Terra nostra: Analysis of Major Characters
"Terra Nostra: Analysis of Major Characters" provides an intricate exploration of key figures within a richly layered narrative that intertwines history, mythology, and the quest for truth. Central to the story is Pollo Phoibee, a young man in Paris who embarks on a journey through time, evolving into a significant character that embodies the search for ultimate understanding. His relationship with Celestina, a modern incarnation of a historical figure, highlights themes of transformation and eroticism, culminating in a mystical union that symbolizes the birth of a new era.
The narrative also delves into the lives of historical figures such as Felipe II and Elizabeth I, depicting their struggles against the constraints of power and desire. Felipe II's tyrannical ambition to encapsulate all knowledge in a definitive text contrasts sharply with Isabel's clandestine indulgence in hedonism, illustrating the tension between asceticism and sensuality. The novel further complicates familial ties through characters such as Joanna Regina and the three bastard sons of Felipe the Fair, each characterized by unique traits and destinies that reflect broader themes of legacy and identity.
This analysis invites readers to engage with the multifaceted relationships and historical reinterpretations that drive the narrative, offering insights into the characters' motivations and the overarching quest for meaning in a shifting world.
Terra nostra: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Carlos Fuentes
First published: 1975 (English translation, 1976)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Rome, Paris, Mexico, and Spain
Plot: Historical
Time: The first century before Christ to 1999
Pollo Phoibee (POH-loh FOY-bee), in Spanish Polo Febo (POH-loh FEH-boh), a young man in Paris in 1999 who works as a sidewalk hawker carrying a sandwich board. He is inquisitive, adventurous, and handsome, with shoulder-length blond hair and only one hand. He is proclaimed in the novel as the seeker of ultimate truth and is perhaps the possessor of some mysterious knowledge. He is transformed into one of the three bastard sons of Felipe the Fair and becomes the lover of Joanna Regina, the widow of Felipe. At times, he seems to be one of the narrators of the novel. At the end of the novel, he performs an ecstatic act of love with Celestina, through which the two become one hermaphroditic being who gives birth to the new creature, the New World of the twenty-first century.
Celestina (seh-lehs-TEE-nah), a female pimp, a twentieth century transformation of the female procuress of the same name from the Spanish Renaissance work Comedia de Calisto y Melibea (1949; the play of Calisto and Melibea), by Fernando de Rojas. Young and beautiful, she has firm skin like a china teacup, and her lips are tattooed with violet, yellow, and green snakes. Dressed as a male page, she accompanies Pollo Phoibee on his search through history for eternal truth. At times, she seems to be a narrator of the novel as she tells her story, which forms a large part of the narrative. She is also transformed into a bride, raped by Felipe the Fair on her wedding night, who gives birth to one of his three bastard sons, the Pilgrim. She and Pollo Phoibee, in an act of sexual union on the last night of 1999, become transformed into a hermaphroditic creature who produces the new creature, the New World of the twenty-first century.
Felipe (feh-LEE-peh), also called El Señor, Philip II (1527–1598), the king of Spain from 1556 to 1598. He is portrayed in the novel as the son of Felipe the Fair and the Mad Lady, Joanna Regina, though historically he was their grandson and the son of Charles I, king of Spain from 1516 to 1559, and, as Charles V, was emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 to 1559. Educated from birth to be a strong monarch, Felipe is a tyrant intent on creating a perfect building, the royal palace and monastery, the Escorial, with the desire to contain, in one place, all time and space and to preserve an ascetic way of life, shutting out all lasciviousness and evil. He marries Elizabeth I of England (though historically Philip II pursued Elizabeth unsuccessfully after the death of his wife, Elizabeth's sister Mary Tudor). When one of the bastard sons of Felipe the Fair returns from an encounter with the Aztecs in the New World, Felipe refuses to admit the possibility of an unknown world beyond the oceans. Felipe orders his scribe, Guzmán, to transcribe his words exactly to create a definitive text of all experience, a document that will encompass all truth and grant Felipe ultimate power over the world.
