Series / Soy La Duena

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Soy Tu Dueña (I'm The Master) is a Mexican telenovela, interpreted by the actors Lucero and Fernando Colunga, it's based after the venezolan telenovela "La Doña". It talks about a woman named Valentina Villalba who wanted to marry one day with Alonso Peñalvert, but he betrayed her with Ivanna, causing Valentina develop a hatred toward men in general, after that she comes back to her hacienda "Los Cascabeles", where she has to deal with Rosendo Gavilán and her neighbor and future husband José Miguel Montecinos.

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"Soy Tu Dueña" provides examples of the following tropes:

• A Fate Worse Than Death: Rosendo's karma in the end. He ends disfigured, thanks to an explosion, Valentina marries with the man he despises the most, who happens also to be his biological son. And he's locked in solitary confinement after killing a man who started to bully him. All while mourning that he loves Valentina.
• A Lesson Learned Too Well: Rosendo's behavior is a misguided coping mechanism for his step-father abuse, he decided to imitate him to cope in life.
• Abhorrent Admirer: Deconstructed twice:
  • Ivana is this towards José Miguel. But she comes far in her schemes of seducing him, like trying to get pregnant to force José Miguel to comply her.
  • Rosendo is this towards Valentina, even calling himself "Valentina's most loyal follower". But he comes as far as kidnapping her and keeping her in an abandoned mine.
• Always Someone Better: Valentina to Ivana. This is the main reason why Ivana wants Valentina dead.
• An Arm and a Leg: Besides getting disfigured, Rosendo loses his right leg after a botched explosion, it's his own fault putting the bomb in first place.
• Archnemesis Dad: In the finale is revelated that José Miguel Montecinos is the son of Rosendo Gavilán, making this trope play in full effect.
• Asshole Victim: Evelio Zamarripa, the lawyer of Rosendo, receives this twice. See [1], [2] and [3] below.
• Beta Couple: Sandra Enriqueta Macotelo Bermúdez and the Dr. Felipe Santibáñez.
  • Horacio Acosta and Gabriela Islas can count as a Gamma Couple, considering how much they love each other.
• Betty and Veronica: Many examples:
  • José Miguel is Archie, while Valentina is Betty and Ivana is Veronica.
  • Valentina is Archie, while José Miguel is Betty and Alonso is Veronica.
  • Valentina is Archie, while José Miguel is Betty and Rosendo is Veronica.
  • Valentina is Archie, while Alonso is Betty and Rosendo is Veronica.
• Big "NO!": Upon learning that José Miguel is his son, Rosendo lets one out.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Ivana Dorantes. She acts nice in the outside, but she's one of the nastiest characters in the telenovela.
• Black-and-White Insanity: Ivana's point of view in spades! Are you with her or against her? Do you want to please her or annoy her? She commonly thinks that people either want to annoy her or be againist her.
• Broken Pedestal: A subtle one. But Leonor de Montecinos at first used to see Ivana as the ideal candidate for her son José Miguel. But after Ivana goes to live in the Hacienda Montecinos, Leonor and José Miguel witness at first-hand the behavior of Ivana: a hedonistic, lazy, lying, scheming, backstabbing, selfish bitch who only cares for herself and lacks any standards. Heck! When Leonor gave her the perfect chance to seduce José Miguel, but since she refuses to obey anyone, she lost her chance, even when she was requested to prevent José Miguel from learning that Leonor hired Arcelia Olivares to ruin her son's marriage with Valentina, she did nothing! The event that broke the vase was when Leonor saw Ivana (who trying to get José Miguel to comply her by pretending to be pregnant) having a "moment" with Rosendo, then with other men, like Commander Toledo and when Leonor confronted Valentina, she aided Valentina only to prove Leonor how mean she can be.
• Body Horror: Rosendo Gavilán in the finale. Half of his body is burnt and he looks very disgusting just seeing him.
• Cain and Abel: Cousin variation. Valentina is Abel, while Ivana is Cain.
• Calling the Old Man Out:
  • Sandra finally confronts her mother Enriqueta for not accepting her love for Dr. Felipe Santibáñez.
