La Güera Rodríguez: The Life and Legends of a Mexican Independence Heroine by Silvia Marina Arrom (review)

Nineteenth-century Mexicanists have been among the most competent and meticulous social historians, often spurning studies of the famous and powerful in favor of ground-level experience. Consequently, to write a biography of so prominent and privileged a figure as María Ignacia Rodríguez ("la Güera") can seem a transgressive act; but in this case, it is a transgression for which readers will be grateful. In La Güera Rodríguez, Silvia Arrom (herself a highly accomplished social historian) gives us a critical biography of a celebrated and mythologized figure. The book is really two closely related projects: the first reconstructs the narrative of María Ignacia Rodríguez's life; the second examines the evolving legends that have surrounded her. The author devotes four-chapters to the former and three to the latter, though in truth, questions of fact, myth, and memory are considered throughout the entire work.

María Ignacia Rodríguez (1778-1850) was a wealthy and well-connected woman who lived in and around Mexico City during a period of major conflicts and transformations in Mexican society. The most outsized versions of the Güera Rodríguez myth remember her as a republican revolutionary, a powerful conspirator, and one of the architects of Mexican independence. This mythic Güera Rodríguez was an irresistible seductress who drew into her power the great men of her day (Alexander von Humboldt, Simón Bolívar, and Agustín de Iturbide among others). Arrom finds that few of these stories can be substantiated. María Ignacia Rodríguez was likely acquainted with von Humboldt, but may not have even met Bolívar. The notion that she slept with either man is quickly dismissed. Arrom does find substantial evidence of a long-term friendship with Iturbide, but no conclusive evidence of a romance. Bit by bit, the book shaves away at the legendary Güera Rodríguez, leaving behind neither a deadly seductress nor a founder of the Mexican nation, but a profoundly interesting historical figure nonetheless.

The real María Ignacia Rodríguez traveled in Mexico City's elite political and intellectual circles where salons (or tertulias) brought together writers, educated clergymen, business people, international travelers and revolutionaries. Later legends of her conspicuous beauty, charm and intelligence at these gatherings match the observations of her contemporaries. In contrast, most tales of her political activities rest on thin, circumstantial evidence. And yet, though la Güera was certainly not an architect of Mexican independence, she remains a profoundly interesting figure.

In several cases, the stories of her influence on political events remain plausible. In 1809 she accused a prominent politician, Guillermo de Aguirre y Viana, of plotting the murder of interim Viceroy Francisco Javier de Lizana y Beaumont. The accusation (likely false) soon came back bite her. She was charged with conspiracy and exiled for a time from Mexico City. The details of the case seem impossible to resolve. Even so, the story places la Güera in the midst of the most important plots and counterplots in Mexico City on the eve of Mexican independence. In the decade of civil war and intrigue that followed, la Güera remained close to important leaders and important events—most notable to Agustín Iturbide and to the negotiations that led to Mexican independence. In September of 1821, when Iturbide and Spanish commander Juan O'Donojú met to conclude their final agreement, they did so at the Hacienda de la Patera, María Ignacia Rodríguez's country estate.

Silvia Arrom shows us that María Ignacia Rodríguez was in many respects exceptional, but in other ways representative of women from her time, place and class. The book illustrates on one hand the power and privilege of Mexico City's elite women, and on the other hand the social constraints that bounded their lives. La Güera married three husbands, gave birth to...