Character Relationship Map: Under a Spell

Characters

• Felipa / Teacher (played by Blanca Guerra) — protagonist

  Felipa is a teacher who promotes revolutionary education, discipline, and respect in her classroom. She repeatedly protects Burro after he is returned by the police and treated as an outsider, placing...

• Eliseo (played by Mario Zaragoza) — protagonist

  Eliseo is the story’s central figure, shaped by poverty, family conflict, dockside labor, and the influence of the traveling circus. He admires Rey Reyes and dreams of escape, while Burro’s death leav...

• Eliseo (Young) (played by Daniel Acuña) — supporting

  Young Eliseo is shown during the formative years when school, work, family instability, and the circus shape his ambitions. He is drawn to Rey Reyes’s promise of a different life, remains connected to...

• Burro (played by Luis Fernando Peña) — supporting

  Burro is a troubled schoolboy who is brought back to class by the police and treated as an outsider by teachers and classmates. Felipa repeatedly tries to protect him, but after a violent incident he...

• Magda - Eliseo's elder sister (played by Vanessa Bauche) — supporting
• Lucio (played by Guillermo Gil) — minor

  Lucio is a dockside labor figure who defends union rules when a traveler is challenged for carrying his own luggage without belonging to the workers’ union. He later argues that compromises with those...

• Rey Reyes (played by Rodolfo Arias) — supporting

  Rey Reyes is a traveling circus performer who becomes a powerful influence on Eliseo’s childhood. He encourages Eliseo’s dream of becoming a performer, promises to take him away and build a new life,...

• Rafael (Young) (played by Ricardo Rentería) — supporting

  Rafael is a young companion of Eliseo who shares a disturbing step into adulthood. When Eliseo turns thirteen, María arranges for both boys to visit women at a brothel, exposing them together to sexua...

• María - Eliseo's Mother (played by Luisa Huertas) — supporting

  María is Eliseo’s mother, and her concern about his entry into adulthood leads her to arrange a brothel visit for him and Rafael when Eliseo turns thirteen. Although she treats the decision as an expe...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Eliseo (Young) → Eliseo (Temporal Younger And Older Self) — The two listed versions represent Eliseo at different stages of his life.

  The narrative follows Eliseo from childhood, when he attends school and encounters the circus, into adulthood at the dock.

• Lucio → Eliseo (Power Union Authority) — Lucio represents the institutional pressure governing Eliseo's work.

  At the dock, Eliseo works under rival labor unions, while Lucio defends the union rules and their territorial control.

• Magda - Eliseo's elder sister → Eliseo (Young) (Family Older Sister And Younger Brother) — Magda is part of Eliseo's troubled family environment.

  Magda is explicitly identified as Eliseo's elder sister, and both belong to the impoverished household marked by conflict.

• María - Eliseo's Mother → Rafael (Young) (Power Parental Authority) — María's decision places Rafael within an adult ritual imposed on the boys.

  María arranges for Rafael and Eliseo to visit women at a brothel when Eliseo turns thirteen.

• María - Eliseo's Mother → Eliseo (Young) (Family Mother And Son) — María monitors Eliseo's transition into adolescence and adulthood.

  María is identified as Eliseo's mother and becomes concerned as he enters adulthood.

• Felipa / Teacher → Eliseo (Young) (Professional Teacher And Student) — Felipa represents the educational authority shaping Eliseo's early life.

  Felipa teaches revolutionary education at the school, and Eliseo is shown continuing school during his childhood.

• Felipa / Teacher → Burro (Professional Teacher And Protected Student) — Felipa acts as Burro's protective teacher and advocate.

  Felipa repeatedly tries to protect Burro after police bring him back to class, while teachers and classmates treat him as an outsider.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Eliseo (Young) → Burro (Social Classmate) — They belong to the same school world shaped by exclusion and discipline.

  Burro is treated as an outsider by teachers and classmates, while Eliseo's childhood includes attendance at the same school.

• Eliseo (Young) → Rafael (Young) (Social Companion) — Rafael accompanies Eliseo through a formative and disturbing experience.

  When Eliseo turns thirteen, María arranges for Eliseo and Rafael to visit women at a brothel together.

• Eliseo (Young) → Rey Reyes (Social Mentor And Admirer) — Rey inspires Eliseo's imagination and desire for escape.

  Rey Reyes encourages Eliseo's dreams of becoming a performer and promises to take him away to build a new life.

Story Analysis

Eliseo grows between oppressive family and labor structures, a tragic school world, and the recurring dream of escape through the circus.

Plot Progression

1. Dockside Rules and School Discipline — The story introduces Eliseo's union-controlled work environment and the conflict between collective rules and personal freedom. At school, Felipa teaches discipline while defending Burro from exclusio...
2. The Circus Promise — The traveling circus gives Eliseo a vision of performance and escape. Rey Reyes encourages him and helps his family, but Eliseo is forced to remain behind.
3. A House Without Safety — Felipa faces oppression in her domestic life, while Eliseo's household is marked by poverty, jealousy, and fear. María becomes anxious about Eliseo's entry into adulthood.
4. The Cruel Passage to Adulthood — María sends Eliseo and Rafael to a brothel, exposing them to humiliation and adult sexuality. Eliseo later faces accusations and violence in his local community.
5. Burro's Funeral and the Open Road — Burro's death shatters Eliseo's remaining faith in adult explanations, and the school funeral cannot ease his grief. The returning circus offers escape while union politics keep his obligations unreso...