  • A more heartbreaking example is whenever Ivana calls her mother Isabel out, specially because she tries her best to be a good mother but Ivana is just too spoiled, selfish and ingrate to see the wrong of her ways. Heck! She even ends telling her mom that: "Dog defends her puppies better than her".
• Children Are Innocent:
  • Santiaguito Peñalvert Castaño. He's a kid, but he clearly is innocent and loves his father Alonso.
  • Chuy Granados and his sister Teresita Granados are also this.
• Children Raise You: Santiaguito, the son of Alonso Peñalvert, eventually brings the better of his father and makes him become a nicer person in the end.
• Cool Old Guy: Three examples:
  • Sabino Mercado. He's easily one of the best characters.
  • Benita Garrido as well.
  • Amparo, the nurse and secretary of Dr. Felipe Santibánez is also one.
• Crying Wolf: Ivana's fate. Not surprising, considering she lies all the time.
• Cynicism Catalyst: Alonso betraying Valentina is what caused her to develop a hatred toward men and falling in love in general, also making her more ruthless.
• Does Not Like Men: Valentina Villalba at first. After Alonso's betrayal, she starts to believe that all men were cut from the same fabric and despises the idea of marrying with a man. Averted in her friendships with Chuy Granados, the Dr. Felipe Santibañez and the Lic. Ernesto Galeana, who are male.
• Domestic Abuse: Courtesy of Rosendo Gavilán, he's a male chauvinist that commonly hits his wife Crisanta.
• Double Entendere: Ivana insults her mom by calling her a "Perra", which can mean two things: A female dog or a sluth in spanish, in any case it's a heavy insult to women.
• Driven to Suicide: Double Subverted. Ivana Dorantes is prone to this:
  • In the first episodes she tries to commit suicide after a quarrell with Alonso, but she's saved by a doctor afterwards, subverting the trope.
  • In the finale Ivana commits suicide by real after everybody learns her true colors, double subverting this trope.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas:
  • Averted with Ivana, she commonly berates and gets angry at Isabel, her mother for not doing her will and guilt trips her into believing she is a bad mother. Heck! She even insults her. Luckily she's not as nasty as Soraya towards Nana Calixta from María la del Barrio, but still... it's heartbreaking seeing Ivana treating with contempt her own mother.
  • Played straight with Rosendo, of all men! He dearly loved his mom, that he's still mourning over her, even if he's an abusive prick towards everybody! Heck! The main reason why he become evil, is because he tries to cope with the demise of his mother at the hands of his abusive step-father!
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Rosendo may be an abusive man, but he clearly can't stand Ivana. He gets apalled by the fact Ivana murders Benita (even if it was an accident) and also gets fed up with how much of a prick she is.
  • Leonor de Montecinos has standards too. She used to see Ivana in a holy light, but she gets fed up with her hedonistic, lazy behavior as the telenovela advances. She also despises how lustful and selfish she is, like when she caught her making up with Rosendo and with others.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:
  • Rosendo Gavilán is a massive case of this trope. He can't understand why Valentina is generous and empatic towards his step-daughter Iluminada and his ex-wife Crisanta, he believes they were tattle talers who told Valentina about how he mistreats them and Valentina is aiding them in spite of him. He also doesn't get why Valentina doesn't want him, despite his advances and still wants José Miguel.
  • Ivana Dorantes too, she doesn't understand why men leave her and what they see in Valentina other than being wealthy and succesful at life, she believes they do that in order to harm her, when in reality, Ivana is a spiteful, selfish, malicious, oportinistic, cynical, lazy, blackmailing and whiny woman. She doesn't realize that her behaviour drives many men away and they love Valentina for her kindness and selflesness.
  • Leonor de Montesinos as well, she doesn't understand why her son José Miguel wants to maintain a dirty hacienda and live in a rural town, rather than living to the capital with her.
• Evil Cripple: Rosendo Gavilán in the end. He loses his right leg and the right side of his body got disfigured after a botched bomb.
