Readings of "La otra" by Gabriela Mistral

Abstract

This article reviews three earlier, mostly divergent, interpretations of the poem "La otra" by Gabriela Mistral—initial poem of Lagar, 1954—and proposes a new reading which does not entirely coincide with the previous ones. A division in four parts is postulated. The first three revolve around the theme of the dual personality alluded to in the title of the poem. The last part, which contains some semantic incongruities, is seen as an attempt to justify the 'crime' revealed in the poem.