Although prostitution may still be one of the oldest professions in the world today, it is seen as a degrading and disrespectful career, especially when it comes to female prostitutes. In Death Foretold, the town is very critical and strict about chastity and premarital sex. Maria Alejandrina Cervantes is the lady of the town which, by society's standards, makes her one of the most marginalized, but ironically she is not brought down by the rules of her society. Gabriel Garcia Márquez uses characterization and irony to demonstrate the contradictory role of Maria Alejandrina Cervantes and to develop the theme of going against society in Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Garcia Márquez presents Maria Cervantes as a highly respected and powerful woman through the use of allusions or religious references when developing Maria Cervantes. At the beginning of the story the narrator says that he was sitting “in the apostolic lap of Maria Alejandrina Cervantes” (5). Referring to the womb of Maria Cervantes as apostolic Garcia Márquez creates situational irony. The apostles were the disciples of Jesus Christ, so giving Mary apostolic qualities creates irony especially because Maria Cervantes' profession is more than often condemned by religion. By having the narrator in Maria Cervantes' lap as a child, the author creates a presence of domination with Maria Cervantes because she shaped the lives of the men of the city. Another religious allusion is the name of Maria Alejandrina Cervantes. Her name Maria is a reference to the Virgin Mary, which creates more irony given Maria's career. Despite the city's use of religion as a rationale for their criticism, they failed to realize their hypocrisy because Jesus Christ was known to show compassion towards prostitutes like Mary... in the center of the card... is in an extremely vulnerable state which creates irony because he is in the opposite heaven due to Santiago's death. His mourning creates more sympathy in the reader and creates more depth. Maria Alejandrina Cervantes is a rare dominant woman in the novel who by society's standards should be marginalized due to her career and gender, but she refuses to conform and chooses to go against her society. She is shown to be stubborn and fiercely protective of her friends and always accepting of others. Through the use of situational irony and characterization, Gabriel Garcia Márquez portrays the lady of the town, Maria Alejandrina Cervantes, as a contradictory character and her struggle against the restrictive beliefs of her society. Works CitedMarquez, Gabriel Garcia. Chronicle of a death foretold. Trans. Gregorio Rabassa. New York: Vintage International, 2003. Print.