Beatriz (“Bea”) Aguilar Character Analysis in The Shadow of the Wind

Beatriz is Daniel’s lover, whom he meets through her brother, his best friend Tomás Aguilar. Like Penélope Aldaya, Carax’s secret lover, Beatriz is the pampered and sheltered daughter of a wealthy family; when she meets Daniel she’s preparing to marry Pablo, a young Falangist handpicked by her controlling father. Unlike Penélope, Beatriz is pragmatic, capable, and much more successful at escaping her father’s clutches. Although Daniel claims to love her for her confidence and independence, she’s immediately submissive to him even though he’s younger than she is, and she quickly sublimates herself in his quest to find Carax. At the end of the novel, although she’s gained some relative independence, she’s settled down as a conventional wife and mother. Notably, Beatriz shares her name with the woman the Italian poet Dante loved in real life and wrote about in his Divine Comedy. Dante’s Beatrice is also a woman characterized through a man’s desire, as well as a character, like many in The Shadow of the Wind, who exists on both the page and in real life.

Beatriz (“Bea”) Aguilar Quotes in The Shadow of the Wind

The The Shadow of the Wind quotes below are all either spoken by Beatriz (“Bea”) Aguilar or refer to Beatriz (“Bea”) Aguilar. 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:

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Penguin Books edition of The Shadow of the Wind published in 2005.

He didn’t tell me any of that because he knew that the miracle happened only once…A thousand times I’ve wanted to recover that first afternoon with Bea in the rambling house of Avenida del Tibidabo…

Related Characters: (speaker), ,

Page Number and Citation: 241

Explanation and Analysis:

Bea says that the art of reading is slowly dying, that it’s an intimate ritual, that a book is a mirror that offers us only what we already carry inside us, that when we read, we do it with all our heart and mind, and great readers are becoming more scarce by the day.

Related Characters: (speaker),

Page Number and Citation: 484

Explanation and Analysis:

Beatriz (“Bea”) Aguilar Character Timeline in The Shadow of the Wind

The timeline below shows where the character Beatriz (“Bea”) Aguilar appears in The Shadow of the Wind. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Fathers, Sons, and Masculinity Theme Icon

Daniel dislikes Tomás’s glamorous older sister, Bea, who looks likes a movie star and has a rich Falangist boyfriend named Pablo Buendía,... (full context)

Possessive and Obsessive Love Theme Icon

...to look her over as well, only to realize when she turns around that it’s Bea Aguilar. Beatriz jokes with the professor about how Daniel once insulted her. However, when Velázquez... (full context)

Daniel asks about her boyfriend, and Bea says that she’s getting married and moving to the remote city of El Ferrol once... (full context)

...starts teasing him about dating a young woman. After some confusion, Daniel finds out that Bea had stopped by the shop while he was away to say she would see him... (full context)

...the morning working in the shop while Fermín teases him about his imminent meeting with Bea. Their neighbor Merceditas—whom Daniel believes Mr. Sempere likes, and who definitely likes him—drops by with... (full context)

...keep quiet and not frighten Fermín. Mr. Sempere tries to inquire about Daniel’s meeting with Bea, but he won’t reveal anything. Eventually, he tactfully gives Daniel the afternoon off. (full context)

Before his date with Bea, Daniel goes to visit Nuria Monfort, finding her apartment building in a shabby neighborhood and... (full context)

As dusk falls, Daniel makes his way to the university to meet Bea. As he approaches he worries that she will stand him up, but then he finds... (full context)

They walk to a café and share fried potatoes while Daniel tells Bea the entire story of his obsession with and investigation into Carax. Bea demands that he... (full context)

Daniel and Bea walk back to her house in silence. Daniel says he wants to see her again,... (full context)

Daniel hangs around the bookshop the entire next day in case Bea drops by, while Fermín lectures him that a man must take the lead in courtship.... (full context)

When they’re alone, Daniel tells Tomás that Bea was with him the night before. Tomás isn’t upset, but seems worried that Bea will... (full context)

When Daniel returns to the bookshop, Bea is waiting for him, having told Mr. Aguilar she was going to mass. Both are... (full context)

