Flowering Judas

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1930

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Themes

Female Objectification and Oppression

“Flowering Judas” explores misogyny and the objectification of women set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution. Through the experiences of Laura, Porter draws attention to the unequal gender dynamics of a patriarchal society undergoing political upheaval.

As a single woman in a foreign country dedicated to a political cause, Laura appears to represent female independence. However, Porter quickly establishes that the protagonist is severely constrained by her circumstances in Xochimilco. She is reliant on Braggioni’s financial support to stay there, dutifully performs the tasks he gives her, and must endure his unwelcome company. Although she sometimes “wishes to run away, […] she stays” (Paragraph 5). Laura is reliant on the revolutionary cause to give her life a sense of purpose, but Porter emphasizes that she finds no freedom in her political activism.

Despite her serious purpose, Laura is consistently objectified and sexualized in Mexico. Rather than attracting respect for her activities, she becomes an object of male desire, with multiple suitors trying to win her over. Significantly, the protagonist is sexualized by others, but she is not depicted as sexual. Laura does not reciprocate the desire of the men who pursue her. Porter conveys the sexual threat that underlies the tactics employed by her suitors. The oppressive nature of their attention is veiled in gestures of courtly romance, such as singing songs and writing poems. The incident where Laura throws down a Judas flower to a suitor illustrates that there is no escape from this objectification. The young man chooses to interpret the gesture as encouragement and stalks her whenever she leaves the house.

Laura’s oppression and objectification are exemplified during the evening she spends with Braggioni. Longing to be alone in her own private space, she is trapped by the Socialist leader’s overwhelming presence. Braggioni demonstrates his belief that women only have relevance in relation to a man when he questions “why she works so hard for the revolutionary idea unless she loves some man in it” (Paragraph 32). Laura’s aversion to being sexualized is represented in her clothing. Although her body is voluptuous, she conceals it beneath plain, modest attire that makes her appear “nun-like.” Nevertheless, Braggioni remains fixated on the physical attributes hidden beneath her clothing. The intrusive nature of Braggioni’s sexual interest in Laura is demonstrated in the way “[h]er knees cling together under sound blue serge” (Paragraph 6). Her body language reflects the sense of sexual threat she endures.

Though Laura has a chance to escape Braggioni when he returns to his wife, she chooses not to, feeling she has no alternative options. Having internalized her oppression, she feels trapped by “soundless doors [that] close of themselves around her” (Paragraph 40). Her paralysis highlights how women are marginalized, objectified, and exploited, even within movements ostensibly fighting for social justice.

Faith and Disillusionment

Porter’s story explores the themes of faith, disappointment, and disillusionment, through Laura’s experiences. The backdrop of the Mexican Revolution and the protagonist’s Roman Catholic upbringing enable the author to delve into the complexities of faith and idealism versus disillusionment and shattered expectations.

Laura is portrayed as a formerly idealistic young woman, committed to the revolutionary cause and eager to make a difference. The text implies that a strong sense of motivation led her to uproot her life and move to Mexico in support of the Socialist cause. However, her initial enthusiasm has given way to a profound sense of disappointment and disillusionment. By the time the story’s events take place, she is simply going through the motions, visiting prisoners and delivering messages, but without any enthusiasm. Laura’s faith in the cause is undermined by her realization of the hypocrisy and corruption within the revolutionary movement. Initially drawn to the cause by its promise of social justice and liberation, she discovers that the revolutionaries are not immune to the same abuses of power and exploitation that they claim to oppose. This disillusionment is exemplified by her interactions with Braggioni, the cause’s leader, whose callousness and materialism shatter her illusions about the righteousness of the cause.

