The Female as Object of the Male Gaze in Madama Sui by Augusto Roa Bastos

Abstract

This article analyses the female figure in Madama Sui (1996 [1995]) by Augusto Roa Bastos, by questioning the image of women that underlies the narrative discourse as
well as the narrative strategy that shapes the novel’s main figure. Drawing on the theories of
philosophical feminism and reflections on ways of seeing, the analysis shows that Madama
Sui emerges as the object of the male gaze who (re)constructs her life and figure. Based on the
identities assigned to Madama Sui, which fuel the image of Japan and the East-West  dichotomy in the text, this article also reflects on the allegorical link between the story of Madama Sui and the history of Paraguay, which is reinvented in the novel.