• Fighting Back Is Wrong: A rare instance where this trope isn't hateable. Rosendo after being imprisoned is bullied by Zamarripa (his formed lawyer) and his group of bullies, who tackle Rosendo in a muddy pool and steal his crutch (he got disfigured and crippled after an explosion), playing hot potato with it. Rosendo gets angry and strangles Zamarripa to death. This causes the warden to put Rosendo in solitary confinement for the rest of his life.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Two Examples:
  • Sabino and Valentina are the biggest example. He saw Valentina in a new light, after seeing how much she cares about Chuy.
  • Alonso and José Miguel become more agreeable with each other as the telenovela progresses.
• Forceful Kiss: Twice, courtesy of Ivana:
  • Ivana kisses José Miguel in a party in an attempt to make everybody believe they're a couple.
  • Ivana does this a second time when Valentina is coming to talk with José Miguel to make them look they're dating.
• Freudian Excuse:
  • Leonor's hatred towards Valentina steems from the fact, that Valentina has caused José Miguel a lot of grief during the beginning of the telenovela. Yes, she's a jerk, but she clearly loves her son José Miguel a lot.
  • Ivana's jerkassery comes from the fact she feels rejected by everybody in her life and compare her with Valentina, it's not only envy and jealously towards her, but also she feels lonely, people prefer Valentina due being more succesful, kind and wealthy and she has a circle of friends that love her, while Ivana is lonely. Still, this doesn't excuse her behavior or actions through the telenovela.
  • Rosendo's reason of being evil, is because he never met his father. His father left his mom pregnant and left her behind, later his mother married his step-father, an abusive prick who one day killed his mother. Rosendo decided to imitate his step-father's example to face the life.
• Friend to All Children: Valentina Villalba and José Miguel Montesinos, they even opened a school to help children to regularize their studies in school.
• Green-Eyed Monster:
  • Ivana Dorantes. She has a lust from Alonso Peñalvert and José Miguel Montecinos, from the moment she saw her cousin Valentina dating them.
  • Rosendo Gavilán as well. He develops a lust for Valentina Villalba.
• Gossipy Hens: There's three women who commonly trashtalk about Valentina Villalba and deformate everything she did.
• Heel–Face Turn: Leonor de Montesinos in the end.
• Hoist by Their Own Petard: Rosendo ends disfigured due one of his explosives.
• Holier Than Thou: The three afromentioned women, commonly pray and act like saints, but they often defamate and trash-talk about Valentina Villalba, which the bible punishes.
• I Have No Son!: Two inverted examples.
  • Inverted. Iluminada Camargo will never accept Rosendo Gavilán as her step-father.
  • Inverted again. When José Miguel Montecinos learns that Rosendo Gavilán is his biological father.
• If I Can't Have You…: Ivana is fine with José Miguel being dead, because she prefers him dead than as the husband of Valentina.
• Imaginary Enemy: At halfway the telenovela, Ivana starts having visions of the deceasded Óscar Ampudia, who blames her and starts making nasty and threatening commentaries about her, the more insane she becomes. And this worsens when the telenovela keeps continuing.
• It's All About Me: Ivana Dorantes, entire personality.
• Jerk With A Heart Of A Jerk: Ivana Dorantes. Whenever she seems to do something nice, she ultimately proves that she's doing only because she's thinking of herself. She even lampshades this to her cousin Valentina when she saves her face when Leonor is confronting her, when she tells her: "How do you know I'm saving you to save my face?".
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
  • Valentina Villalba. She can be harsh and ruthless, but inside she's a good woman. She also becomes kinder as the telenovela progresses.
  • Alonso Peñalvert. Maybe he's a selfish businessman, but he's ultimately a reliable character. He's also a father who loves his son dearly.
  • Sandra Enriqueta Macotela Bermúdez. She can be quite obnoxious, spoiled and demanding, but ultimately she's one of the nicest characters of the telenovela, despite her flaws.
  • Horacio Acosta. Horacio is not exactly a paragon and has male-chauvinist shades and is very promiscuous. But ultimately is a nice guy who cares a lot of his friends and employees. He even confronted a group of women who trash-talk about Valentina when she was kidnapped.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: Rosendo Gavilán in the end.
