Tradition and Modernity
Both because of the play's historical context and because of the actions framed by its plot, one of Anna in the Tropics's central concerns is the conflict between tradition and modernity. Regarding the former, as Nilo Cruz himself has said, he set the play in 1929 specifically because this was the historical moment in which the lector tradition in Cuban cigar factories started to fade in favor of mechanized production. By setting the play within this frame, then, Cruz was deeply invested in exploring how local and immigrant traditions necessarily conflict with a conventional understanding of American or globalized "modernity." Within the play, too, however, many individual actions also add to this general atmosphere of conflict between old and new lifestyles. Marela's folk ritual of "sweetening" Juan Julian's name, for example, is scorned by the other Alcalar women. Conchita's decision to take on a lover places her firmly within the modern archetype of a female sexual libertine, strictly in conflict with the traditional gender roles laid out for women. On a more minor level, the plan in Act 2 to make an Anna Karenina cigar line runs contrary to the tradition of pairing cigar branding with tropical or "exotic" women. Finally, Cheché's plan to get rid of Juan Julian plays into the historical context and gives us readers a specific instance of this context with personalized emotional stakes. In each corner of the play, then, one can see the superstructures of tradition and modernity being articulated, and readers do well to note the ways that specific actions taken either embrace or run contrary to specific traditions.
The Value of Literature
Another central theme in Anna in the Tropics is the value of and power held by literature. When Juan Julian begins to read Anna Karenina to the workers at the Alcalar's cigar factory, he probably does not expect the far-ranging and broad consequences that the novel will have for the family. After hearing the novel, Marela becomes lost in reverie and hopes to emulate the young beauty of Anna. Conchita, for her part, is inspired by the potential an affair would bring for self-discovery and physical passion, and takes up with Juan Julian in response to the novel. Palomo, like Anna Karenina's husband, becomes a jealous lover, and tries to reconcile with Conchita in an otherwise loveless and lost marriage. Cheché becomes jealous and falls for Marela in her dreamlike state, though she rejects him many times. Santiago and Ofelia, meanwhile, use Levin and Kitty as a model for their own loving relationship and devotion to one another, as well as a model for Santiago's devotion to his work. Literature then, is clearly seen to be a kind of catalyst in the lives of Cruz's characters, intoxicating them in ways that both lower their inhibitions and steel them in their inclinations. It can inspire people to do better socially and economically, but it can also serve as a painful reminder of our own lived experiences and what we have lost.
Love and Intimacy
Since a great deal of Anna in the Tropics revolves around romantic and interpersonal relationships, love and intimacy is also a theme that occupies a central role in Cruz's drama. Particularly in the relationships of Ofelia and Santiago, Conchita and Juan Julian, Conchita and Palomo, and Cheché and Marela/his ex-wife, we see the many different ways love and intimacy can work hand in hand, as well as ways in which love and intimacy are precluded in relationships. In Ofelia and Santiago's relationship, we start out in a rocky place, where Ofelia is mad at Santiago over his gambling debts, but we eventually move to a place of mutual understanding, support, and acceptance that showcases what makes their relationship strong. In Conchita's relationship with Palomo, conversely, we initially see how jealousy and secrecy complicate a loving relationship and can make things more stale and tense; through her relationship with Juan Julian, however—and through what she carries from this relationship to her marriage with Palomo—Conchita learns that openness and total surrender to one's partner is the price one has to pay in order to truly experience love. In the most negative light, then, we see how Cheché's relationships fail and have failed because he is too possessive and jealous of a lover. Were it not for his violent possessiveness, after all, it is possible that Mildred may not have left, and it is almost certain that he would not have killed Juan Julian over Marela (who does not even return his affections).
