As Don Badoy Montoya visited his old home at Intramuros, Manila,
memories of his youth came back. He recalled how he fell in love with
Agueda, a young woman who resisted his advances. Agueda learned that she
would be able to know her future husband by reciting an incantation in
front of a mirror. As she recited the words: “Mirror, mirror, show to me him whose woman I will be,” Agueda saw Badoy. Badoy and Agueda got married. However, Don Badoy learned from his grandson that he was described by Doña Agueda (through their daughter) as a "devil". In return, Don Badoy told his grandson that every time he looks at the mirror, he only sees a "witch" (Agueda). Don Badoy ponders on love that had dissipated.
The truth was revealed, Badoy and Agueda had a “bitter marriage”, which
began in the past, during one evening in the month of May in 1847. The
tragedy of the story is Badoy’s heart forgot how he loved Agueda in the
past. They were not able to mend their broken marriage because their
love was a “raging passion and nothing more”.
An irony surfaced in the latter part of
the story: Doña Agued was telling her daughter about a devil she saw
in the mirror on a May Day Eve, while deep inside she means the devil to
be her husband.
The plot of the story is
complicated because the author had deviated from the normal flow of a
story. A person, upon reading this story, would immediately sense a
strong air of melancholy that is somehow radiated in the story. This
development of Agueda's character further shows the of the
status of women as . Badoy, on the other hand, was a strong-willed
young man, who just came from Europe when he met Agueda. It was the
defining incident that clearly portrayed the inner anguish of Doña
Agueda in her marriage to a man she never loved. Men like Badoy had a
seemingly irresistible power over the society especially to women like
Agueda, enabling him to have her in the end. Agueda was a beautiful and
brave young girl who despised men like Badoy. In this light, Badoy in
the story was depicted as a representative of men abusive of their
superior status. The theme couldn't have been as apparent and evident if
the point of view had not been that of a female. This kind of tone
appeals well to the emotions of the readers, inciting in them the right
attitude towards the theme of the story. This statement shows Agueda's
utmost disgust in the dominance of men over them. He had fallen deeply
in love with her, despite her obvious loathness for him, and had sworn
to have her no matter what. This irony had made the story effective for
the reader's understanding of the unfortunate situation Doña Agueda was
undergoing because of Don Badoy's dominance over her. The complexity of
the plot invokes thDona Agueda tells her daughter of one evening in may. There was a party but after the party there were still women who stayed for the night. There was a belief that if you went to a dark room with only a mirror with a candle,go to the mirror, close your eyes and say the words:
Show to me
him whose woman
I will be"