The Lady of the Dawn

The Lady of the Dawn (La dama del alba) is a play written by Alejandro Rodríguez Álvarez, better known under the pseudonym Alejandro Casona, and premiered at the Teatro Avenida, Buenos Aires, on November 3, 1944.
Set in rural Asturias, Martín is a taciturn and sad young man. He goes like this after the disappearance of his wife Angelica, drowned a few years earlier in the mill dam. He lives in a farmhouse with his in-laws:

• the mother,
• Grandpa
• and three children (Andrés, Falín and Dorina).

One day a pilgrim appears, the lady of the dawn, an older and reserved woman. They welcome her with hospitality. Martín, on a night of great snowfall, rescues Adela, a desperate young woman willing to end her life. As the days go by, the young people, Martín and Adela, fall in love and formalize their commitment with the approval of the whole family.
In the bonfires of a night of San Juan, Martín and Adela confirm their courtship. Just that day the old pilgrim returns again to the house, which she finds empty, because all its inhabitants are in the village festival. However, unexpectedly, Angelica appears, whom everyone believed dead. In a dramatic dialogue between the two, we discover the truth.
The bride had not drowned, but had eloped with a lover.
After mistreatment and humiliation of all kinds, he decides to return home, assuming the contempt of others.
The lady of the dawn, who actually represents death, has come to pick her up, because he had an appointment with her. The mysterious old woman manages to persuade Angelica to accept that her arrival would be negative for everyone and that it is best that she really let herself be carried away by the waters of the mill backwater.
The Lady of the Dawn is full of dialogues in which the characters try to unravel what fate means to them, who the Pilgrim is, what influence she has on them and what her presence can bring. They doubt in vain, events unfold by themselves and they can do little to stop them.
Alejandro Casona considered La dama del alba as his favorite work. As in other works of the author, the piece presents the conflict between reality and fantasy, and other recurring themes of the world of Alejandro Casona:

• suicide,
• the beauty of death,
• The Force of Love
• or the relentless pursuit of happiness.

In the words of the author

“is dedicated to my land of Asturias, to its landscape, to its men, to its spirit”.