En la ardiente oscuridad Antonio Buero-Vallejo’s play, ‘En la ardiente de oscuridad’ deals with a young man’s personal fight with the acceptance of his blindness. This young man is Ignacio, the protagonist of the play who lives in Francoist Spain in the year 1950. In his opinion he has been burdened with the disability of being blind. It is a disability that buts a division between him and the real world. Igancio is the tragic hero of the play as he stands up against normality and brings a new type darkness to the Centre of ‘los invidentes.’ From Ignacio’s first entrance onto the stage it is evident that he is an honest character. ‘Soy un pobre ciego.’ He exclaims the fact that he is not like the people in the outside world using the In doing this his hamartia developed. As he continued to spread his beliefs he also created an atmosphere of melancholy and darkness. The students no longer have that spark of happiness that made the Centre a success. As a result of Ignacio’s actions Miguel no longer shows strong feelings for Elisa and Juana began to have feelings for Ignacio therefore hurting Carlos. Igancio’s actions had major effects on the other students, without him even noticing. Ignacio is a stubborn character who would not accept anyone else’s point of view or take into account anyone else’s feelings. In Carlos’s opinion Ignacio has no respect for the people around him that are trying to help him. ‘Responde a la Amistad con la maldad.’ In Carlos’s eyes the students of the Centre are trying to help Ignacio settle in to his new life but all that Ignacio sees is the students trying to conform Ignacio to a make believe society. At the end of Act II a different side to Ignacio’s character develops. He starts to have feelings for Juana, showing his more sensitive side and transforms to a more caring character. ‘A ti y desde el primer día.’ Seeing this side of Ignacio shows the audience that like everyone else Ignacio too can show love for others and that he does not have a cold heart, an image that was once depicted of him. It is at this point in
