Previous
Uncle Pio
Pepita is a young orphan who grows up under the guidance of the Abbess. Kind, intelligent, and industrious, Pepita distinguishes herself among her peers, and the Abbess decides that she will inherit her position as steward of the city’s poor, sick, and orphaned. Although the Abbess loves and respects Pepita, in her zeal to prepare her she gives her difficult tasks, like caring for the eccentric Doña María. As a result, Pepita is forced to mature quickly even though she’s only a child. While Doña María initially takes no notice of her young servant, she eventually comes to value Pepita’s moral integrity and selflessness—in fact, Pepita’s good qualities show the older woman how she herself should behave. However, before Doña María has time to reform her character, both mistress and maid die in the bridge collapse.
Pepita Quotes in The Bridge of San Luis Rey
The The Bridge of San Luis Rey quotes below are all either spoken by Pepita or refer to Pepita. 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:
).
Part 2: The Marquesa de Montemayor
Quotes
She had talked to Pepita as to an equal. Such speech is troubling and wonderful to an intelligent child and Madre María del Pilar had abused it. She had expanded Pepita’s vision of how she should feel and act beyond the measure of her years.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
She had never brought courage to either life or love. Her eyes ransacked her heart. She thought of the amulets and her beads, her drunkenness […] she thought of her daughter. She remembered the long relationship, crowded with the wreckage of exhumed conversations, of fancied slights, of inopportune confidences […].
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Bridge of San Luis Rey LitChart as a printable PDF.
Pepita Quotes in The Bridge of San Luis Rey
The The Bridge of San Luis Rey quotes below are all either spoken by Pepita or refer to Pepita. 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:
).
Part 2: The Marquesa de Montemayor
Quotes
She had talked to Pepita as to an equal. Such speech is troubling and wonderful to an intelligent child and Madre María del Pilar had abused it. She had expanded Pepita’s vision of how she should feel and act beyond the measure of her years.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
She had never brought courage to either life or love. Her eyes ransacked her heart. She thought of the amulets and her beads, her drunkenness […] she thought of her daughter. She remembered the long relationship, crowded with the wreckage of exhumed conversations, of fancied slights, of inopportune confidences […].
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
