PART FOUR: Uncle Pio and Don Jamie

Notes

This fourth part of the book unfolds the character of Uncle Pio and his relationship with Camila Perichole. Pio is developed as a shrewd man of the world, who has always been a master at survival. At the age of ten he ran away to Madrid from his father's hacienda. From ten to fifteen he distributed handbills for merchants, held horses, and ran confidential errands. From fifteen to twenty he trained bears and snakes for travelling circuses; he cooked, and mixed punches; he hung about the entries of the most expensive taverns and whispered information into the traveler's ears. He was attached to all the theatres and could applaud like ten. . . .He sold rumors about crops and about the value of land.

From twenty to thirty his services came to be recognized in very high circles -- he was sent out by the Government to inspirit some half-hearted rebellions on the mountains. Uncle Pio had always enjoyed the theater and finally decided to work in it for a career. When he heard Camila, an uncouth teenager, singing in a café, he recognized her underlying talent and beauty. He took her into his care and taught her how to act, polishing her diction, refining her expression, and guiding her performances to perfection. Both of them were proud of her success.

Camila was very appreciative of what Uncle Pio had done for her and did her best to please him. When he would criticize her performance or dialogue, she would feel dejected and apologize to him for her mistakes. In the early stages of their relationship, she was truly a puppet in his hands. However, as she matured into a lovely and talented actress, Pio realized that he had fallen in love with her, even though he hid her feelings from Camila. She, on the other hand, had many suitors, including the handsome and chivalrous Viceroy, who made the actress his mistress. In the beginning, he showered her with love, money, and attention, severing her ties with Uncle Pio and causing her to resent Pio's overbearing presence.

After Camila gave birth to three of the Viceroy's children, she decided to leave the stage and settle down to become a lady of luxury and refinement. When Pio tried to continue their relationship, she cut him off. Pio, however, was still in love with her and would not give up. He would pay her surprise visits, trying to woo her and win her over. She always repulsed his advances. Then Camila contracted small pox, which disfigured her face. Ashamed of having lost her beauty, she isolated herself, refusing to see visitors, including Uncle Pio. To try and see her, he dressed as a poor, distressed woman and called upon Camila. She fell for the trick and came down to see the woman, only to find Uncle Pio. Wanting to have a link to the woman he loved, Pio offered to take care of Don Jamie, her sickly son. When Camila refused, he threatened her, saying that he wanted her to pay back all the money he had spent on her. She had no choice but to give in to Pio's wishes. She reluctantly turned over her son to his care. As Pio and the child were on their way back to Lima, they crossed the Bridge at San Luis Rey at the moment it broke. Both of the were thrown from the bridge and killed.

The chapter also gives new information on Camila, the Viceroy, the Archbishop of Lima, and Don Jamie (the son of Camila and the Viceroy). Camila went through many changes. When Pio found her in the café, she was an uncouth and giddy teenager. Through his efforts to refine her, she became a beautiful and successful, but arrogant, actress. When she became the Viceroy's mistress, she basked in her life of luxury and cut herself off from Uncle Pio. She also became the mother to three of the Viceroy's children, on whom she doted. Almost as if it were a punishment for her behavior, one of her sons was sickly and she herself contracted small pox, which left her disfigured. As a result, she became a poor, miserable recluse, refusing to see visitors. Even Uncle Pio had to trick his way into her quarters. Despite her protests, he then took away her son, hoping to establish a firm link between Camila and himself. She must have been crushed to learn that Jamie had been killed in the bridge accident.

Don Jamie, the handsome young son of the Viceroy and Camila, was brought up by his mother. A delicate and sensitive child, he was reserved and charming by nature. He inherited his mother's good looks and refinement, but his father's weak constitution. Like the Viceroy, he suffered from convulsions and remained sick most of the time. His difficulties had given his face a patient and startling dignity. Because of his weaknesses, Camila loved Jamie dearly, even though she never openly displayed her affections to him. When Uncle Pio suggested that he take the child away and raise him, Camila protested and refused. She only relented when Pio threatened her. Both she and Jamie clearly felt the pain of being separated.

Don Andres, the Viceroy of Peru, is at first presented almost like an Olympian god. As a youth he had accompanied embassies to Versailles and Rome; he had fought in the wars in Austria; he had been to Jerusalem . . . he had collected coins a little, wines, actresses, orders, and maps. He also had a great interest in the theater, like most important people in Lima; he soon became a fan of Camila. Since he was a handsome and charming widower who had never been burdened by having children, he was easily able to lure Camila to his palace and to his bed. She soon gave birth to three of his sons. She also began to recognize in him a pride so vast and puerile that he seldom heard anything that was said to him and talked to the ceiling in a perpetual monologue. When Camila was disfigured by small pox, it was not surprising that the Viceroy abandoned her, leaving her to live a life of poverty.

The Archbishop of Lima also comes under the ironic scrutiny of Thornton in this chapter. He was described as being wrapped up in yards of violet satin from which protruded a great dropsical head and two fat pearly hands. Between the rolls of flesh that surrounded them looked out two black eyes speaking discomfort, kindliness and wit. Though he was outwardly a man of God, the Archbishop was insensitive to the feelings of the poor and tolerant of the corrupt priests. He personally lived in the lap of luxury and surrounded himself with wealthy aristocrats, like the Viceroy, and glamorous actresses, like Camila. He even sent a huge emerald pendant as gift to Camila. It was obvious that he was a lecherous man who enjoyed the pleasures of the senses, including the taste of a roasted goose or a Roman wine.

By this fourth chapter of the novel, it is obvious that all the parts of the story are connected to one another, even though each chapter deals with a separate person. Dona Maria is an aristocrat who adopts the orphan Pepita from the Abbess at the convent. A patron of the theater, she is also acquainted with Uncle Pio and Camila, whom she admires. Although Esteban and Manuel do not know Pepita, like her, they have been brought up by the Abbess in the convent. When they escape the convent and go to work as copyists in the theatre, they meet Camila and Uncle Pio. Dona Maria, Pepita, Uncle Pio, and Esteban are also bound by the fact that each of them has felt unloved. These four characters, joined by Don Jamie, are further united by the fact that they are all on the Bridge of San Luis Rey at the time that it breaks, and all of them lose their lives. Ironically, all of them are crossing the bridge to a new life, which is thwarted forever by the accident. Dona Maria, for the first time, feels loved by Pepita and is planning on starting over with child, showing her warmth and affection. Esteban, who has lost his twin brother Manuel and is trying to escape his misery, is crossing the bridge to begin a sailing journey with Captain Alvarado. Uncle Pio has taken Don Jamie, Camila's son, into his care and plans to mold his life around the child and his mother. Fate, however, prevents them all from accomplishing their goals.