Porter’s exploration of faith and disillusionment is underscored by the interconnection of religion and politics in the story. Socialism is not Laura’s first commitment to a set of beliefs, as she was raised a Catholic. However, in Mexico, religious belief and Socialism are supposed to be mutually exclusive. Laura secretly visits churches, but she retains only a vestige of her religious faith while also being disillusioned with the Socialist cause. Consequently, she lacks purpose and feels a spiritual void. Through the intertwining of religious and political imagery, “Flowering Judas” suggests that both work on similar principles. For example, Laura’s decision to renounce “vanities” in the way she dresses reflects her Socialist beliefs but unintentionally makes her appear “nun-like.” Similarly, her secret love of handmade lace is described as a “private heresy,” suggesting religious transgression. Braggioni’s description of the forthcoming May-day parade, in which Socialists and Catholics are expected to clash, also draws attention to the conflicting sides’ similarities. The Socialists’ celebration of the martyrs who have died for their cause brings to mind the saints of Roman Catholicism. These parallels continue in the story’s biblical allusions, as both Braggioni and Laura are figuratively compared to Judas Iscariot.

Laura’s apathy on losing her faith extends to all other areas of her life, confirming Braggioni’s assertion that she “will be disappointed too” because she is “born for it” (Paragraph 8). Porter draws a parallel between the two characters’ loss of faith as Braggioni declares, “We are more alike than you realize in some things” (Paragraph 8). However, neither Braggioni nor Laura abandon the cause, even though their hearts are no longer in it. Mentally, Laura has “promised herself to” the Mexican Revolution (Paragraph 10) and, with no other cause to turn to, she continues on her path. Her sense of stasis and emptiness at the end of the story suggests that, without some form of faith, life lacks meaning and purpose.

Betrayal of Self and Others

Though ostensibly a reference to a type of tree, the story’s title hints at betrayal’s centrality to the narrative. The Judas tree takes its name from Jesus’s betrayer, who, in Christian lore, later hanged himself from its branches in remorse. That the tree in the story is “flowering” suggests that an atmosphere of revolutionary upheaval, lost faith, and sensory temptations make conditions ripe for similar betrayals.

Braggioni offers the most straightforward example of such betrayal, turning his back on the Socialist ideals he fought for by indulging in luxuries and seeking fulfillment in material wealth rather than spreading his riches to those in need. He notably lacks loyalty toward those who have served both the cause and him; he does not seem interested in helping those who are still imprisoned, as illustrated by his unsympathetic response to Eugenio’s death. This does not go unnoticed by those in jail, who note that he has the power but not the will to help him, saying, “Well, there is Braggioni, why doesn’t he do something?” (Paragraph 12). The only time he is seen taking action for the cause is when violence is about to occur, implying that his real interests lie in death and destruction. In his infidelity, political and personal betrayal cross paths, as the wife Braggioni constantly cheats on is also a committed revolutionary who attends strikes, organizes labor and gives speeches. His response to the grief he causes her underscores the extent of his corruption, as in praising her virtuousness, he says he would “lock her up” if she were unfaithful (Paragraph 29)—a move that would be not only hypocritical but also an abuse of political power.

The betrayal that Laura embodies is subtler. Though she is not truly loyal to her former Catholic faith or the political ideals of the Socialist cause, she does try to remain committed to them, and her failings—e.g., an appreciation for handsewn lace—are relatively trivial. Though she does not excuse herself for these hypocrisies, she also feels driven to them by the disappointing nature of the world, which she feels has “betrayed” her. However, her dream of eating the Judas flower at the end of the story implies that she herself is in fact a betrayer. The episode warps the language and imagery of communion, and in echoing Jesus’s words at the Last Supper (and calling Laura a “murderer”), Eugenio positions himself as Christ and her as Judas. Though Laura provided Eugenio with the mechanism of his suicide, this alone does not account for the guilt she feels. Rather, her earlier fear that she is “as callous, as incomplete” as Braggioni suggests that Laura’s “betrayal” is bound up in her refusal to open herself to anything from divine forgiveness to human connection to simple pleasure (Paragraph 10).

Laura is, in this sense, the opposite of Braggioni, whose overindulgence and sensuality at least ground him in the external world. This perhaps explains why Braggioni finds a form of absolution in his wife’s tears, whereas Laura is merely left terrified by the events of her nightmare. Significantly, her dream begins with her desire for death, which is the destination Eugenio promises to take her to. Within the story’s web of political and religious symbolism, this wish for self-destruction is itself a form of betrayal, as it negates the need to strive for a better world and even denies that a better world is possible.