The Summer Solstice by Nick Joaquin—An essay analysis

“The Summer Solstice” is a classic short story written by the late Philippine National Artist for Literature,
Nicomedes ‘Nick’ Joaquin. The story was published in 1972 in the Philippines. It is a short story about
the Tadtarin, a three-day fertility ritual held during the summer solstice. This pre-Hispanic religion is a
celebration of the erotic woman and her dominance over man, in which the last day of the festival
coincides with St. John's Day. This highlights how Catholicism and pagan religions are conflated in
Filipino belief systems. In addition, this is a story of juxtapositions— of the passionate female Tadtarin
with the male arrogance of St. John's procession, of the power of women over men, of bucking the
convention of male dominance, and a return to the primal over societal conventions. The story withstands
gender discrimination as men led the family while women revolved only to the roles of being a mother, a
housekeeper, and a cook. But in the story, it turns out that the rule had been changed. Don Paeng turned
to be the ‘suppressed’ and Doña Lupeng gained control of her husband. However, though the last part of
the story suggests a triumph of Doña Lupeng to her husband Don Paeng, which would associate with the
term ‘women empowerment’, certain claims still considered it as ‘pseudo-feminism’. Mendez Ventura
(1992), for instance, calls the feminist streak in the story “pseudo-feminism” since it does not afford
women any real, long-term power, instead, a mysterious, illusory one, which they acquire only during the
summer solstice, the longest day of the year, which, ironically, happens only once a year. What this
suggests is that, through the comparison of the woman with the moon and the earth, the Tadtarin, and
hysterical passion implies that women are given primordial power that strikes fear in the heart of any
man. If we try to analyze this context, this primordial power is of no value in a society that prizes
restraint, thus the power given to the women in the story is not real but can be considered as a token
gesture. Hence, the story wants to promote feminism in a time were women were submissive to men.