Isabel (ee-sah-BEHL), also called La Señora, Elizabeth I (1533–1603), queen of England from 1558 to 1603. She is married to Felipe II (although, historically, she refused his offer of marriage after the death of her sister, Mary Tudor, who was in fact married to Felipe). Frustrated and confused by her husband's attempt to preserve an ascetic way of life within the walls of the royal palace, the Escorial, Isabel remains closeted away in a hidden room of the palace, in which she has created a Moorish pleasure salon furnished with white sand, blue water, and a bed of total sexual abandon. As she cultivates her hedonism, seeking in vain to ward off the devastating effects of the passage of time, she is haunted by a recurring nightmare of a mouse that “knows the truth” and gnaws incessantly at her genitals.
Felipe the Fair, Archduke Philip of Austria (1478–1506), who was King Philip I of Spain for several months before his death in 1506. He is the son of Emperor Maximilian (1459–1519) and married to Joanna Regina. He is the father of three bastard sons and of Felipe II (although historically he was the father of Charles V, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire). In the novel, after his death, his embalmed body, preserved against the ravages of time, is transported throughout Spain in a caravan led by his wife, the Mad Lady.
Joanna Regina (1479–1555), in Spanish Juana la Loca (HWAH-nah lah LOH-kah), the Mad Lady, the daughter of the Catholic monarchs Fernando of Aragon (reigned 1474–1516) and Isabel of Castilla (reigned 1474–1504). She is the widow of Felipe the Fair. Always dressed in mourning and heavily veiled, she travels in a caravan across Spain bearing the embalmed body of her dead husband and finally takes as her lover one of his bastard sons.
Guzmán (gews-MAHN), the secretary of Felipe (El Señor). He is the principal aide to the king, bureaucratic and opportunistic. He is responsible for recording all the king's words to create a compendium of all knowledge so that the king can acquire ultimate power over the world.
Fray Julián (hew-lee-AHN), a court artist commissioned to paint royal portraits. He is also a court confessor and knows the secrets of the palace. He travels to the New World and narrates part of the novel.
Don Juan (hwahn), a handsome and sensuous young man with a birthmark on his back in the shape of a cross. He is one of the three bastard sons of Felipe the Fair, born of Isabel, La Señora. He becomes the lover of first the Mad Lady and then of Isabel, who imprisons him in her bedchamber.
The Pilgrim, a handsome young man with a birthmark on his back in the shape of a cross and with six toes on each foot. He is one of the three bastard sons of Felipe the Fair, born of Celestina. He narrates the second part of the novel as the story of his journey to the New World and his encounter with the Aztecs.
The Idiot Prince, a young man also with a birthmark on his back in the shape of a cross and with six toes on each foot. He is one of the three bastard sons of Felipe the Fair, born of a she-wolf. He is forced by Joanna Regina to be a court jester.
Miguel de Cervantes (mee-GEHL deh sehr-VAHN-tehs), the fictionalized representation of the historical author of Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605, 1615). He appears as the chronicler in the novel, narrating a part of the story and transforming it into the story of the knight and his squire, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.
Ludovico, a flagellant in the Parisian parade. He also appears as a student of theology and finally as the man who plays the role of father of the three mysterious bastard sons of Felipe the Fair.
Tiberius Caesar (ti-BIH-ree-uhs SEE-zur), the emperor of Rome from 14 to 37 c.e., assassinated by the reincarnated Agrippa Postumus, the heir to the throne designated by his father-in-law, Emperor Augustus. Because Tiberius had himself assassinated Agrippa, Tiberius' death is accompanied by a curse, which dictates that Agrippa would be revived in the form of three Caesars, born from the bellies of she-wolves, represented in the novel as the three young men, each with a red birthmark in the shape of a cross on his back and six toes on each foot.