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Doctoral Dissertations  Graduate School 
12-2007 
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María Cristina Campos Fuentes 
University of Tennessee - Knoxville 
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Campos Fuentes, María Cristina, "Pasión y Deseo: Del Amor y la Sexualidad En Poemas Selectos De 
Octavio Paz y Rosario Castellanos. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2007. 
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/131 
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To the Graduate Council: 
I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by María Cristina Campos Fuentes entitled 
"Pasión y Deseo: Del Amor y la Sexualidad En Poemas Selectos De Octavio Paz y Rosario 
Castellanos." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content 
and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of 
Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Modern Foreign Languages. 
Óscar Rivera-Rodas, Major Professor 
We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: 
Nuria Cruz-Cámara, Euridice Silva-Filho, Jon Shefner 
Accepted for the Council: 
Carolyn R. Hodges 
Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School 
(Original signatures are on file with official student records.)
To the Graduate Council: 
 
I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by María Cristina Campos Fuentes 
entitled “Pasión y deseo: del amor y la sexualidad en poemas selectos de Octavio Paz y 
Rosario Castellanos.” I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for 
form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the 
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Modern Foreign 
Languages. 
 
 
 
 
            Óscar Rivera-Rodas, Major Professor   
 
 
 
We have read this dissertation 
and recommend its acceptance: 
 
 
Nuria Cruz-Cámara     
 
Euridice Silva-Filho     
 
Jon Shefner       
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
            Acceptance for the Council: 
 
 
            Carolyn R. Hodges         
            Vice Provost and Dean of  
            Graduate School 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(Original signatures are on file with official student records.)
Pasión y deseo: del amor y la sexualidad 
en poemas selectos de  
Octavio Paz y Rosario Castellanos 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A Dissertation  
Presented for the 
Doctor of Philosophy 
Degree 
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
María Cristina Campos Fuentes 
December 2007
Copyright © 2007 by María Cristina Campos Fuentes 
All rights reserved. 
 
 
 
 
    ii
A mi amado esposo, 
Stéphane 
 
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Agradecimientos 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Agradezco a mi director de tesis, Dr. Óscar Rivera-Rodas, por su apoyo, sus 
comentarios y sugerencias para la realización de esta tesis. 
 
  Agradezco también a los miembros de mi comité, los profesores Nuria Cruz-
Cámara, Euridice Silva-Filhio y Jon Shefner por su interés y tiempo. 
 
 
 
 
  Merece una mención especial mi madre, María de la Luz, por su invaluable sostén 
moral en todas mis experiencias académicas y, sobre todo, por su gran amor que es 
totalmente correspondido.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Abstract 
 
  This dissertation studies selected poems written between 1950 and 1975 by 
Octavio Paz and Rosario Castellanos, two major Mexican writers of the twentieth 
century. Paz is considered one of the leading figures of Mexican literature, while 
Castellanos gained prominence in her homeland as a feminist figure. Using close reading 
as the predominant approach, this study investigates the complex issues of love and 
sexuality from the perspective of the poetical voice. It also emphasizes the manner in 
which the boundaries produced by love and sexuality underscore certain ambiguities. 
Indeed, these two poets search for identity and happiness in various ways, while 
questioning sincerity and investigating true love, a love concerned with heart and parity. 
In a very personal way, both authors use recurrent metaphors and comparisons about love 
and sexuality that combine traditional images of the Occident with images from Mexico. 
In their attempts to offer definitions of love and sexuality, Paz and Castellanos inevitably 
incorporate diverse influences into traditional stereotypes, and in doing so, place Mexican 
poetry within a broader context.  
At the same time, this dissertation addresses the differences between these two 
poets. On the one hand, Paz exalts love and sexuality as a constructive characteristic of 
the human being in an almost sacred quest, thereby demonstrating his awareness of 
literary tradition and humanistic belief in poetry. Concurrently, on the other hand, 
Castellanos is relentless in her search for love and acceptance by men, thus subjecting 
herself to the manipulation of a patriarchal society, which sought to reaffirm the 
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immobility of the woman by demanding that she conforms to a male-dominated literary 
canon. Castellanos’s voice is that of a proud yet pleading, lamenting, rejected lover, 
although the register of her poetic voice transcends gender barriers, incorporates the 
canon, and speaks as a fully self-validating subject. Paz sees the pleasures in, while 
Castellanos measures the risks and dangers at stake with the encounter of the other. 
 
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Índice 
 
Índice................................................................................................................................vii 
 
Lista de tablas....................................................................................................................x 
 
Abreviaturas.....................................................................................................................xi 
 
Capítulo I. Introducción...................................................................................................1 
1. Selección del corpus...................................................................................................2 
A. Poemas de Octavio Paz..........................................................................................3 
B. Poemas de Rosario Castellanos..............................................................................5 
2. El tema erótico-amoroso.............................................................................................6 
3. Amor en Occidente.....................................................................................................7 
A. La Antigüedad: entre idealismo y religión...........................................................10 
B. La Edad Media y su “amor cortés”......................................................................16 
C. El Renacimiento y su fuego pasional...................................................................19 
D. La modernidad: de la libertad espiritual a la libertad corporal............................23 
a. El cuerpo y el alma............................................................................................25 
b. ¿La liberación sexual?.......................................................................................33 
 
Capítulo II. Agua y fuego: dos poetas mexicanos........................................................41 
1. Una frontera difícil: las generaciones literarias........................................................41 
2. El género hace al monje............................................................................................56 
3. Entre conservadurismo y feminismo........................................................................57 
A. Octavio Paz, un conservadurismo velado............................................................58 
B. Rosario Castellanos, un feminismo polémico......................................................64 
4. Vidas paralelas..........................................................................................................67 
 
Capítulo III. Octavio Paz y la sexualidad omnipresente...........................................110 
1. La sexualidad omnipresente....................................................................................111 
2. Las etapas poéticas..................................................................................................120 
3. Voz poética y sexualidad........................................................................................121 
4. El “yo” explícitamente masculino..........................................................................124 
A. La mujer idealizada: “Una mujer de movimientos de río”.................................124 
B. La iniciación sexual: “Ida y vuelta”...................................................................130 
5. El “yo” indefinido...................................................................................................137 
A. El “yo” que se reconoce masculino....................................................................137 
a. Sexualidad explícita: “Agua y viento”............................................................138 
b. Sexualidad sugerida y “yo” masculino...........................................................143 
i.   “Garabato”.................................................................................................143 
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Description:canon, and speaks as a fully self-validating subject. Paz sees the  femeninas, termina centrado en el goce masculino: el acto multiorgásmico deja.