The story was set in 1850s during the Spanish era. Since it was set during this time, women were
repressed and felt shut in. In the story, Lupeng may seem to be happy in her routine life, but she
also feels angry. This can be noticed in the lines “Hush, hush I implore you! Now look: your father has
a headache, and so have I. So be quiet this instant — or no one goes to Grandfather." It indeed sounds
like she feels as though she has a duty that she must carry on, but she gets annoyed at her family
because of her subdued state of womanhood. Going through the story, it uses a 3 rd person
omniscient point of view since it is evident that the narrator knows well about the characters’
thoughts and feelings. Obviously, it is the author who is narrating. It is stated in the story: “But
Doña Lupeng, standing in the stopped carriage, looking very young and elegant in her white frock, under
the twirling parasol, stared down on the passing male horde with increasing annoyance. The insolent
man-smell of their bodies rose all about her—wave upon wave of it—enveloping her, assaulting her
senses, till she felt faint with it and pressed a handkerchief to her nose. And as she glanced at her
husband and saw with what a smug smile he was watching the revelers, her annoyance deepened.”
Through this, we could conclude how well the author knows the characters in the story. From the
story, it can be depicted that Donya Lupeng is a dynamic character because she was at first
powerless in a sense that she was inferior towards Don Paeng which could be seen in their
arguments: “BUT HOW CAN they still believe such things?” demanded Doña Lupeng of her husband..
“And you should have seen that Entoy,” continued his wife. “You know how the brute treats her: she
cannot say a word but he thrashes her. But this morning he stood as meek as a lamb while she screamed
and screamed. He seemed actually in awe of her, do you know—actually afraid of her…” And later
developed a sense of self-worth after she participated in the Tatarin ritual. “How I behaved tonight
is what I am. If you call that lewd, then I was always a lewd woman and a whipping will not change me—
though you whipped me till I died.” Don Paeng is also a dynamic character since he was at first
superior towards his wife: “You must be crazy! Only low people go there…” “I told you: No! go and
take those clothes off. But, woman, whatever has got into you!” he strode off to the table, opened the box
of cigars, took one, banged the lid shut, bit off an end of the cigar, and glared about for a light. but later
in the story, he found himself following the demands of his wife as a sign of submission: ‘Without
moment’s hesitation, he sprawled down flat and, working his arms and legs, gaspingly clawed his way
across the floor…’ He lifted his dripping face and touched his bruised lips to her toes; lifted his hands
and grasped the white foot and kiss it savagely – kissed the step, the sole, the frail ankle – while she bit
her lips and clutched in pain at the whole windowsill her body and her loose hair streaming out the
window – streaming fluid and black in the white night where the huge moon glowed like a sun and the dry
air flamed into lightning and the pure heat burned with the immense intense fever of noon. Amada, the
cook of the Moretas, is a flat character characterized as vulgar and bold: But the woman on the bed
merely stared. Her sweat-beaded brows contracted, as if in an effort to understand. Then her face relax
her mouth sagged open humorously and, rolling over on her back and spreading out her big soft arms
and legs, she began noiselessly quaking with laughter—the mute mirth jerking in her throat; the moist
pile of her flesh quivering like brown jelly. Saliva dribbled from the corners of her mouth… Another
character is Entoy, Amada’s wife, the driver. He is a flat character as he is characterized as a
submissive husband: “Why, you beat her at the least pretext!” “But now I dare not touch her.” “Oh,
and why not?” “It is the day of St. John: the spirit is in her.” “But, man—”  “It is true, señora. The spirit
is in her. She is the Tadtarin. She must do as she pleases. Otherwise, the grain would not grow, the trees
would bear no fruit, the rivers would give no fish, and the animals would die.” Also included in the
story were the three children of Doña Lupeng and Don Paeng. The three boys are characterized by
being somewhat energetic and are considered flat characters. In the dining room the three boys
already attired in their holiday suits, were at breakfast, and came crowding around her, talking all at
once. And lastly comes Guido, a flat character who is a feminist as stated on the lines: “I remember
that you are a woman, yes. A beautiful woman. And why not? Did you turn into some dreadful monster
when you married? Did you stop being a woman? Did you stop being beautiful? Then why should my
eyes not tell you what you are—just because you are married?” The story uses the traditional plot, as
the events were presented in a chronological order. The story started on the morning where the
Moretas were preparing for the feast of St. John, also known as the equilibrium of the story. It was
stated on the lines: “THE MORETAS WERE spending St. John’s Day with the children’s grandfather,
whose feast day it was. Doña Lupeng awoke feeling faint with the heat, a sound of screaming in her ears.
In the dining room the three boys already attired in their holiday suits, were at breakfast, and came
crowding around her, talking all at once.” The problem of the story arises when Dona Lupeng heard
wild screaming which came from their cook, Amada. “Where is Amada? But without waiting for an
answer she went to the backdoor and opened it, and the screaming in her ears became wild screaming in
the stables across the yard. “Oh my God!” she groaned and, grasping her skirts, hurried across the
yard.” As Dona Lupeng enters the room, she saw Amada half-naked sprawling across the bamboo
bed and scolds Amada, only to find out that Amada was being ‘possessed’ by the Tadtarin. “What is
this Amada? Why are you still in bed at this hour? And in such a posture! Come, get up at once. You
should be ashamed!” “But the woman on the bed merely stared.” “Tell me, Entoy: has she had been to
the Tadtarin?” “Yes, señora. Last night.” “But I forbade her to go! And I forbade you to let her go!” “I
could do nothing.” “Why, you beat her at the least pretext!” “But now I dare not touch her.” “Oh, and
why not?” “It is the day of St. John: the spirit is in her.” “It is true, señora. The spirit is in her. She is the
Tadtarin. She must do as she pleases. Otherwise, the grain would not grow, the trees would bear no fruit,
the rivers would give no fish, and the animals would die.”  “At such times she is not my wife: she is the
wife of the river, she is the wife of the crocodile, she is the wife of the moon.” The family runs into the
St. John's procession en route, which features an all-male group carrying the image of St. John the
Baptist. Along with this event is the annoyance felt by Dona Lupeng after seeing a horde of men
celebrating St. John’s Day as they drove off the roads. “But Doña Lupeng, standing in the stopped
carriage, looking very young and elegant in her white frock, under the twirling parasol, stared down on
the passing male horde with increasing annoyance. The insolent man-smell of their bodies rose all about
her—wave upon wave of it—enveloping her, assaulting her senses, till she felt faint with it and pressed a
handkerchief to her nose. And as she glanced at her husband and saw with what a smug smile he was
watching the revelers, her annoyance deepened. When he bade her sit down because all eyes were turned
on her, she pretended not to hear; stood up even straighter, as if to defy those rude creatures flaunting
their manhood in the sun.” As the story continues, a man named Guido which happens to be Paneg’s
cousin from Europe introduced himself. It was then that Guido makes suggestive comments to
Dona Lupeng making Lupeng feel something missing about her womanhood. “As she lifted her skirts
to walk away, the young man, propping up his elbows, dragged himself forward on the ground and
