25 pages 50 minutes read

Sandra Cisneros

Woman Hollering Creek

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 1991

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Themes

Faithfulness and Infidelity in Love

Throughout the book, many characters struggle in their romantic relationships. Some of the characters, such as Clemencia, of “Never Marry a Mexican,” and Carmen, of “La Fabulosa: A Texas Operetta,” knowingly commit adultery with married men. Others, such as Cleofila, of “Woman Hollering Creek,” and Lupe, of “Bien Pretty,” are startled and distraught to learn of their beloved’s unfaithfulness or that they’re married to other women. Ines, of “Zapata’s Eyes,” alone seems to accept that she loves a man who does not exclusively love her.

The expectations that the women have for their romantic partners are often based on ideas they see modeled by their parents. Clemencia, of “Never Marry a Mexican,” looks at her mother’s unhappiness in marriage and feels sure that if she wed she would also end up unhappy because of her spouse. Ines excuses some of Zapata’s infidelity because Ines’s mother took a lover, one who later betrayed her. Cleofila, of “Woman Hollering Creek,” is searching for a man as honest and steadfast as her father. Shea and Lupe, of “Bien Pretty,” are also strongly influenced by the romances they witness on their telenovela programs. Faithfulness generally seems to be elusive in the book, or else it is appreciated too late, as is the case for the widower of “Los Boxers,” who appreciates his wife’s unwavering devotion but not until after she is gone.

Related Titles

By Sandra Cisneros

Study Guide

logo

Abuelito Who

Sandra Cisneros

Abuelito Who

Sandra Cisneros

Plot Summary

logo

A House of My Own

Sandra Cisneros

A House of My Own

Sandra Cisneros

Study Guide

logo

Caramelo

Sandra Cisneros

Caramelo

Sandra Cisneros