The Cuban-American Experience
Being situated firmly in a Cuban community within Tampa in the 1920s (Ybor City), the play is also significantly invested in excavating the Cuban-American experience, as well as how this experience differs from a conventional or "northern" American lived experience. While the Cubans in the play embrace the magic of literature and are bold and unrestrained in the ways they live, love, and laugh with one another, the more northern person in the play (i.e., Cheché) resists these aesthetic and leisurely experiences, instead advocating for a more mechanized, efficient approach to cigar rolling. He is also markedly less affectionate than the others in the play and is very quick to reject the traditions that others see as pivotal. While such facts would lead one to believe Cruz paints the Cuban-American experience as a more bright and colorful one, the truth of the matter is that Cruz does not sugarcoat the experience in such a way. Rather, he constantly has his characters bring up the fact that, on account of their class and heritage, they may not be able to dream as big and bold as some other Americans. While this is never said explicitly, reminders for characters like Marela to measure their dreams more carefully and always keep one foot on the ground are concrete evidence that the characters are aware that their backgrounds may limit them in American society. Even so, however, Cruz also provides us ample evidence to show that, despite everything, the Cuban-American experience is as complex and multifaceted as any other experience in America, with special and unique traditions and practices that define it.
Fantasy and Reality
Tying into many of the other major themes of the play is that of fantasy and dreams—and, specifically, when these dreams ought to be abandoned in favor of a more realistic approach to life. The case study here is in Marela, someone who, soon after entering the romantic world of Anna Karenina, becomes completely absorbed in fantasies of opulent Russian winters. She starts to dress differently, collages at her workspace, and her work output suffers as a result, but she does not bend under the pressure of her mother and Cheché. Rather, she leans into her fantasies even more deeply and winds up getting Juan Julian killed inadvertently. At the same time, however, Cruz is not so stingy as to suggest that we should not let ourselves by taken by dreams: after all, when the Alcalars start the Anna Karenina line of cigars, they are realizing a dream that will keep their traditions alive. At the same time, however, Cruz cautions us to not lose sight of the very real consequences that may follow us if we lean too deeply into our dreams, though reality is often stranger than these fantasies themselves (case in point, the fact that the Alcalars' lives mirror the lives of Tolstoy's characters so deeply).
Masculinity and Machismo
Gender dynamics are at the fore of Anna in the Tropics, and one of the key facets of gender dynamics explored in the play is that of machismo, or strong/aggressive masculinity that presents in excess. For example, what makes Santiago lose his money in the first place is a cockfight, a violent and traditionally masculine activity that was traditionally not open to women. Later, when Palomo refuses to accommodate his wife's desires in love and marriage and takes on a lover, he becomes jealous when she instead choses to see Juan Julian, the factory's new lector. Cheché, too, is a case study in the negative consequences of machismo, since his wife left him on account of his lack of tenderness. Moreover, Cheché's hot temper and toxic masculinity lead him to kill Juan Julian in a fit of jealous rage over Marela, who does not even like him back. Juan Julian, on the other hand, is a shining example in the play of what men could and should be like in a loving relationship. He takes the time to let Conchita get used to him and his body, revels in the joys of literature and open communication, and has honor without letting his emotions get the best of him.
Female Oppression and Liberation
At the same time that Cruz sheds light on the consequences of machismo in his characters' lives, he also reveals the ways in which women are disempowered in the status quo, as well as the ways in which they can choose to liberate themselves. The clearest example here is Conchita, who begins the play as a relatively static and disempowered character, trapped in a marriage that is going nowhere. By being bold and taking on a lover (after being inspired by Anna Karenina), however, she is able to reinvent herself and take control of her life again. This leads her to then regain control of her marriage, allowing her to reconcile with Palomo. Marela, too, begins the play as a naive and nervous girl (who even wets herself when she first meets Juan Julian). By the play's end, however, she is a resolute and strong girl who has faced the death of her dream man and come out steely on the other end. In each case, however, the women's evolutions into more realized characters were contingent on learning to see themselves in a new way through literature. Notably, even the presence of Ofelia in their lives as a strong role model was not enough to get them here on its own; rather, it took an outside force revealing to them all that they were and had potential to be.