solemnly kissed the tips of her shoes. She stared down in sudden horror, transfixed—and he felt her
violent shudder. She backed away slowly, still staring; then turned and fled toward the house.” With
this action done by Guido came rise the man vs himself conflict wherein Doña Lupeng starts to
contemplate her womanhood that leads her to be curious with the Tartarin ritual. “A gentleman
loves and respects Woman. The cads and lunatics—they ‘adore’ the women.” “But maybe we do not want
to be loved and respected—but to be adored.” This leads to the development of the story wherein
Doña Lupeng decided to join the Tadtarin. “Listen, Paeng. I want to see it, too. The Tadtarin, I mean.
I have not seen it since I was a little girl. And tonight is the last night.” which however was
contradicted by her husband “You must be crazy! Only low people go there. And I thought you had a
headache?” He was still sulking. But on the end, Lupeng got the chance to participate in the ritual.
“She flung her hands to her hair and whirled and her hair came undone. Then, planting her arms akimbo,
she began to trip a nimble measure, an indistinctive folk-movement. She tossed her head back and her
arched throat bloomed whitely. Her eyes brimmed with moonlight, and her mouth with laughter.” After
joining the ritual, they were now at home in which they stood facing each other wherein Lupeng
confronted Paeng about how she felt when Paeng was about ot whip her after disobeying him,
which is the denouement of the story. “I am going to give you a whipping. Because you have behaved
tonight like a lewd woman.” “How I behaved tonight is what I am. If you call that lewd, then I was
always a lewd woman and a whipping will not change me—though you whipped me till I died.” “Yet you
would dare whip me -“ “Because I love you, because I respect you.” “And because if you ceased to
respect me you would cease to respect yourself?” Furthermore, at this scene of the story, it can be
said that Lupeng wants adoration and submission from her husband. “Because, either you must say
it—or you must whip me,” she taunted. “No, I cannot whip you!” he confessed miserably. “Then say it!
Say it!” she cried, pounding her clenched fists together. “Why suffer and suffer? And in the end you
would only submit.” But he still struggled stubbornly. “Is it not enough that you have me helpless? Is it
not enough that I feel what you want me feel?” But she shook her head furiously. “Until you have said to
me, there can be no peace between us.” He was exhausted at last; he sank heavily to his knees, breathing
hard and streaming with sweat, his fine body curiously diminished now in its ravaged apparel. “I adore
you, Lupe,” he said tonelessly. She strained forward avidly, “What? What did you say?” she screamed.
And he, in his dead voice: “That I adore you. That I adore you. That I worship you. That the air you
breathe and the ground you tread is so holy to me. That I am your dog, your slave… “But it was still not
enough. Her fists were still clenched, and she cried: “Then come, crawl on the floor, and kiss my feet!”
For the conclusion of the story, Doña Lupeng then gains control with his husband. “Without
moment’s hesitation, he sprawled down flat and, working his arms and legs, gaspingly clawed his way
across the floor, like a great agonized lizard, the woman steadily backing away as he approached, her
eyes watching him avidly, her nostrils dilating, till behind her loomed the open window, the huge
glittering moon, the rapid flashes of lightning. she stopped, panting, and leaned against the sill. He lay
exhausted at her feet, his face flat on the floor.” “She raised her skirts and contemptuously thrust out a
naked foot. He lifted his dripping face and touched his bruised lips to her toes; lifted his hands and
grasped the white foot and kiss it savagely – kissed the step, the sole, the frail ankle – while she bit her
lips and clutched in pain at the whole windowsill her body and her loose hair streaming out the window –
streaming fluid and black in the white night where the huge moon glowed like a sun and the dry air
flamed into lightning and the pure heat burned with the immense intense fever of noon.” The writing
style used by Joaquin in the story is epiphany since the story contains texts that promotes a certain
issue particularly women empowerment that awakens us to realize about how the women were
treated by the society. “I remember that you are a woman, yes. A beautiful woman. And why not? Did
you turn into some dreadful monster when you married? Did you stop being a woman? Did you stop
being beautiful? Then why should my eyes not tell you what you are—just because you are married?”
There are many symbolisms used in the story. Additionally, Joaquin also uses binary oppositions to
emphasize more the theme of the story. One of which is Saint John —a fine, blonde, heroic St. John:
very male, very arrogant: the Lord of Summer indeed; the Lord of Light and Heat—erect and godly virile
above the prone and female earth, —while the worshippers danced and the dust thickened and the
animals reared and roared and the merciless fires came raining down form the skies—the relentlessly
upon field and river and town and winding road, and upon the joyous throng of young men against whose
uproar a couple of seminarians in muddy cassocks vainly intoned the hymn of the noon god… which
symbolizes domination and superiority of men. Another is the bunch of seedlings Entoy mentioned:
“…the grain would not grow, the trees would bear no fruit, the rivers would give no fish, and the animals
would die.” which symbolizes woman as a source. The kissing of the feet done by Guido as stated:
As she lifted her skirts to walk away, the young man, propping up his elbows, dragged himself forward on
the ground and solemnly kissed the tips of her shoes. She stared down in sudden horror, transfixed—and
he felt her violent shudder. is a symbol of respect and submission of a man to a woman. Additionally,
the moon in the story represents women. As Guido stated that “The moon?” “—who is the Lord of
the women.” “Because the tides of women, like the tides of the sea, are tides of the moon. Because the
first blood -But what is the matter, Lupe? Oh, have I offended you?” If we are to get its context
scientifically, tides are present due to the gravitational pull from the moon. The moon represents
women while the tides here is being referred to as the men. Women had built it up: this poise of the
male. Ah, and women could destroy it, too! This line from Lupeng also supports that men exist
because of the presence of women, that without the power of women to give birth, there would be
no men in the world. The use of binary oppositions such as Age of Victoria and Age of Bryon “…
The queen came before the king, and the priestess before the priest, and the moon before the sun .” also
means men and women that before men were women. Saint John and the Tadtarin also symbolizes
opposition between men and women in terms of dominance. However, these oppositions tell us that
women were also once superior as stated “And what is so holy and mysterious about—about the
Tadtarin, for instance?” “I do not know. I can only feel it. And it frightens me. Those rituals come to us
from the earliest dawn of the world. And the dominant figure is not the male but the female.” “But they
are in honor of St. John.” “What has your St. John to do with them? Those women worship a more
ancient lord. Why, do you know that no man may join those rites unless he first puts on some article of
women’s apparel and—” “And what did you put on, Guido?” “How sharp you are! Oh, I made such
love to a toothless old hag there that she pulled off her stocking for me. And I pulled it on, over my arm,
like a glove. How your husband would have despised me!” “But what on earth does it mean?” “I think it
is to remind us men that once upon a time you women were supreme and we men were the slaves.” “But
surely there have always been kings?” “Oh, no. The queen came before the king, and the priestess before
the priest, and the moon before the sun.” Nevertheless, the story still shouts out for uplifting the
women in the society.

