On the basis of the theoretical proposals of Jean Baudrillard, Michel Foucault and Rene Girard, the functioning of mimetic desire and utopian bodies in La Desdichada [The miserable] is analyzed. This short story by Carlos Fuentes is comprised in Constancia y otras novelas para virgenes [Constancia and other stories for Virgins]. The affective relationship devolved between two individuals (the characters Bernardo and Tono) and an object (a mannequin that acquires its own personality) is examined by means of several variations of triangular sexual desire. Finally, there is an account of the process by means of which the humanization and involution of the object takes place.