Four decades of Puerto Rican emigration: Different contexts, same realities

This article compares the treatment of the subject of Puerto Rican emigration to the United States in two outstanding dramatic works of the Island s literature René Marqués′s La carreta and Roberto Ramos-Perea′s Malasangre. While acknowledging the inevitable differences, such as the socioeconomic status of the emigrants and the area of the mainland where they settle, the article argues that, even though more than thirty years separate the two works, there are striking similarities. These include the fundamental reason for emigration, the effect of emigration on the family and the question of return to Puerto Rico. If these two plays are rooted in the reality of their respective eras, as indeed they are, then it may be concluded that, in terms of the fundamental issues that influence and affect emigrants to the mainland before and after they migrate, there has not been any significant change, even after more than thirty years