The story made a really big impact in the society and most importantly, to women because of the
stereotypical notion as to how women became important just because of their fertility. It shows us how
women were treated unfairly by men and the society and how it instantly changed. It changed in a way
that men can also be capable of showing genuine adoration and respect to women. This story clearly
upholds the image of a woman as someone to be respected and taken care of, not actually to be adored
and worshipped. This shows that women are just as capable as men. The issue of women's empowerment
and gender equality is at the top of agendas across the world, as gender inequality is widespread in all
cultures. Empowerment can be defined as a “multi-dimensional social process that helps people gain
control over their own lives. It is a process that fosters power in people, for use in their own lives, their
communities, and in their society, by acting on issues that they define as important” (Page and Czuba,
1999). Another, almost-related and equally important concept voiced in this story is gender equality.
Gender equality is understood to mean that the “rights, responsibilities and opportunities of individuals
will not depend on whether they are born male or female” (Warth and Koparanova, 2012). It is also
defined as a situation where “all human beings are free to develop their personal abilities and make
choices without the limitations set by strict gender roles; that the different aspirations and needs of
women and men are considered, valued and favoured equally” (Holzner et al., 2010). The ultimate goal of
gender equality is the non-existence of discrimination on the basis of one's gender (Alvarez and Lopez,
2013). A number of studies have shown that sustainable development is impossible without women's
empowerment and gender equality. Consequently, it is asserted that gender equality is both a human
rights issue and a precondition for, and indicator of, sustainable development (Alvarez and Lopez, 2013).
It is also affirmed that gender disparity is prevalent across the cultures of the world and that without
serious steps to tackle it, sustainable development cannot be achieved (Stevens, 2010). Furthermore,
UN Women (2014) rightly outlined that to create a just and sustainable world and to enhance women's
roles in sustaining their families and communities, achieving gender equality is paramount. It is sad to
state that it is because of the continuous debates of what gender should dominate over the other, locked up
the opportunities that both genders must enjoy. From the pre-Hispanic period up to the present times, our
country has slowly given and practiced the rights of women in the Philippines. This is very evident by
giving laws and protection for the women such as the Magna Carta for Women which aimed to remove
the discrimination against women, which is also associated with the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Also, in our history classes, we are taught that the women are
now given the rights to politics, which in our country, we now happen to have female leaders. To
conclude, empowering women and providing fair treatment in gender play a remarkable role in political
development and sustainable development of a country in general.
References:

