Dorotea Character Analysis in Pedro Páramo

Dorotea is a destitute beggar woman who lives her life in Comala, searching for the son she falsely imagines she had (but who never really existed). Later, Miguel Páramo starts paying her to seduce local women for him in exchange for food at the Media Luna Ranch. It is heavily implied that she eventually commits suicide out of despair. However, her principal role in the novel is as the fourth and final symbolic maternal figure to Juan Preciado, who in turn represents the son she always sought after. After they die, they are buried together in the same grave, Dorotea in Juan’s arms. Throughout the second half of the novel, their ghosts converse in this grave and listen to the murmurs of other dead people, especially Susana San Juan. In her life, Dorotea is invisible and powerless, almost entirely erased from the story of Comala (to the point that Susana’s death scene leaves her out, even though she tells Juan she was present for it). But in death, Dorotea finally gets to speak her part and reclaim the voice she was denied.

Dorotea Quotes in Pedro Páramo

The Pedro Páramo quotes below are all either spoken by Dorotea or refer to Dorotea. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

“Yes, Dorotea. The murmuring killed me. I was trying to hold back my fear. But it kept building until I couldn’t contain it any longer. And when I was face to face with the murmuring, the dam burst.
“I went to the plaza. You’re right about that. I was drawn there by the sound of people; I thought there really were people. I wasn’t in my right mind by then. I remember I got there by feeling my way along the walls as if I were walking with my hands. And the walls seemed to distill the voices, they seemed to be filtering through the cracks and crumbling mortar. I heard them. Human voices: not clear, but secretive voices that seemed to be whispering something to me as I passed, like a buzzing in my ears.”

Related Characters: Juan Preciado (speaker), Dorotea

Page Number and Citation: 58-59

Explanation and Analysis:

“Why did you come here?”
“I told you that at the very beginning. I came to find Pedro Páramo, who they say was my father. Hope brought me here.”
“Hope? You pay dear for that. My illusions made me live longer than I should have. And that was the price I paid to find my son, who in a manner of speaking was just one more illusion. Because I never had a son.”

Related Characters: Dorotea (speaker), Juan Preciado (speaker), Pedro Páramo

Page Number and Citation: 60

Explanation and Analysis:

I waited thirty years for you to return, Susana. I wanted to have it all. Not just part of it, but everything there was to have, to the point that there would be nothing left for us to want, no desire but your wishes. How many times did I ask your father to come back here to live, telling him I needed him. I even tried deceit.

Related Characters: Pedro Páramo (speaker), Susana San Juan, Bartolomé San Juan, Juan Preciado, Dorotea

Page Number and Citation: 82

Explanation and Analysis:

“I… I saw doña Susanita die.”
“What are you saying, Dorotea?”
“What I just told you.”

Related Characters: Dorotea (speaker), Juan Preciado (speaker), Susana San Juan

Page Number and Citation: 115

Explanation and Analysis:

Dorotea Character Timeline in Pedro Páramo

The timeline below shows where the character Dorotea appears in Pedro Páramo. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...says that there’s nobody around to see her, but she says that a few people—like Dorotea—still live in the town. It’s just that they lock themselves inside at night to avoid... (full context)

History, Memory, and Narrative Theme Icon

Fragment 36. Dorotea addresses Juan Preciado, saying his name out loud for the first time in the novel.... (full context)

Dorotea asks why Juan didn’t stay home, and he explains that he came for Pedro Páramo,... (full context)

Although everybody else was leaving, Dorotea decided to stay in Comala and wait to die. She tells Juan that she was... (full context)

...inside to Damiana Cisneros, who works in the kitchen. He asks Damiana if she knows Dorotea—Damiana says that Dorotea is outside, singing to her rebozo, which she has bundled up like... (full context)

...mother telling him about the smell of rain and beautiful sky in Comala. He tells Dorotea that it is strange that he came to Comala instead of his mother, who was... (full context)

...for Miguel’s death. Then, he spends the evening listening to the confessions of Comala’s women. Dorotea is first: she admits to getting drunk at Miguel’s wake and then reveals that she... (full context)

Fragment 42. Having overheard the previous fragment, Juan asks if Dorotea was talking in her sleep. Dorotea replies that it is doña Susana, who is buried... (full context)

There are more murmuring sounds, but Dorotea says it’s a different voice—a man. The voice speaks of God saving them one night,... (full context)

Susana starts moaning again and Dorotea asks Juan to listen closely. Dorotea says that Pedro loved Susana and treated her well.... (full context)

Fragment 51. Back in the present, Dorotea and Juan Preciado listen to Susana talk about swimming naked in the ocean with a... (full context)

Fragment 54. In the present, Dorotea and Juan Preciado again listen to Susana talk from beyond the grave. Susana talks about... (full context)

Fragment 63. Dorotea says that she watched Susana die. This confuses Juan, but Dorotea says she really means... (full context)

Dorotea Character Analysis

Dorotea Quotes in Pedro Páramo

Fragments 24-36, Pages 41-61 Quotes

Fragments 37-46, Pages 61-85 Quotes

Fragments 60-68, Pages 109-124 Quotes

Dorotea Character Timeline in Pedro Páramo