Colombia (1837-1895)
 
 

A truly Romantic writer, Isaacs' is most known for María (1867). In the latter, Isaacs writes about his beloved Cauca Valley and his platonic love for María. María could be seen as the forerunner of today's soap opera (novelas), and there is very explicit patriarchal ideology anchoring the narrative. In the novel, Efraín remembers his life as the would-be husband of María. His remembrances, interesting enough, are done when María is already dead. The whole novel, then, becomes a male wishful thinking imagining what the ideal woman is: submissive, quiet, languid and most of all patient (waiting for her man). Although María is a fictional work, the patriarchal ideology which provides meaning to the narrative still, unfortunately,  provides the parameters for  women's behavior in Latin America. Check Marianismo.