Mendez-Ventura, S. 1992. “Sexism and the Mythification of Woman: A Feminist

Reading of Nick Joaquin’s ‘The Summer Solstice’ and Alfred Yuson’s ‘The Hill of
Samuel. ’” Women Reading…Feminist Perspectives on Philippine Literary Texts. Ed.
Thelma B. Kintanar, 146-162. Quezon City: U of the Philippines P and University Center
for Women’s Studies. 1994. Feminist readings of Philippine Fiction: Critique and
Anthology.
Alvarez and Lopez, 2013
Alvarez, Michelle LopezFrom unheard screams to powerful voices: a case study of Women's
political empowerment in the Philippines
12th National Convention on Statistics (NCS) EDSA Shangri-la Hotel, Mandaluyong City October
1–2, 2013 (2013)

Holzner et al., 2010

Brigitte Holzner, et al. (Eds.), Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women: Policy
Document, Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, Vienna (2010)

Page and Czuba, 1999

Nanette Page, Cheryl E. CzubaEmpowerment: what is it?
J. Ext., 37 (5) (1999)

Stevens, 2010
Candice StevensAre Women the Key to Sustainable Development?
Sustainable Development Knowledge Partnership (SDKP), USA (2010)

Warth and Koparanova, 2012

Lisa Warth, Malinka KoparanovaEmpowering Women for Sustainable Development,
Discussion Paper Series, No. 2012.1
United Nations Economic Commission For Europe, Geneva, Switzerland (2012)

Women, 2014
U.N. WomenWorld Survey on the Role of Women in Development 2014: Gender Equality
and Sustainable Development
United Nations, New York (2014)