The Muzzled Mockingbird: Traditional values in Aguascalientes theater

The genesis of this book is fundamentally found in the thesis "Traditional Values in Three Dramatic Works from Aguascalientes in the First Half of the 20th Century: With Broken Wings (1925), Here Comes Gorgonio Esparza! (1941), and A Pin in the Eyes (1950)," with which the author obtained the degree of Master in Art in 2015. This book aims to critically describe and evaluate the leading role that traditional values play in Aguascalientes theater in the first half of the 20th century, through the analysis of three representative dramatic works from that period. Through the above, it aims to contribute to the understanding of the dramatic, theatrical, and therefore cultural identity of Aguascalientes.
The purpose is to provide the reader with a reading that allows them to understand how the dramatic productions of Aguascalientes from the first half of the 20th century reflect a questioning and concern about the foundations that underpin society. They indicate the existence of perspectives that misinterpret, distort, or manipulate values. The way in which the three aforementioned dramatic works address the same theme, that of traditional values, is dissimilar: while one attempts to perpetuate a Manichean vision, another ridicules it, and the third calls it into question. All three, however, construct their protagonists from the gag, that silencing of oneself or society, in order to preserve traditional values, until a female mockingbird breaks the gag and takes flight.
In the chapters, we will find the silenced mockingbird in various forms. In the first, we will see it through the Manichean vision of values and anti-values in the didactic work of Antonio Leal y Romero: With Broken Wings (1925); in the second, through the ridicule of Catholic penance in the farce of Antonio Acevedo Escobedo: Gorgonio Esparza is Coming! (1941); and in the third, thanks to the critical vision of tradition in the avant-garde melodrama of Edmundo Báez: A Pin in the Eyes (1950). Finally, the conclusions will help us listen to the song of this mockingbird called Aguascalientes theater from the first half of the 20th century, which starts with individual silencing, migrates towards social silencing, and culminates with the suicidal thrust in which a female character seeks to silence the silencing of traditional values or for them to silence her forever.

When considering what title to give this book, what title could mimic its content, the first one that came to mind was "The Mute Cenzontle," which refers to Quintila, a female character and protagonist of the work "A Pin in the Eyes" (1950) by Edmundo Báez. Later, after reviewing the scope and meanings of traditional values within the three iconic works, and while finalizing the writing of this book, the author realized that it was more appropriate to name it "the silenced mockingbird," since Quintila's case is but a reflection of provincial society characterized by a strong root grounded in traditional values of family, religion, and machismo. Then, a mental image appeared before him: Aguascalientes is a gagged mockingbird, and this book aims to describe, analyze, and explain it through some of its most important dramatic manifestations and, if possible, to impact the reader's flight and gag.