• Large Ham: Enriqueta Bermúdez, the mother of Sandra has the tendency of shouting. Specially whenever she insults Dr. Santibáñez and calls him "¡MEDIQUITO!" ("DOCTURD!")
• Lazy Bum: Deconstructed with Ivana, she does nothing all day, but she feels resentful because she doesn't know how to put her life together, she doesn't know how to do anything. This is a main reason why nobody stands her.
• Lesser of Two Evils: Leonor de Montecinos as the telenovela progresses. Specially when you compare her with Ivana and Rosendo. In fact, she's the only antagonist to redeem herself.
• Like Father, Unlike Son: Two examples:
  • Gender-Inverted. Isabel is a nice woman, she's kind, idealistic, sweet and a cool aunt and mother, she's easily one of the friendliest characters in the telenovela. Her daughter Ivana, on the other hand is an spiteful, envious, blackmailing, cynical, whiny brat who's cold, ruthless and only cares for herself, at times it's hard to believe that somebody as sweet like Isabel would had a nasty daughter like Ivana.
  • In the finale is revelated that Rosendo Gavilán and José Miguel Montecinos are father and son. The differences they have are very obvious. Rosendo is a male-chauvinist, abusive, prideful, arrogant, nacissist, he's mean-spirited, cowardly, very vindicative, jerk is short to describle him. Heck! people label him as "The Devil Incarnate"! this should give you an idea of how much despicable he is. José Miguel Montecinos on the other hand is a nice guy, he's kind, brave, courageous, patient, humble, good-spirited and respectful, he treats others like best friends or family. People even say that he's like an angel sent from heaven itself!
• Made of Iron: Rosendo Gavilán. He takes a lot of punishment in the finale and STILL survives!
• Mama Bear: Three examples:
  • Isabel loves her daughter Ivana so dearly, she even went to jail to save her.
  • Benita sees Valentina as her daughter and will do everything for her, she's also a second mother for Iluminada.
  • As much of a jerk she is. Leonor truly loves her son José Miguel, this is main reasons why she hates Valentina, because he caused him a lot of grief.
• Mirror Character: Despite their mutual hatred, José Miguel and Rosendo are very, very similar: They're willing to accomplish their objectives, doesn't matter the obstacles, are very handsome, they're hard workers and are in love of Valentina Villalba. It seems that it runs in their blood, after all they're father and son.
• Morality Chain: Isabel Rangel and Benita Garrido, they often try to be conscience of Valentina.
• Morality Pet:
  • Chuy Granados is this for Valentina Villalba, he's the only character who treats with genuine kindness. At least during the beginning, before she become nicer. He's also one for Sabino and José Miguel.
  • Santiaguito is one for his father Alonso. He always brings the best of him.
• My Beloved Smother: Two examples:
  • Leonor de Montecinos is this for her son José Miguel Montecinos, always wanting to choose for him. She gets better.
  • Enriqueta Bermúdez de Macotela is this for her daughter Sandra.
• Nice to the Waiter: Averted with Ivana. I mean she's one of the villains.
• Not Good with Rejection: Many examples:
  • It doesn't matter how many times Valentina tells Alonso she's not interested, Alonso keeps trying to get Valentina fell in love with him. Luckily he learns and becomes a better person and the two are in good terms by the end of the telenovela.
  • Sadly Rosendo doesn't get the meaning of the word "no". Valentina is not interested in him and has her well fundamented reasons. Rosendo ends kidnapping her for that and attempts to crash in their wedding during the finale.
  • Ivana, it doesn't matter how much José Miguel tells her "no", that's he's not in love of her, yet, she tries to get José Miguel to love her, even faking to be pregnant to get him to "comply" to her. José Miguel firmly tells her "no" in her face many times, but Ivana keeps thinking she can force José Miguel to love her.
• Not So Similar: Rosendo and José Miguel, despite their similitudes, they're very, very different characters: José Miguel treats others with respect and compassion, Rosendo treats others as his pawns. Also while José Miguel and Rosendo are in love with Valentina Villalba: José Miguel is patient and is willing to give her, her space, if even if she still keeps telling him no. Unlike Rosendo who is willing to kidnap Valentina and keeps forcing her to marry him. It's worse when they're revelated to be father and son.
