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The portrayal of women in literature
The portrayal of women in literature
Introduction to feminist literary criticism
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During the time of the Mexican Revolution, men, women and children gathered together in order to revive democracy. During this time, men were considered to be the dominant force. In Like Water for Chocolate, Esquivel manipulates these traditions and through the use of literary conventions and techniques such as magic realism, she is able to reverse the roles of men and women in the story she develops. The most conspicuous evidence in the novel is the way characters develop throughout the story and defy their social expectations. Esquivel expresses this idea in many other ways within the novel, for example the way she subtly uses a title which not only acts as a form of emotion of Tita’s love, but also represents the anger and frustration of women at the time. By studying the text more closely, it is possible to find so much evidence about this idea.
Every character in the story at some point or all throughout the novel demonstrates certain characteristics which violate the conventional gender roles. For instance, Pedro and John share feminine characteristics. John is the one that portrays the more motherly and nurturing tendencies as she cares for Tita, “Afterwards, John’s large, loving hands had taken off her clothes and bathed her and carefully removed the pigeon droppings from her body, leaving her clean and sweet-smelling” (98). In contrast, Mama Elena is perhaps the most obvious character who takes on the role of the male dominant force in the novel unlike most women at that time who are usually supressed by the male figures. In this example, ‘Unquestionably, when it came to dividing, dismantling, dismembering, desolating, detaching, dispossessing, destroying, or dominating, Mama Elena was a pro’ (87) the strong use of alliteration by the author describes Mama Elena’s cruel personality. This role reversal is heightened by the contrasting character of Nacha, who acts as the more motherly figure to Tita.
There are other instances in the novel when the characters illustrate certain characteristics which can alter the reader’s perspective on the conventional gender norms. For example the way in which Pedro demonstrates more feminine traits by always obeying Mama Elena’s rules. Moreover, Tita’s older sister Gertrudis doesn’t possess certain traits which women were expected to master in that time. This is shown when she returns to the ranch as a general, she is asked by Tita to help in the kitchen in preparing cream fritters.
Characters- The Main character in this book is Celeste Harris. Celeste was always known for being called the fat girl. One day she was shopping with her mom, her cousin Kirsten and her aunt Doreen for Celeste’s other cousin Kathleen’s wedding. (pg . 1-10) They saw an ad to be a model at Huskey Peach (a clothes brand for heavier people). (pg.10) Behind Celeste’s back, her aunt sends in an application for her. Celetse then gets a letter in the mail saying she qualified for the Huskey Peach fashion show.(pg.36) Celeste is very embarresd and doesn’t want to do it but the rest of her family wants her to. (first half of book)
Like Water for Chocolate is a passionate story about the love between Tita De La Garza and Pedro Musquiz. It starts out with an explanation of how Tita was born into her life through the kitchen and she has always helped Nacha, the family cook, make the meals. In the first chapter Pedro comes to the farm to ask Tita for her hand in marriage. Her mother quickly declines and arranges the engagement of Pedro and Tita's sister Rosaura. Within a few weeks Pedro moves in with the De La Garza family making it harder for him to stay away from Tita. Tita, on the other hand is trying her hardest to forget about Pedro. She believes that since Pedro married Rosaura he no longer loves her. This all changes when, at Pedro and Rosaura's wedding, Pedro tells
Women are seen as failure and can’t strive without men in the Mexican-American community. In this novel you can see a cultural approach which examines a particular aspect of a culture and a gender studies approach which examines how literature either perpetuates or challenges gender stereotypes. Over and over, Esperanza battled with how people perceived her and how she wished to be perceived. In the beginning of the book, Esperanza speaks of all the times her family has moved from one place to another. “Before that we lived on Loomis on the third floor, and before that we lived on Keeler.
Today, women are more conquering and stronger than before. Women can do anything men can do and should be treated equally. Mothers tend to take care of their sons more than their daughters. It is especially shown in this novel, between the Awful Grandmother and Inocencio. The relationship they have is strong because the Awful Grandmother was abandoned by her parents and when she got pregnant before being married to the Little Grandfather, he wanted to run away.
Rather, it criticizes this culture through its portrayal of women. The narrative is focused on a male and is told by a male, which reflects the male-centered society it is set in. However, when we compare how the narrator views these women to who they really are, the discrepancies act as a critique on the Dominican culture. Yunior, who represents the typical Dominican male, sees women as objects, conquests, when in fact their actions show their resistance to be categorized as such. Beli, whose childhood was filled with male domination by Trujillo and the family she worked for, attempts to gain power through sexuality, the avenue the culture pushes women toward. This backfires, creating a critique of the limited opportunities available for women. La Inca portrays a different side to this, working quietly but in ways that are not socially acceptable through self-employment. Society attempts to cage these women, but they continue to fight against it. Diaz, in an interview, quoted James Baldwin, stating, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced" (Fassler). He exhibits the misogyny in the system but does not support it, rather critiques it through strong female characters. By drawing attention to the problem, the novel advocates for change. Diaz writes, at the end of part 1, “Nothing more exhilarating… than saving yourself by the simple act of waking”
“Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel, is a beautiful romantic tale of an impossible passionate love during the revolution in Mexico. The romance is followed by the sweet aroma of kitchen secrets and cooking, with a lot of imagination and creativity. The story is that of Tita De La Garza, the youngest of all daughters in Mama Elena’s house. According to the family tradition she is to watch after her mother till the day she does, and therefore cannot marry any men. Tita finds her comfort in cooking, and soon the kitchen becomes her world, affecting every emotion she experiences to the people who taste her food. Esquivel tells Titas story as she grows to be a mature, blooming women who eventually rebels against her mother, finds her true identity and reunites with her long lost love Pedro. The book became a huge success and was made to a movie directed by Alfonso Arau. Although they both share many similarities, I also found many distinct differences. The movie lost an integral part of the book, the sensual aspect of the cooking and love.
