The Characters
Music -
"...in festive pageantry come worship and revere the great God of Seeds!"
Sets up the tocotin, a traditional dance performed by the Aztecs set to music. Mainly part of a sacred hymn, developed by the tribal population to commemorate the gods(Ometeotl, Tlaloc, Huitzilopochtli and Tezcatlipoca). Storytelling + (adoration + devotion) = total praise to the gods in return by asking for providing wealth and prosperity to all. Provides the spiritual exposition as to why he and his fellow tribesmen are celebrating such an occasion.
As musicians, the roles they played in the Aztec empire was nothing short of essential. It was used for just about every reason in daily life and recreation from celebration to ceremony, along with providing an emotional environment (vibe) to all those involved. Due to Mesoamerican polytheism, they put massive emphasis on the spirt world while reciting the sacred hymn, with participants becoming absorbed by the music and dancing for several minutes, even hours. This method was used to maintain connection with their ancestry and faith. The instruments used in these hymns include the typical drum, which were made from animal skin and tree bark found in the area.
America -
"...for although I, a captive, weep for my liberty, my free will with even greater liberty still will worship my deities!"
Wife of Occident, she is the main feminine 'protagonist' who strongly resists the character Religion's proposition of teaching her and her tribe Catholic/Christian scripture. This was written directly involving Sor Juana's feminist rhetoric. Borrowing from the spirit of German canoness Hrosvitha, Sor Juana writes her version of the Aztec woman as fiercely adamant and unsusceptible to the incoming colonizers as she refuses to give up her entire heritage and ethnic inheritance to Western intrusion of faith and power.
Occident -
"Now your valor must conquer me for I stand firm against mere words."
Husband of America, this character acts as Sor Juana's interpretation of the majority of indigenous populations approached their Western visitors with either contempt or curiosity. Passive-aggressive, albeit proud, he works in concert with his wife in adhering to their worship of the Aztec 'God of Seeds'. Strong-willed, but unlike his wife, is vulnerable to doubt and fear when he encounters Zeal and his wife. Displays his brevity and valor when the Spanish 'Soldiers' attack in Scene II. Starts to grow curious over Religion's demonstration of faith, and eventually "gives in" to practice.
Sor Juana wrote this character with the concept of the predominant male influence in Pre-Columbian America and Mesoamerica. In keeping with terminology within the allegory, she decided to name this character after the Latin occidere into occident, meaning "going down, setting", which was transcribed from Old French into late Middle English. Unlike his male, Spaniard counterpart (Zeal), Sor Juana wrote Occident as having duality with his wife in both love and faith for the Aztec worship.
Zeal -
I am Zeal...Withdraw, my lady, to one side while I claim your rightful vengeance.
This character acts as an allegory of how the Spanish conquistadors interacted with indigenous societies. Instead of coming on first, his "wife" Religion provides his exposition straightly by saying "You are Zeal, and being Zeal how can your Christian fury bear to see idolatry, false and blind, celebrate with superstitious cults an idol..." Thinks highly of his wife, sees any disrespect towards her and her practice (of faith) as an insult and quickly stands up to defend her. Aggressive and delusional.
This character can be debated as having qualities reminiscent of the classic stock character known as 'Il Capitano', who like Zeal, is braggart but with a sociopathic quality mixed right in. It can be theorized that Sor Juana used these concepts in writing the character in an attempt to exploit the Spanish colonizers and military leaders for having such a total disregard towards indigenous life.
Religion -
"I am the Christian Religion, and I shall endeavor to turn your provinces to my worship."
This particular character can be considered to be the most influential as the majority of morality/allegory plays such as the loa, including the auto sacramentales (the most popular form of religious drama in Golden Age Spain). This allegory was inspired by Sor Juana's life as a nun in Mexico City. While residing, she made sure to compose works that had orthodox leveled rhetoric, but was never hesitant in resorting to . The character's allegorical state is introduced during her conversation with her aggressive husband, 'Zeal'.
Compared to some characters written throughout the genre, this particular character is notable in that she provides the central religious theme that helps provide the overall message of the story. This can be see in almost every morality play in Western theatre in that it had an archetypal element in Christian values and morals, hence the titular genre. Sor Juana, while strong in orthodox, was attempting to portray the peaceful process of conversion to Western Christianity, but not without consequences. Implicitly, this was her idea of applying subtext stating that the Spaniards were using religion as a form of intimidation and control, which is something she was completely against in her life. In the genre, Sor Juana probably wrote this character with three main influences in mind: first, there was 'Good Deeds' and 'Confession', used as both the moral and religious backbone in this work (respectively). Next, it might be discussed that she used the 'Red Cross Knight' ('The Faerie Queen') as an influence in that it was written to portray the virtue of holiness in life.
Soldiers - Spanish armed forces who praise.
"Long live Spain! And long live her king!"
