Flowering Judas

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1930

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Character Analysis

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Character Analysis

Laura

Laura is the protagonist, and her inner thoughts and internal struggles propel the narrative forward. Much of the conflict in “Flowering Judas” centers around Laura’s identity crisis as she questions her place in the Revolution and her faith in the cause. She is full of contradictions and does not have one guiding sense of principles or ideals to lead her; she is committed to the Socialist cause but still visits church and prays, yet her mind drifts to the physical aspects of the altar—its “tinsel flowers and ragged brocades” (Paragraph 6)—rather than opening itself to faith. The only thing she is described as loving throughout the story is fine lace, a weakness that is counter to the ideals of Socialism. She hides both her religious devotions and her lace away from anyone who would see them—an example of hypocrisy in a work deeply concerned with Betrayal of Self and Others.

Laura judges herself harshly for these failures, referring to her love of lace as “heresy.” However, her real malaise goes much deeper. Laura is anxious throughout the story; she is fearful of the future and is described as feeling “a slow chill, a purely physical sense of danger, a warning in her blood that violence, mutilation, a shocking death wait for her” (Paragraph 9). However, her apparent fear of death clashes with her apathy toward her life; she does not care deeply about anyone, and while she is not content with her circumstances in Mexico, she does not endeavor to change them. She is not interested in any of her suitors, and while she is sexualized by Braggioni, she keeps her voluptuous body completely covered in a plain blue dress. The dress’s color and modest cut link Laura to the Virgin Mary (Laura herself is also described as virginal), but once again, what could be a deliberate choice seems more like inertia. Laura covers herself not out of religious devotion or a desire to exercise autonomy over her body in the face of misogynistic men but rather as part of a broader refusal to engage with the world around her; it is one of the ways in which she “encase[s] herself” and “den[ies] everything.” She is emotionally and figuratively stuck, most active during her nightmare, in which she talks to Eugenio “in wonder but without fear” despite the frightening circumstances (Paragraph 41). The end of the nightmare, in which she realizes she has “betrayed” her faith, her ideals, her fellow humans, and herself in her coldness, badly scares her, but it is unclear whether she can change course.

Braggioni

Braggioni is the second main character, a revolutionary hero who is a powerful and complicated figure. He exercises influence over many people and garners the respect and admiration of those who follow him. At the same time, he is vain, insecure, and indifferent to his followers; one day, he hands out money, promises work, and encourages them to fight for the cause, and the next day, he laments to Laura that “[t]hey are stupid, they are lazy, they are treacherous, they would cut my throat for nothing” (Paragraph 28).

Braggioni is portrayed as a gluttonous buffoon-like character with oily “balloon cheeks” and a “gasping middle” that “bulges marvelously in expensive garments” (Paragraph 7). Porter depicts his obesity in repellant terms to illustrate Braggioni’s corrupted ideals. His appearance conflicts with Laura’s notion that a revolutionary leader should “be lean, animated by heroic faith” (Paragraph 5). Braggioni’s size is grotesque to Laura as it represents how he indulges himself rather than helping his followers, like Eugenio. He encompasses the hypocrisy and contradictions in the revolutionary movement. As a result of his power, Braggioni indulges his materialism and lives a comfortable life while those who follow him suffer in hiding and in prison. He embodies the traits of Judas, underscoring the theme of Betrayal of Self and Others.

Representing machismo, Braggioni radiates potential violence and sexual threat. He openly lusts over Laura and views women as interchangeable, stating that “one woman is really as good as another for me, in the dark” (Paragraph 28). His dormant capacity for violence is demonstrated in the way he “curves his swollen fingers around the throat of the guitar and softly smothers the music out of it” (Paragraph 33). Evoking the concept that he is strangling the musical instrument to death, Porter hints at the harm he could inflict on Laura.

Although Braggioni does not seduce or rape Laura (an implicit threat in the narrative), he ultimately causes her loss of innocence in the story, as he violates her idealism. Nevertheless, his reconciliation with his wife at the end of the story suggests that his character undergoes change. The religious symbolism of Baptism is evoked as he feels remorse while bathed in Mrs. Braggioni’s tears.

Eugenio

Eugenio is a minor character who appears only in the last part of “Flowering Judas” and has no direct dialogue. However, his role is important to the story’s plot and themes. He is the prisoner whom Laura visited on the night the story takes place. Eugenio is one of Braggioni’s revolutionary followers who grew bored and desperate in prison and could not wait any longer to be released. He overdosed on the pills that Laura provided for him to help him sleep.

Eugenio serves as a foil to Braggioni. Before his death, he is a living casualty of the revolution, bearing the brunt of political activism. Eugenio’s character illustrates the interconnection of politics and religion in the story. Like a saint, he martyrs himself for his cause. However, at the same time, his death signals the corruption of Mexican Socialism. His suicide is ultimately not a gesture of resistance but a recognition that Braggioni will never save him. Eugenio haunts Laura in skeletal form during her nightmare and represents the betrayal and guilt she feels.

Mrs. Braggioni

Mrs. Braggioni is a secondary character who is as devoted to the revolutionary cause as her husband. While walking the picket lines and organizing union meetings for the women working in the factories, she receives none of the respect and status enjoyed by Braggioni. She embodies the theme of female oppression, as, within the home, she is expected to fall in with traditional subservient gender roles.

Braggioni’s patriarchal view of marriage is summed in his assertion that his wife “is an instinctively virtuous woman, pure gold, no doubt of that. If she were not, I should lock her up, and she knows it” (Paragraph 29). His infidelity causes Mrs. Braggioni great pain, and when she shows her distress, he punishes her with a month’s separation. At the end of the story, when her husband returns to her, Mrs. Braggioni offers no reproach, instead welcoming him and calling him “my angel” (Paragraph 39). She is a static character, and her behavior confirms Braggioni’s description of her as “a wife who dares not disturb him” (Paragraph 28). However, the religious symbolism as she washes her husband’s feet adds complexity to her portrayal. Although it is her husband who has sinned, Mrs. Braggioni’s gesture evokes the biblical story of Mary Magdalen atoning for her sins by washing the feet of Christ. The humility and love expressed in the deed have a transformative effect on Braggioni, prompting him to feel remorse. Porter seems to suggest that Mrs. Braggioni makes her husband a better person through her own selfless example.