Despite praise for its costume design, the film was poorly received by critics. Doña María’s defining quality is her obsessive devotion to her daughter, Doña Clara, a passion she channels all her energies into… (read full character analysis) Doña Clara / Condesa Clara The Bridge of San Luis Rey is a 1927 novella by Thornton Wilder.. The Perichole figures heavily into the interconnected plot of The Bridge of San Luis Rey, and she invariably influences each of the other principle characters. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance. It was a beautiful city, inspired by the Catholic religion and entertained by the theater. It tells the story of several interrelated people who die in the collapse of an Inca rope bridge in Peru, and the events that lead up to their being on the bridge. Doña María Character Timeline in The Bridge of San Luis Rey The timeline below shows where the character Doña María appears in The Bridge of San Luis Rey. The Bridge of San Luis Rey is set in and around Lima, the capital of Peru, in the eighteenth century. One of the bridge collapse’s victims is Doña María, the Marquesa de Montemayor. Part One: Perhaps an Accident. The Bridge of San Luis Rey and Our Town by Thornton Wilder . Doña María Doña María is a Limean noblewoman and eventual victim of the bridge collapse. The story starts with the collapse of the eponymous bridge, a rope bridge on the road between Lima and Cuzco. She travels across the famous bridge of San Luis Rey in her sedan chair and goes up into the beautiful and rustic hills. The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) Thornton Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975)The Bridge of San Luis Rey Notes. The Bridge of San Luis Rey is American author Thornton Wilder's second novel, first published in 1927 to worldwide acclaim. “I read the novel not long after [the terrorist attacks of] Sept. 11. Doña Clara is the daughter of the Marquesa. Part 2: The Marquesa de Montemayor The Marquesa de Montemayor was a Peruvian lady born into money as the daughter of a cloth merchant and his demanding wife. He could well have written of The Bridge of San Luis Rey as he wrote of Our Town: “It is an attempt to find a value above all price for the smallest events of our daily life.” The Bridge of San Luis Rey. María Ana de Pontejos y Sandoval, Marchioness of Pontejos, demonstrating the appearance and attire of a wealth Spanish lady in the 1700’s Background. accompanies Doña María to the shrine of Santa María de Cluxambuqua and dies at the bridge of San Luis Rey. Plot Summary. At last, Doña María decides to fulfill an old Peruvian tradition and make a pilgrimage to the shrine of Santa María de Cluxambuqua in order to pray for Doña Clara’s safe delivery. The Bridge of San Luis Rey is a 2004 drama film directed by Mary McGuckian and featuring an ensemble cast.It is based on Thornton Wilder's novel of the same name.The film was released in 2004 in Spain and 2005 in the U.S. and abroad. She is the mistress of the Viceroy, but becomes an object of devotion to Esteban’s brother Manuel. Originally, Greenspan says, he was working with a composer to do “The Bridge of San Luis Rey” as a musical theater piece. This short novel was first published in 1927 and won the 1928 Pulitzer Prize in the novel category.. Part One: Perhaps an Accident The first few pages of the first chapter of The Bridge of San Luis Rey explain the book’s basic premise: this story centers on an event that happened in Lima, Peru, at noon of Friday, June 12, 1714. Big questions churn at the heart of David Greenspan’s “The Bridge of San Luis Rey,” the much-honored dramatist’s stage version of Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1927 novel. NEA Big Read The National Endowment for the Arts 2 ... Bridge of San Luis Rey, or the characters in his story. Doña María is born shy and unattractive daughter of a rich Limean merchant; she frequently quarrels with her mother and eventually marries a poor nobleman solely in order to leave home.