MELODRAMA AS A CRITICAL RESOURCE IN MARIA LUISA BOMBAL'S LA ULTIMA NIEBLA

In this paper I analyze how in Maria Luisa Bombal's La ultima niebla the use of melodramatic features and narrative mechanisms can be seen as a criticism of the situation of women. In this sense, I study the role of the feminine in Habermas' public and private sphere and the establishment of an intimate sphere (Berlant) which explains the existence of female expectations. In conclusion, even when there may be a questioning of patriarchal hierarchies, Bombal also ascertains the impossibility of women escaping its expectations and ideas of happiness.