House of Spirits Essay

As a wise person once warned “If you have the courage to love then you must have the courage to suffer”. Despite this ample warning we as human beings yearn to experience this connection with another person, with the hope that the tremendous power of love will give meaning to their life. Some might even argue that love is a bigger necessity of life than even food, because our capacity for kindness, compassion and affection is what make us human. So can u really be alive if you neither love nor are loved? In Issabel Allende’s Novel “The House of the Spirits” the relationships of Alba, Esteban Trueba and Blanca highlight that love and suffering are inseparable yet love is also the ultimate force of comfort.
Alba endures tremendous suffering due to her love of Miguel but ultimately the strength of her love also provides her with solace. From the beginning Alba’s love for Miguel is overshadowed by uncertainty, as she spends months without knowledge of his whereabouts and lives in constant fear for his safety. This is evident by the way “she walked around with knots in her stomach, why her hands shook, and why, whenever she heard that someone had been taken prisoner, she broke out into a rash from head to foot, like someone with the plague.” (378).This comparison between her and someone with the plague highlights the dread and helplessness she feels knowing that she may not see the Miguel again. She endures further agony to protect Miguel when she is taken prisoner and tortured for information about his location. When she was asked, “‘where is Miguel?’ … she shook her head in silence… they tied her head with another thong. Then she felt the atrocious pain that coursed through her body, filling it completely, and that she would never forget as long as she lived.” (409) Allende uses vivid imagery to describe the horrific torture that alba endures and to highlight the power of her love, as the soldiers are still unable to extract any information from her even after weeks of such excruciating pain. After Alba is finally free, she uses the strength and conviction of love to begin life anew. She refuses to leave the country and patiently waits for Miguel to return. (432) Overall, despite the pain her love for Miguel has caused her, it also serves to strengthen her resolve and helps her endure in the face of adversity.
Esteban’s love for Clara and Rosa causes him great despair but in the end his love for Alba leads to his reconciliation. Esteban is anguished by the death of his first Love Rosa, as he is unable to fulfill his hopes of spending a splendid life with her. He shouted “‘Damn her! She slipped through my hands!’… no one could comprehend [his] frustration at having spent two years scratching the earth to make [his] fortune with no other goal than that of one day leading [Rosa] to the altar, and death had stolen her away from [him].” (34) In this passage death is personified to have robbed him of the most precious thing in his life resulting in a feeling of tremendous loss. When Esteban finally overcomes this loss and falls in love with Clara, his love is not fully returned. This one sided infatuation causes Esteban great frustration because, despite being his wife, Clara is quite indifferent towards him. As Esteban confesses “Clara eluded me with the distracted attitude [she] was neither affectionate nor seductive with me. I am convinced she did not love me.”(180) This line is significant for Esteban’s character because the realization that, despite being his wife Clara will never belong to him, is quite painful. Reciprocally, his granddaughter Alba who is the indirect result of this union brings joy to his life, as his unconditional love towards her is returned whole heartedly. Esteban’s special bond with Alba brings him peace in his final days, as he takes his last breaths in her arms, surrounded by her love and having worked with her to make amends for his past. (422)
Blanca suffers from loneliness and despair, because her father disapproves of her love for Pedro, but upon their ultimate union these sorrows are quickly forgotten. From the moment Blanca’s forbidden love for Pedro becomes public, she endures tremendous sadness. Upon first discovering her romantic relationship, her father beats her mercilessly and accuses her of not having any morals, principles or class (199-200).This passage demonstrates the irony of the situation, since Esteban himself has slept with unmarried girls from a lower class, but Alba is punished because her actions were driven by love. Alba is then forced to marry a man she does not love and endure the pain of separation from her lover. When Esteban tells Blanca to forget about Pedro because she can never be with him, she “begins to cry and continue[s] to weep inconsolably for days to come.” (215) Allende uses the very brief and abrupt length of this paragraph to emphasize Alba’s despair and resignation. She spends majority of her life filled with loneliness because her love for Pedro, prevents her from being with any other man. For this reason, when she is finally reunited with Pedro, the strength of their love completely rejuvenates her. Finally living with Pedro “[She] felt completely fulfilled in the peace of satisfied love…and was in splendid health for the first time in her life.”(400) It is evident through the poetic flow of this description that Alba’s love ultimately brings her great happiness. It is also important to note how she has splendid health after spending a lifetime of ailments and pains. This eludes the theme that love is the ultimate medicine and even though it might be bitter in the beginning it will a source of comfort in the long run.
Overall, Alba’s love for Miguel; Esteban’s relationships with Rosa, Clara and Alba; and Blanca’s lifelong love for Pedro all demonstrate that however harsh the trials of love may be, it will ultimately bring happiness. Perhaps that is the reason it is one of the most popular topic of books, songs, movies, plays and poems.
.