In the Book The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Thornton Wilder portrays love to be both the cause of misery in life and the cause of meaning in life.
             The book begins in Peru with the collapse of the bridge of San Luis Rey. The catastrophe results in five people plunging to their deaths. A Franciscan monk named Brother Juniper witnesses the event and wonders, "why did this happen to those five?"
             In an attempt to prove theology an exact science, Brother Juniper researches the lives of these five people.
             The first victim of love introduced in the book is the Marquesa de Montemayor, better known as Doña María. Doña María had been plagued her whole life with Ugliness and a speech impediment. She was not married until the age of twenty-six. This marriage resulted in the birth of her daughter, Doña Clara, to whom all her love was given. From an early age mother and daughter had an odd relationship, as shown in this passage:
             "...and when an exquisite daughter was born to her she fastened upon her an idolatrous love. ... At the age eight she was calmly correcting her mother's speech and presently regarding her with astonishment and repulsion."pg14
             This shows how much love Doña María poured into Doña Clara, and how she in turn only offered criticism.
             When Doña Clara was old enough for marriage she married off to Spain and far away from her mother. This caused the Marquesa great pain such that the only joy she found in life was writing letters, seldom receiving replies, to her daughter. Eventually Doña María became increasingly lonely and decided to adopt a girl named Pepita. Pepita became a great help to Doña María. When a letter arrived from Spain confiding that Doña Clara was to have a child the Marquesa, following in Peruvian tradition, made the pilgrimage to the shrine of Santa María de Cluxambuqua along with Pepita. It was on this trip t...