• Obnoxious In Law: Enriqueta Bermúdez is this towards Dr. Felipe Santibánez.
• Offing the Offspring:
  • Rosendo Gavilán kills his unborn baby during a quarrell with his ex-wife Crisanta, in order to avoid having his money cut.
  • Inverted in the finale. Ivanna at one point attempts to kill her mother Isabel with a pair of scissors, but she ultimately decides to not.
  • In the finale is revelated that José Miguel Montecinos is the son of Rosendo Gavilán and Rosendo attempts to murder him during the entirety of the telenovela.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Ivana and Rosendo do this in the telenovela.
  • Ivana does this to have sex with the Commander Bruno Toledo, while she lived with José Miguel and Leonor.
  • Rosendo does this to gather medicaments for Valentina, while he keeps her imprisoned in an abandoned mine.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Double Subverted. Rosendo Gavilán attempts to rape Iluminada in the very first day Valentina arrives to the hacienda, she was saved in the nick of time. Sadly nobody saves Iluminada when Rosendo finally does it for real.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Rosendo is fond of this trope:
  • Discussed with Filadelfo, he fears that Rosendo could do this to him, if he betrays him. So he keeps switching between working for Valentina and Rosendo, despite he could lose his job or life.
  • Played Straight with Zamarripa, Rosendo's Lawyer. Rosendo does this twice to him:
    • Zamarripa makes a deal with Rosendo, in giving him a cart, a passport and money so he can take the kidnapped Valentina to another country. After signing the deal, he attempts to steal Rosendo's possesions while he's out. Sadly for him Chuy and Teresa (two children) found those items before and take them, causing Rosendo to believe that Zamarripa betrayed him and leading him to find that he was planning on stealing from him. She shots him with his revolver.
    • Zamarripa receives this again, when, after Rosendo is imprisoned, he incites the other prisoners to bully Rosendo (who was disfigured and crippled at the time). Making Rosendo leap and strangle him, killing him. For this Rosendo is put in solitary confinement for the rest of his life.
• Sacrificial Lamb: Sadly Benita Garrido. Ivana murders Benita by mere accident, by throwing her from a balcony. In any case, she doesn't mind, considering who she is.
• Self-Disposing Villain: Ivana Dorantes' ultimate fate.
• Shame If Something Happened: Rosendo Gavilán uses this against Iluminda, after he rapes her, telling her that he'll kill his mom if she dares to tell anybody that he raped her.
• Shout-Out: Ivana attempt of killing her mother Isabel with a pair of scissors, doesn't remind you of a famous scene of Maria La Del Barrio, where Soraya stabs Nandito with a pair of scissors?
• Shut Up, Kirk!: Subverted. Leonor slaps Sabino twice after he confronts Leonor on her selfish behavior, regarding her lust and crush on Rosendo, but ultimately fails, because Sabino doesn't shut up and still confronts Leonor. This is easily one of the best scenes from the telenovela.
• Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!:
  • Ivana's entire character. She's a cynical woman who believes that life is cold and unforgiving.
  • Valentina at first. After Alonso's betrayal she ends resenting the idea of falling in love again and after realizing she loves José Miguel, she believes he'll never date her for being cold and rejecting many times.
• Silly Rabbit, Cynicism Is for Losers!:
  • José Miguel Montesinos' entire character. He believes that life will always give you chances that you should enjoy. He also wants to keep maintaning his hacienda, because he lives his happy days there and build a school for children, using his knowledges in architecture.
  • Benita Garrido. She loathes Valentina's dramas about never falling in love and José Miguel rejecting her, she wants that Valentina realizes that love can hurt but she must keep trying and never give up in that. She flat-out tells her that it seems she enjoys to suffer for not daring to try again.
  • Isabel Rangel as well, she always sees the sun rising in every place.
• Skyward Scream: [[Rosendo lets one out, when he learns that José Miguel is his son]].
• Social Darwinist: Rosendo firmly believes in this.
