Main Characters

Alfredo Salazar

He is a lawyer and a man who is afflicted with the love of two women, his wife Esperanza and another
woman Julia Salas. His father Don Julian is a wealthy man and takes him with himself on his visits to
Judge Del Valle.

It is here that Alfredo meets Julia. He decides to go ahead with the marriage to Esperanza under the
duress of social and public humiliation. However, he holds on to the notion of unfulfilled destiny with
Julia which hampers her marital bond with his wife.

They live placidly but never reach the potential of blissful marriage. On the flipside, he later learns about
his lack of understanding of love and infatuation and regrets his apathy towards the woman he loved
first and still had in his life.

Esperanza

She a woman of exquisite beauty, charm and wit. She takes care of her house and family. However, she
suffers from the lust for material wealth and reputation. She is married to Alfredo after he woos her
aggressively.

She marries him even after learning about his dalliance with Julia. She is a person who knows how to
take care of herself and exudes an air of self-service. Even though they live amicably, their marriage
never resounds of the love that Alfredo showed during the early part of their courtship.

She is a person of unimpeachable integrity and moral stance and disposes of her marital obligations and
duties meticulously. However, she does not believe in true love or romantic valorization of such
emotion.

Julia Salas
She is the other woman in the life of Alfredo Salazar. She is a thoughtful, beautiful and winsome woman
who is good at conversing on different and profound issues. She is energetic, enigmatic and vital, a
complete opposite of Alfredo. This may be one of the reasons he gravitates toward her.

She meets Alfredo when he visits her brother-in-law (a Judge), as she stays in his place. She never truly
loves Alfredo and that is apparent by her dispassion toward him when he visits her toward the end of
the story. Yet, she never marries and remains a spinster.

Secondary Characters

Alfredo’s family

It consists of his old father, Don Julian. He is a man of wisdom and advises Alfredo about the dangers of
prolonging courtship and engagement without a proper marriage. Alfredo has a sister, Carmen, a caring
and compassionate woman and her husband, Vicente.

Julia’s family

Julia stays with her brother-in-law, Judge Del Valle and happens to be the Salazar’s neighbour. She has a
sister, Donna Adella who is a beautiful woman with chubby features. Her husband is Dionisio.

Other Characters

Calixta

She is a friend of Esperanza. She lives with her lover even without marriage and becomes the reason for
the exposition of Alfredo’s deceit and hypocrisy.

Brigida Samuy

The woman Alfredo is sent to learn about as part of his professional work. She lives near the hometown
of Julia and becomes the means for a reunion with what he thought was his lost opportunity at love and
happiness.

Love and Infatuation

Love is the dominant theme of the story. Alfredo loved Esperanza and she believed in his love to marry
him. Alfredo thought he and Julia loved each other but had to sacrifice their taboo affair.
Alfredo still retained the flame for Julia only to learn that all this time he never understood his desire for
Julia, It was more a desire for something different and unachievable that made him fall for Julia.

In holding on to his feelings for Julia he committed injustice to his marriage and first (maybe even the
truer) love, his wife Esperanza. Chasing an elusive dream he never realized how fortunate he had been
to have the love of his wife all along.

The entire story depicts how people misconstrue their desire and lust for love and commit ill-advised
mistakes in rash pursuit of such confused perceptions.

Regret

Another thematic expression of the story is of regret and pain. Alfredo regretted never telling Julia about
his engagement before he learned on her own. He even regretted not being honest to Esperanza
regarding his affection for Julia.

Succumbing to social conventions and scrutiny he marries Esperanza and ends up ruining eight years of
his and his wife’s marriage.

Esperanza and Julia both were caused by embarrassment and pain by Alfredo’s pretence and that in the
end Alfredo is left devastated by his own recklessness and imbecility. He is further agonized by
impersonal and even cold response of Julia when he visits her near the end, something he never hoped
or expected.

Transience & Mutability of Circumstance

The story highlights the futility of chasing momentary gratification over true and gradual emotions. The
craving for something forbidden over something moral and legitimate can lead to disastrous results.
It also touches on the theme of using patience as a tool before committing harebrained and frivolous
pleasure-seeking.

Morality & Fidelity

It foregrounds the need, to be honest, and earnest in one’s actions and words. Every relationship must
be built on truth and sincerity for it to succeed which Alfredo understands at the very end of the story.

Morality is addressed as time and age-appropriate quality as it keeps being defined by the time period
the actions are committed. This is reflected in the thoughts about infidelity, courtship and marriage at
that time (the 1900s) which are a lot different than the modern age of amorphous morality.

Social norms define what can be coined as subjective morality which varies according to circumstance
and context. Of course, such moral standards are different from religious tenets which are considered
ahistorical, objective and timeless.

Masculine Domination & Feminine Subservience

Alfredo is painted as a normal man who can afford to be experimental and selective with his affairs of
the heart. He can have a dalliance with Julia and still end up marrying Esperanza even after keeping both
women in dark. On the other hand the female characters, Esperanza and Julia are both react softly to his
transgressions. Julia never marries and Esperanza remains loyal to Alfredo in a genial but loveless
marriage.

This highlights the patriarchic notion that men are considered and lauded for being the superior form of
human existence and women end up being whatever ‘men’ are not.

Women always get defined in response to men and are often portrayed as alternatives and even
subservient to the male protagonist.
Hence, Men are entitled to mistakes and second chances whereas women like Esperanza and Julia are
not accorded such leniency while being judged and scrutinized.

The avarice and indecision of male characters are symbolized through Alfredo who keeps chasing the
ghost of his own alluring desire and infatuation. In the end, it only turns out to be dying sparks of the
inert star, a mirage of empty pleasure and leaves him full of contrition and heartache.

