Legacy
Ursa's primary conflict in life is the incredible weight of her grandmother and great grandmother's legacies. The women of the family have passed those stories of cruel abuse during slavery at the hands of Corregidora for generations. In fact Ursa was taught that she too should grow up to have daughters and pass on the story so as not to have allowed her ancestors to suffer in vain. The problem with this mission is that Ursa is unable to have children after her hysterectomy and that she really feels no urge to start a family. She's conflicted because she does not wish to dishonor her ancestors, but she needs to be true to herself. In the end she realizes that she can best honor her grandma by pursuing her own bliss. She incorporates her family's stories into her songs, making her singing career into an impactful success.
Domestic Violence
Corregidora is a fascinating exploration into how abuse perpetuates throughout generations. While usually that topic is covered from the angle of the abusers who have already been abused and go on to repeat the cycle. In this book, however the victims are studied. Ursa, like her mother before her and her mother before her and so on for four generations now, is a victim of domestic violence. In fact she admits that she has a fascination or attraction to abusive personalities, sexuality and violence having been linked in her brain from childhood. None of the women in this family have had healthy romantic relationships or stayed with men whom they trusted and loved, dating all the way to the ritual rapes of Ursa's great grandma who was a slave in Brazil. Although these women are not in any way responsible for the abuse done to them, they are definitely choosing dangerous men with whom to consort. As Ursa comes to believe, it's a result of the legacy being told so religiously to the girls in childhood. They come to expect those sorts of things and forget to set their expectations high in any potential relationships.
Sexual Confusion
Ursa feels herself going numb to sexuality these days. In her late thirties, she's been around the block a few times by now. She's become so frustrated with her unhappy romantic relationships -- especially after the divorce -- that she wonders whether she may be a lesbian. Her sister, Cat, is an open lesbian. After some deep soul-searching and asking her mom and sister many questions, Ursa concludes that her sexuality has been severely influenced by the domestic violence to which all of the women in her family have been subjected. Whether she is a lesbian or not, Ursa knows that her perspective on romantic relationships is damaged and unhealthy.
