Doña Bárbara (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Rómulo Gallegos
- First Published: 1929
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Regional
- Time of Work: Early twentieth century
- Setting: Arauca Valley, Venezuela
- Genres: Long fiction, Regional fiction
- Subjects: Justice, Love or romance, Murder or homicide, Twentieth century, Law or legislation, Violence, War, Ranches, ranchers, or ranching, Cowboys or cowgirls, South America or South Americans
- Locales: Venezuela
Characters Discussed
Doña Bárbara (BAHR-bahr-ah), a beautiful but unscrupulous mestiza, once wronged by a white man and now taking her revenge on all men. She is superstitious and given to witchcraft. For a time she was the mistress of Lorenzo Barquero, heir to half the Altamira ranch, and by him had a daughter, Marisela. Then she ran him off his land and took possession. With the help of her cowboys, she is acquiring the rest of the ranch by moving the boundary fences and stealing the cattle. She has won over the local authorities. Unfortunately, she falls in love with...
[The entire page is 997 words long]