• Spanner in the Works: Rosendo suffers twice from this trope:
  • Chuy and his sister Teresa become this. Rosendo made a deal with Zamarripa to get a cart, a passport and money to kidnap Valentina and take her to another country. Nevertheless Chuy and his sister Teresa found them before Rosendo arrived and took them all. Making believe to Rosendo that Zamarripa betrayed him.
  • Leonor de Montecinos gets over her crush towards Rosendo and aids Sabino to find Valentina, while Rosendo was out.
• Suicide Dare: Alonso at one point flat-out tells Ivana to commit suicide but right this time, if she's going to that a second time, after a quarrell with her. Guess what's Ivana's fate?
• Start of Darkness: Rosendo is evil, because he used to have an abusive stepfather who abused his mother, until he murdered her. If you ask, his biological father, left him behind.
• The Scapegoat: Leonor de Montecinos blames Valentina Villalba for everything. Even if she's not here or she had nothing to do here.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Sabino gives one to Leonor, after she refuses to face Rosendo and this could lead to José Miguel dying, despite she claims she loves him dearly. She slaps him twice, but Sabino doesn't flinch, he keeps telling her truths to Leonor.
• The Thing That Would Not Leave: Ivana becomes this when she moves with Leonor and José Miguel.
• The Unfavorite: Cousin variation. Ivana believes she is this in her mother Isabel's eyes and thinks she loves more Valentina than her, due her success and wealth.
• The Unfettered: Rosendo Gavilán, nothing stops him to achieve his goals. He lampshades it.
• Took A Level In Cynicism: After the incident with Alonso. Valentina becomes colder about the idea of love, but later...
• Took a Level in Idealism: ...while Valentina becomes kinder, she also becomes more optimistic and starts to believe in love again. This also part of her character arc.
• Took a Level in Kindness:
  • Valentina´s arc. As the telenovela continues, she becomes a kind woman.
  • Leonor de Montesinos. She ends realizing her mistakes in the end. She's also the only antagonist to become truly nice in the end.
  • Alonso Peñalvert as well. He ends becoming a nicer person in the end.
  • Horacio Acosta, he stops being a womanizer and becomes a full fledged nice guy as the telenovela progresses.
• Treacherous Spirit Chase: After killing Óscar Ampudia, and starting to descent into madness, Ivana starts to have visions of him, that become more frequent as the telenovela progresses, in all of them Óscar Ampudia keeps telling Ivana nasty things, such as how she doesn't deserve happiness. This however ends becoming really nasty, when Ivana ends seeing Benita as Óscar and in an attempt to get rid of "Óscar", she murders Benita by throwing her from the balcony.
• Tulpa: Subverted. Óscar Ampudia reappears as a manifestation of Ivanna's imagination when the telenovela is in its miday point and blames her and hurts her at both psychological and emotional levels, but ultimately is harmless to everybody but Ivana and again, Ivana is the only one who can see him.
• Tsundere: Valentina Villalba is the passive-aggressive type. She's commonly rude towards José Miguel Montesinos at first and has troubles to admit if she's in love with him, due Alonso's betrayal.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: It's revelated that Rosendo used to be a good kid, until his abusive step-father murdered his mother, leading him become the ruthless male chauvinist he's in the present.
• Wicked Stepfather: Rosendo used to have an abusive one, when he was a kid. Sadly this left an impact on him.
• Woman Scorned:
  • Valentina Villalba. After Alonso cheats on her, she becomes cold and ruthless.
  • Ivana Dorantes. Big Time. After Alonso leaves her behind, she starts to hate him for leaving her. It seems this runs in the family.
  • Leonor de Montecinos. It's not a good idea to turn her into this.
• Yandere: Rosendo Gavilán as the telenovela progresses, he comes from loathing Valentina, to develop a lust for her. This culminates in kidnapping her and imprison her in an abandonded mine for almost a whole week. He even attempted to kill in a church, when Valentina decides to marry José Miguel Montesinos.
• You Monster!: The vision of Óscar Ampudia keeps telling Ivana how nasty and cruel she is and how she deserves being alone, never be happy and that nobody will help or love her.