The Spanish Daughter

Puri’s prosthetic beard and mustache symbolize Masculinity as a Performance in the novel. Part of the disguise that Puri wears to appear as a man, this facial hair, like her glasses, helps others see her as a man. They are uncomfortable and cause her physical irritation, suggesting that the performance of masculinity causes her discomfort. Her beard and mustache represent the most important part of her face, hiding what Martin later calls her “fine features” (236).

As a costume, they perform reasonably well, fooling her siblings, Laurent, and even Martin for a while. Puri recognizes how central they are to her adopted identity when she imagines coming out as Puri to her family early on. Claiming she “could tear off [her] spectacles and beard, shout [her] name, and demand to know who killed [her] husband” (28), she instead suffers from the irritation of the adhesive, covering her true face. Her disguise can’t hide her identity, however, as Carmela, a sex worker, makes clear. Flirting with Puri as Cristóbal, Carmela observes Puri and says, “‘Look at that dainty beard” (74), showing that masculinity is harder to perform than she realized.

This prosthetic also shows the costs associated with this performance. As Puri bathes in the creek, she realizes that she “[is] exposed without the beard” (157), and the glue won’t work on her wet face. This is later revealed as the moment Martin sees she is a woman. The irritation on her chin from the adhesive marks her face, just as Don Fernando’s punch does, and both wounds represent the dangers one can experience as a man.