...the garden, noticing a statue of an avenging angel dumped unceremoniously in the empty fountain. Bea is waiting for him in the front hall and escorts him to the living room,... (full context)

Bea reveals that her father’s firm owns the property, which was how she was able to... (full context)

While they sit by the fire, Bea tells Daniel the history she has learned about The Angel of Mist. The house was... (full context)

Bea says that nothing happens by chance, and Daniel’s discovery of The Shadow of the Wind... (full context)

Bea produces a letter she’s written to Pablo, telling him she wants to get married as... (full context)

Daniel and Bea plan to meet again at the house a few days later. As they separate, Daniel... (full context)

Daniel dreams of Bea’s body all night. In the morning, Fermín returns to the bookstore and horrifies Mr. Sempere... (full context)

In the afternoon, Daniel returns to The Angel of Mist as planned and arrives before Bea. But it’s very cold and soon he ventures to the cellar to find wood for... (full context)

Bea finds Daniel in the bathroom, where they huddle for warmth. But suddenly the wind blows... (full context)

Bea promises to call Daniel soon and walks away without a goodbye. Daniel sees Tomás looking... (full context)

In the morning the telephone rings; when Daniel answers and asks if it’s Bea, the line goes dead. It rains all day. In the evening, Daniel walks by the... (full context)

For the next days, Daniel loafs around the city hoping for news of Bea. One day he visits her university and questions the students, who say she hasn’t come... (full context)

Finally Daniel calls Bea, even though it’s dangerous to phone the Aguilar home. Mr. Aguilar answers the phone and... (full context)

Daniel feels guilty for not having protected Bea better. He feels that he has always let others take the fall for him, as... (full context)

...tail him has pulled him out of the way and vanished. Daniel then goes to Bea’s house and is greeted by one of the maids. Bea is away at the doctor,... (full context)

...own, irretrievable.” He gets dressed and hurries to the Aguilars’ apartment, determined to fight for Bea so he won’t lose her as Carax lost Penélope. (full context)

A hostile Tomás answers the door and tells Daniel that Bea has left home, and no one knows where she is. He says that Bea is... (full context)

...Don Federico. Daniel faints and wakes up in Fermín’s safe house. He’s anxious to find Bea, but Fermín, who has read Nuria’s manuscript while Daniel slept, gives Daniel some painkillers and... (full context)

...the middle of the night to find Fermín snoring next to him. He realizes that Bea has probably taken refuge in the Aldaya mansion, and he boards the bus, amid a... (full context)

At the Aldaya house, Daniel quickly finds Bea, who is huddled in Penélope’s old room. She has also met Carax, who knew who... (full context)

Daniel tells Bea to stay in the room and steals out to warn Carax. Fumero catches him in... (full context)

...shoots Daniel through the ribs. Dazed, Daniel sees Carax and Palacios bending over him and Bea running into the library. Fumero turns his gun on Bea but Laín Coubert, who has... (full context)

Daniel drifts into unconsciousness, hallucinating that he’s an old man with Bea and also that Mr. Sempere and Nuria are crying over his grave. Before he faints,... (full context)

...in the hospital and even Fermín is convinced he will die. During the ambulance ride, Bea and Palacios cradled him and his heart stopped for over a minute, and Daniel thinks... (full context)

Daniel wakes up in the hospital to find Mr. Sempere, Bea, and Fermín standing guard over him. Barceló, Clara, Tomás, Bernarda, and their neighbors arrive soon... (full context)

...to take the fountain pen and start writing again. Later Daniel wakes up again, and Bea says that she’s been there the whole time and there was no one else in... (full context)

Three months later, Bea and Daniel get married. Her family has agreed that there is no other way to... (full context)

Ten years later, Daniel has a son named Julián and runs the bookshop with Bea’s help, while Mr. Sempere is retired. Bea is “strong and wise,” although given to occasional... (full context)

The bookshop is surviving but not prospering. Bea says that reading is a dying art because it’s such a demanding and “intimate ritual.” (full context)

...He finds an inscription written in the fountain pen’s familiar ink, to him and to Beatriz, “who gave us both back our lives.” (full context)