Rafaela is married to an older man and “gets locked indoors because her husband is afraid Rafaela will run away since she is too beautiful to look at” (79). The narrator Esperanza notes that because Rafaela is locked in the house she gives the passing kids money to run to the store to bring her back juice. Esperanza states that “Rafaela who drinks and drinks coconut and papaya juice on Tuesdays and wishes there were sweeter drinks, not bitter like an empty room, but sweet sweet like the island, like the dance hall down the street where women much older than her throw green eyes easily like dice and open homes with keys. And always there is someone offering sweeter drinks, someone promising to keep them on a silver string” (81). Esperanza is being to notice a common occurrence in the treatment of women on Mango Street. Rafaela is locked away by her husband as he wants to keep her from running off. This mirrors the relationship between Earl and his wife. Rafaela is described in more detail however allowing readers a deeper connection to her experience in her marriage. Esperanza witnesses Rafaela’s confinement in the house each time she passes by with friends and Rafaela sends them down money to buy her a drink from the store since she is unable to go herself. There is also an interesting comparison in which the confined room is compared to being bitter whereas the sweet drink is compared to being the
Obesity is a global medical issue where people are confused between eating and dieting. I am an Omani student, and back in Oman, it has the same issue as the United States does. Both society try to stop their people from having obesity. However, “What You Eat is Your Business” written by Radely Balko explains how government allow unhealthy food to spread out over the country, and in return the government tries to push people to focus on health care systems where people may not be able to do it. Beside on that, American people try to reduce their meals or eat just a few amount of food without differentiate between health and unhealthy food, and that is because they want to become healthier, which Mary Maxfield clarifies that on her article “Food
Grande introduces to the audience various characters that cross Juana 's path to either alter or assist her on her journey to find her father. Through those individuals, Grande offers a strong comparison of female characters who follow the norms, versus those that challenge gender roles that
Which is caused by the narrator having a male perspective. The narrator does not give the women and credit or redeeming qualities. All the women follow a general stereotype. If they tried to break away from the stereotype, they would me more important and influential characters. Paquette, a chambermaid in the Baron’s castle, is described as “a pretty and obedient brunette” (5). She is identified obedient not because of her job as a chambermaid, but because she is willing to exploit her soul and body to the men around the castle. In regards to the old woman, she doesn’t even have an actual name, which does not matter since is ugly and useless. The old woman has the mindset that she is; an object; a mistake; a disgrace. That her time has passed as a beautiful useful woman. All the rape and abuse has physically affected her and she is out of luck. In fact, she is lucky if men talk to her, or even look at her without
In the book Like Water for Chocolate, the women of the De La Garza family are all very strong in their own ways. Each of the three sisters Tita, Gertrudis, and Rosaura and the mother Mama Elena have special strengths and qualities that best describe them.
Mama Elena is the widow with three daughters: Rosaura, Gertrudis, and Tita, and she is also the main cause of Tita’s suffering in Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. Because of Mama Elena, Tita’s entire life is distorted and she has to spend her time with tears and despair. Especially, Mama Elena abuses the power of family tradition and misuses the power as the head of the household to decide her daughter’s marriage and life.
The story of Marcela is first encountered second hand through a male character who describes her in the most negative way. In his criticism “Competing Narrative Discourses: (fe)male Fabulation in the Episode of Grisóstomo and Marcela,” John P. Gabriele agrees that Marcela is misinterpreted by the male characters who describe her to Don Quixote (509). The men plea that she is very cruel and “does more harm in this land than the plague” (Cervantes 85). Even though Marcela has asserted her independence and rejected a countless number of men desiring to obtain her love, the men still objectify her by “waiting to see where her haughtiness will end and who will be the fortunate man to conquer so difficult a nature” (Cervantes 85). Referring to her as something to be “conquered” demonstrates how women were respected as nothing more than property and a source of pride. Yvonne Jehenson describes Marcela’s situation as “a male fantasy, a microcosmic image of man’s gender-inflected wish fulfillment” (Gabriele 510). This explains why the men have so much built up frustration towards Marcela for being the complete opposite of their
In Federico García Lorca’s La Casa de Bernarda Alba, a tyrant woman rules over her five daughters and household with absolute authority. She prevents her daughters from having suitors and gives them little to no freedom, especially with regard to their sexualities and desires. They must conform to the traditional social expectations for women through sewing, cleaning, as well as staying pure and chaste. While, as John Corbin states in The Modern Language Review, “It was entirely proper for a respectable woman in [Bernarda’s] position to manage her household strictly and insist that the servants keep it clean, to defend its reputation, ensure the sexual purity of her daughters, and promote advantageous marriages for them,” Bernarda inordinately
In the novel, women were affected by racism and gender role equality more than men. Pecola is one if the main characters, and she deals with the figure of a man who violates her. The female characters in the novel were apprehended by females roles that made them feel like they were non existent. Each character had their own personality. Claudia, another character in the novel escapes her suffering by pulling apart from Shirley Temple dolls. The expectations of theses women in the novel have been created through our society, and how we view our gender