Dead Stars Symbolism

The ‘Dead Stars’ represent a presence that is unrecognized. It speaks of emotions and relationships that
may exist but are not realized and lose their real meaning and significance.

In the story, the attraction between Alfredo and Julia is a forbidden and taboo phenomenon. They both
felt is to be real but never accepted their mutual attraction nor confessed it. They wilted to the social
expectations and did the morally ordained thing.

However, the truth remains that they never intently examined their sentiments and relationship.
Therefore, when they reunite after eight years they do not have the same passion for each other.

Their emotions became a transient and fleeting occurrence, much like the stars that are left as relics of
their old glory and shine. These stars are dormant and the fire within them is vanquished but they
remain as obtrusive reminders of their tangible existence.

They are an illusion of something that might have been lively and thriving previously, evidence of their
vital past. But now they are a mere illusion of something that cannot be revived.

Even the moral fortitude of Esperanza is symbolized in her devotion to her husband even after learning
about his dalliance with Julia. She has a strong belief in the institution of marriage and loyalty and fulfils
her commitment for the same even though she might not ever truly love Alfredo.
Dead Stars Setting

The story uses the third-person voice and is set in the early 1900s. The story is set in Don Julian’s and
Judge Del Valle’s houses located in the Philippines. It foreshadows the social make-up and dominant
views of the place at that time.

The society is male-dominated and represent the features of such a social setup. As the author is a
female writer placed in a male-dominated age and World, the story became a precursor to the growth
of Filipino English literature.

In a patriarchal society, man is the ultimate authority in defining norms, moral or otherwise. Women are
secondary and precluded group when it comes to deciding the dominant idea and pervasive issues. But
the woman is not just anti-man or inadequate-man; she is also what man can never be.

This necessitates the balance between the two and if this equilibrium is challenged by revolutionary or
reformist zeal than it is often stifled and silenced. They both cannot exist unilaterally or autonomously
and need mutual reaffirmation by each other.

Hence, women often become an afterthought in such male-dominated and chauvinistic times even
though the subtle and inextricable inter-dependence of the male and female forms is always a function
of a cohesive social system.

Dead Stars Moral Lesson

The story is infused with moral and intellectual approaches highlighting the values and morals in place in
that age, culture and place. Historicism and the historical context of the story give it salience in terms of
understanding the thoughts and subsequent actions of the characters like Alfredo, Julia, Esperanza etc.

It depicts a plethora of battles which a human being is involved depending on the circumstances and
interactions with other human beings. Characters like Alfredo, Julia etc are fighting not just against the
odds fate has put before them but also their circumstances, public and moral obligations.

To make matter worse they are also embroiled in a battle against their own emotions and
understanding, a battle within themselves. They lack the certainty of thought, sentiments for each other
and thus their actions (Lies, ridicule, insults etc) reflect their ambiguity and desperation.
Paz Marquez’s penmanship mirrors the dominant social views and established conventions of literature
as well society. It expounds various human emotions (like affection, compassion, jealousy,
concupiscence etc.) and relationships involvement (like betrothal, courtship, friendship, professional
obligations etc.).

Thus, it creates a veritable knowledge base to contrast and compares the society of her age and place
with the contemporary or any other age. It provides a lens to make meaning about the extant culture,
customs, traditions etc.

Consequently, it reflects the malleability of such social mores, practices and customs with a
corresponding change in time and even landscape. Both the leading women conform to the masculine
dominant and their ideology. They remain loyal to the man in their lives, Alfredo.

Hence, they both never criticize or lament Alfredo’s lies and deceit but acquiesce to his manly
exceptionalism. Alfredo. On the other hand, is portrayed as weak-willed, easily seducible, contorted
with his changing emotions and vulnerable to irrational actions.

Eventually, he surrenders to the social expectations and does the moral good even though he ends up
building a loveless home with Esperanza, his first love.

Conflicts: Man vs. Circumstances, Man vs. Society, Man vs. Himself.

Man vs. Circumstances

In the story, Alfredo struggles against his fate and the circumstances of life and love facing him. He
needs to face problems in choosing between difficult choices of his life. The story is basically a
compilation of the complicated circumstances that every man has to go through in life.

Man vs. Society

In the story, Alfredo struggles against society because he was afraid of the reaction of the people around
him, especially during the time of the story. People oftentimes give high regard to the society to which
they belong. They try to adhere to the norms, traditions, and culture of their society, though sometimes
the conformity would require them to sacrifice a part of themselves – an opinion, an emotion, or a
decision.

Man vs. Himself

In the story, Alfredo was uncertain and confused by his decisions. He was torn between doing what is
right and what is in his heart.

Symbolism:

Dead stars symbolize things that are present but are left unspoken of. The love between Alfredo and
Julia seemed to be real but, as time goes by the love they had lost and fades like a dead star so
disillusionment, reminiscent of the past that doesn't exist anymore. No, not because of lost youth, he
finds her to be different from that person he perceived her to be all these years. And he is disenchanted.
The illusion he harbored all these years are nothing but dead stars, long dead but emits light that seems
real for the distance it has to travel, light being seen even if the source has lost its own brightness or
died.

Esperanza's devotion to Alfredo also resembles love, but since she believes in the "regenerative virtue of
institution" more than true love, it is safe to say that she is in the relationship, because of moral
obligation.

Theme:

The short story "Dead Stars" by Paz Marquez Benitez is conveying the theme that pertains to forbidden
love. It says that forbidden love is only apparent, and its banes haunt the person until such time that he
realizes his faults. The underlying theme is responsibility, as shown by the story that Alfredo is engaged
to be married to Esperanza and the people expect him to get married with her.