Rene Marques Wiki

Marqués was born, raised and educated in the city of Arecibo. He developed an interest in writing at a young age and was politically keen to support independence for the non-sovereign nation ofPuerto Rico.[1][2]

In the 1940s, Marqués wrote what is considered to be his best play, La Carreta (The Oxcart). In 1951, it opened in San Juan and helped secure his reputation as a leading literaryfigure in Puerto Rico. The drama traces a rural Puerto Rican family as it moved to the slums of San Juan and then to New York in search for a better life, only to be disillusioned and to long for theirisland.[1]
[edit]The Generation of the 40's

René Marqués was a member of what was known in Puerto Rico as "The Generation of the 40's". This was a group of intellectuals headed by Lorenzo Homar. In1950, together with the other members of the group, Marqués worked for the Division of Community Education of Puerto Rico. Marqués however, did often come into conflict with Luis Muñoz Marín. Hebelieved in complete Puerto Rican sovereignty and he often criticized Muñoz Marín, when he became governor, because of his acceptance of U.S. sovereignty over Puerto Rico.[2]
In 1954, Puerto Ricandirector, Roberto Rodríguez, produced La Carreta, the play opened at the Church of San Sebastian, located in Manhattan, New York. The success of the play motivated Míriam Colón and Rodríguez to form thefirst Hispanic theater group with its own 60 seat theater, called "El Círculo Dramatico" (The Drama Circuit).[1][2]
In 1959, Marqués published three plays together in the collection Teatro (Theater).These were La Muerte no entrará el Palacio (Death will not enter the Palace), Un Niño Azul para una Sombra (A Blue Boy for a Shadow) and Los Soles Truncos. In an essay (1960), which the Puerto RicanNationalist Party published as a pamphlet, Marqués addressed the problem of the language of instruction in Puerto Rico's colonial situation. He concluded that only the enjoyment of complete national...