Like Water for Chocolate: A Masterpiece in Feminist Literature

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Like Water for Chocolate: A Masterpiece in Feminist Literature
For a first time novelist, Laura Esquivel has definitely made her mark in the genre of magical realism portraying the coming of age of feminism in Mexico. This work is certainly going to be a classic in feminist literature writing in most appropriate medium of fantastic imagery and symbolism even perhaps equaling the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez who is the founder of magical realism ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Garcia Marquez", "given" : "Gabriel.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1988" ] ] }, "publisher" : "Penguin", "publisher-place" : "New York", "title" : "Love in the Time of Cholera", "type" : "book" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=8ecb395d-298e-489e-bcb9-eace0fc64076" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Garcia Marquez)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }(Garcia Marquez). Like Water for Chocolate has met instant success as a novel and later on as a movie which became one of the largest profit earners among foreign films in the United States. Laura Esquivel herself received 12 awards for this particular work. She wrote seven other novels among which are: The Law of Love, Between Two Fires and Malinche. Despite her being a very creative and productive writer, she still finds time to become an amazing Mexican politician to date. Like Water for Chocolate is actually a story about the coming of age of Mexican feminism epitomized by the character of Tita ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Carpentier", "given" : "Alejo.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community", "editor" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Lois Parkinson Zamora", "given" : "Wendy B. Faris", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1995" ] ] }, "publisher" : "Duke UP", "publisher-place" : "Durham", "title" : "On the Marvelous Real in America", "type" : "chapter" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=7e07a191-1bee-474f-a43a-e51efbb2f365" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Carpentier)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }(Carpentier). Tita is the symbol of all the domesticated women of Mexico who undergoes a painful and step by step process of liberation and comes out victorious in the realization of her own power all done in the name of love. In the words of Maria Elena de Valdés , "The women's fiction of this woman's world concentrated on one overwhelming fact of life: how to transcend the conditions of existence and express oneself in love and in creativity (de Valdés)." The thesis of this paper is this: Like Water for Chocolate is the story about the slow and step by step processes of feminist liberation wherein the protagonist discovers her true powers and was able to transcend even the limits of her own mortality.
The Role of the Setting conveys the Dynamic of Change
The setting of the story is Mexico during the time of revolutionADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Esquivel", "given" : "Laura", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1998" ] ] }, "publisher" : "Doubleday", "publisher-place" : "New York", "title" : "Like Water for Chocolate", "type" : "book" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=53a78745-b1ad-4951-813d-fa615cd4ff60" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Esquivel)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }(Esquivel). This setting is very appropriate as it is going to provide the overall context and the fertile soil where liberation is about to spring. It was actually the context where Tita`s sister Gertrudis took a radical break from tradition and came back as a truly liberated woman. Gertrudis` story was just a backdrop in the main plot but she was the one who served the beacon and the model, albeit radically, that would reflect the processes undergone by the main protagonist Tita. The setting of the revolution provided the dynamic principle which continually altered the lives of the characters and created the context of the unexpected vis-a-vis the incorrigible pangs of tradition that enslaved the women characters structurally, culturally, and spiritually ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Schaefer", "given" : "Claudia", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1992" ] ] }, "publisher" : "University of Arizona Press", "publisher-place" : "Tucson", "title" : "Textured Lives: Women, Art, and Representation in Modern Mexico", "type" : "book" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=b9475821-6eb7-4a52-8955-3ed72514db9c" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Schaefer)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }(Schaefer). This setting provides the crucible of Tita`s struggle for love and liberation. This setting is the catalytic circumstance that would ferment the juices of feminism and true love until it finds fullness and fruition (de Valdés). It is in this setting that the characters would come into play.
The Characters Symbolize the Spectrum of Feminine Roles in Mexico
Josefita de la Garza or Tita for short was the main protagonist of the story. She is the youngest daughter of Elena de la Garza. Tradition has it that Tita is obliged to take care of her mother in her old age and is therefore forbidden to marry. In the very words of Mama Elena that chained her for life, "You know perfectly well that being the youngest daughter means that you have to take care of me until the day I die ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Esquivel", "given" : "Laura", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1998" ] ] }, "publisher" : "Doubleday", "publisher-place" : "New York", "title" : "Like Water for Chocolate", "type" : "book" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=53a78745-b1ad-4951-813d-fa615cd4ff60" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(Esquivel 3)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Esquivel)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }(Esquivel 3)." She never felt the love of her mother and grew up in the kitchen under the loving care and wisdom of Nacha, the family cook. She found her true love Pedro but to no avail for Pedro agreed to be married to her sister Rosaura. In the process of fighting for her love using her magical skills in cooking, she was able to slowly realize the advent of her powers. Tita represents the typical woman of Mexico, bound by tradition, encouraged by love, wracked by her own emotions, who will eventually break free and find her true self as a woman (de Valdés). Elena de la Garza or Mama Elena is the main antagonist in the story. She represents the iron bars of traditions and the chains of women slavery. She is cruel, manipulating, violent and controlling. Even after she dies, her ghost would continue exerting its haunting influence just like the culture of patriarchy internalized among many women of today. Although she herself was a victim of tradition and of a lost love, she has come to love her tormentors and became the stalwart of patriarchy. She represents the patriarchal women of Mexico who have come to love and defends the chains of their slavery (de Valdés). They would pursue the patriarchal tradition until the end. Gertrudis de la Garza was Tita`s sister who upon eating of Tita`s recipe of a dish of quail eggs inspired by Pedro, radically broke away from tradition and disregarded social conventions. This prompted Tita to write in her recipe notes, "Today, while we were eating this dish, Gertrudis ran away ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Esquivel", "given" : "Laura", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1998" ] ] }, "publisher" : "Doubleday", "publisher-place" : "New York", "title" : "Like Water for Chocolate", "type" : "book" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=53a78745-b1ad-4951-813d-fa615cd4ff60" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(Esquivel 26)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Esquivel)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }(Esquivel 26)." This represents Gertrudis` liberation. She was able to automatically express her passionate sexuality. At one time she worked in a brothel but in the end became a general and a leader among men. She represents the revolutionary feminists who are so effective in their transformation but are regarded as extremists if not exceptional cases. Esperanza which means hope represents the new generation who would eventually live to see a new world having reaped the benefits of the struggles of her ancestors. She was baptized at Tita`s request because she did not want Esperanza to be named after herADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Esquivel", "given" : "Laura", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1998" ] ] }, "publisher" : "Doubleday", "publisher-place" : "New York", "title" : "Like Water for Chocolate", "type" : "book" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=53a78745-b1ad-4951-813d-fa615cd4ff60" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(Esquivel 66)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Esquivel)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }(Esquivel 66). Nacha is the silent sage who would be the spiritual guide of the lead character. She represents the spirit the moves behind feminist liberation and the emotional power and strength that is in women. The interplay of these women characters, together with the men in the story will eventually weave an amazing tapestry and narrative of the Mexican woman`s liberation.
The Step by Step Process of the Unfolding of Tita`s True Feminine Powers
Tita was born in the kitchen table, reflecting the fate that awaited her as someone tied to the household kitchen both by her status as the last child, and by her initial inability to stand up for her rights ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Tyrer", "given" : "Pat", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Studies in Literature and Language", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issue" : "1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011" ] ] }, "title" : "Food and fantasy as reflection of female repression in like water for chocolate", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "3.2 (2011)" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=1f60d295-97d2-461e-8205-b8580e2a19b4" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(Tyrer 2)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Tyrer)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "...