the marquesa learns by letter that Doña Clara is to have a child, she is filled with concern. She wears charms, buys candles for the saints, says prayers, and writes to her daughter with advice. As a last gesture, she takes Pepita with her to pay a visit to a famous shrine, from which she hopes her prayers will surely be heard. On the way, the marquesa happens to read one of Pepita’s letters to her old mistress, the abbess. From the letter, the marquesa learns just how heartless she has been in her treatment of the girl, how thoughtless and egotistic. She realizes that she is guilty of the worst kind of love toward her daughter, love that is sterile, self-seeking, and false. Aglow with her new understanding, she writes a final letter to her daughter, telling her of the change in her heart, asking forgiveness, and showing in wonderful language the change that has come over her. She resolves to change her life and to be kind to Pepita, to her household, to everyone. The next day, she and Pepita, while crossing the bridge of San Luis Rey, fall to their deaths.

Esteban and Manuel are twin brothers who were left as children on the doorstep of the abbess’s school. She brings them up as well as she can, but the strange relationship between them is such that she can never make them talk much. When the boys are old enough, they leave the school and take many kinds of jobs. At last they settle down as scribes, writing letters for the uncultured people of Lima. One day, Manuel is called in to write some letters for La Périchole and falls in love with the charming actress. Never before has anything come between the brothers, because they have always been sufficient in themselves. For his brother’s sake, Manuel pretends that he cares little for the actress. Shortly afterward, he cuts his leg on a piece of metal and becomes very sick. In his delirium, he lets Esteban know that he really is in love with La Périchole. The infection grows worse, and Manuel dies.

Esteban is unable to do anything for weeks after his brother’s death. He cannot face life without him. The abbess finally arranges for him to go on a trip with a sea captain who is about to sail around the world. The captain has lost his only daughter, and the abbess believes he will understand Esteban’s problem and try to help him. Esteban leaves to go aboard ship, but on the way, he falls with the others when the bridge breaks.

In Spain, before he came to Peru, Uncle Pio found a young girl singing in a tavern. After years of his coaching and training, she becomes the most popular actress of the Spanish world. She is called La Périchole, and Uncle Pio’s greatest pleasure is to tease her and anger her into giving consistently better performances. All goes well until the viceroy takes an interest in the vivacious and beautiful young actress. When she becomes his mistress, she begins to feel that the stage is too low for her. After living as a lady and becoming prouder and prouder as time passes, she contracts smallpox. Her beauty is ruined, and she retires to a small farm outside town to live a life of misery, mourning her lost loveliness.

Uncle Pio has a true affection for his former protégé and tries time and again to see her. One night, he tricks her into talking to him. She refuses to let him help her, but she allows him to take Jaime, her illegitimate son, so that he can be educated as a gentleman. The old man and the young boy set off for Lima. On the way, they come to the bridge and die in the fall when it collapses.

At the cathedral in Lima, a great service is held for the victims. Everyone considers the incident to be a true act of God, and many reasons are offered for the various deaths. Some months after the funeral, the abbess is visited by Doña Clara, the marquesa’s daughter. Doña Clara finally learns what a wonderful woman her mother was. The marquesa's last letter teaches her cynical daughter all that she so painfully learned. The daughter, too, learns to see life in a new way. La Périchole also comes to see the abbess. She gives up bemoaning her own lost beauty and begins a lasting friendship with the abbess.

Nothing can be said for certain about the reason for the deaths of those five people on the bridge. Too many events are changed by them; one cannot number them all. The old abbess, however, believes that the true meaning of the disaster is the lesson of love for those who survive.

Bibliography

Anderson, M. Y. The Bridge of San Luis Rey: A Critical Commentary. New York: American RDM, 1966. Print.

Blank, Martin, Dalma Hunyadi Brunauer, and David Garrett Izzo, eds. Thornton Wilder: New Essays. West Cornwall: Locust Hill, 1999. Print.

Bryer, Jackson R., ed. Conversations with Thornton Wilder. Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 1992. Print.

Burbank, Rex J. Thornton Wilder. New York: Twayne, 1961. Print.

Castronovo, David. Thornton Wilder. New York: Ungar, 1986. Print.

Como, James. “Thornton Wilder & the Gods.” New Criterion 29.9 (2011): 78–80. Print.

Harrison, Gilbert A. The Enthusiast: A Life of Thornton Wilder. New Haven: Ticknor, 1983. Print.

Hooper, Brad. “Another Look At: Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey.” Booklist 15 Apr. 2010: 35. Print.

Konkle, Lincoln. Thornton Wilder and the Puritan Narrative Tradition. Columbia: U of Missouri P, 2006. Print.