Preview

Triumph of Feminism Like Water for Chocolate Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
861 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Triumph of Feminism Like Water for Chocolate Essay Example
Throughout history male dominated societies have been prevelant. The primary structure of the household has been patriarchial for the most part. Some women have accepted this condition; others women, however, find strength and pride in their sex and have thus ignored the norms of male domination. In her nove, Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel comments on feminism and society’s instated role for women. Through the story’s protagonist, Tita, Laura depicts a women in her traditional role and shows shows how she deters from what she is expected to do and how she is expected to act and embraces life in the manner she wishes to do so. Ultimately, Laura Esquivel utilizes Tita’s role as a women, cooking, and her nience, Esperanza, to depict the triumph of feminism.

Laura instills the traditional role of the women in Tita as a symbol of her feminity and strength. Though Esquivel;s motive is to show how women triumph in society, she uses the very stereotypical view of women that has imprisoned them to their condition as the tool in which they utilize to liberate themselves of such a condition; it is through Tita’s role as a motherly and house keeping figure that shes finds her identity, strength, and ability to influence others. Luara esquivel shows that “Tita’s doman was the kitchen where she grew vigorous and healthy on thin corn gruels. This explains the sixth sense tita developed about everything concerning food” (Esquivel 5). Though women have been often degraded to only being useful in their motherly and house keeping roles, Tita embraces it and it serves as the source of her livelihood. This glorifies feminine strength in that it brings to the forefront the importance of this role in society. Furthermore, Esquivel comments “ That world was an endless expanse that began at the door between the kitchen and the rest of the house, whereas everything on the kitchen side of that door, on through the door leading to the patio and the kitchen and herb

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Isabel Allende and Laura Esquivel both utilize similar themes in the books The House of Spirits and Like Water for Chocolate, respectively. Loss of innocence and the corruption of man are a couple of the most significant themes found in both books. These themes are shown in the characters of the book after violence or sex and such things like that. Because there are recurring acts of violence and sex found within both The House of Spirits and Like Water for Chocolate, there are the themes of a loss of innocence and the corruption of man, since the characters in both stories lose their innocence and/or become corrupt after experiencing or witnessing violent and/or sexual actions. Throughout these books, these themes are constantly arising and are…

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In “Cat’s Eyes”, Luisa Valenzuela challenges the roles of both the female and male gender. What is known as the dominant male figure, Valenzuela gives to female character in her story, this causes what seems to a dysfunction and an uncertain reaction to both the female character as well as the male. It is as though a power has shifted unto the woman using her eyes as the catalyst form. Many have said that the eyes are windows to the soul so one could argue that the female character knew deep in her soul that she was so powerful but did not want to face the reality of it being true. Her eyes always seem to come about in the dark , a place where people tend to become vulnerable and at their weakest, but it is here where her strength begins protect her. Her boss is very troubled by his secretary eyes when he sees them thus causing him to fear either the authority from a woman or the vulnerability he has become exposed to or both.…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Jaffe, Janice. “Hispanic American Woman Writers’ Novel Recipes and Laura Esquivel’s Como Agua Para Chocolate.” Women’s Studies 22.2 (1993): 217+.…

    • 1871 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Like Water For Chocolate features many strong women and many of the women do challenge the patriarchal view of society but Gertrudis does the most challenging as she does end up going against patriarchal views. As Gertrudis was a rebellious daughter already in the beginning, she was considered a woman to look up to as she also helps Tita with her problems. In terms of feminism and assuming gender roles, Gertrudis does the exact opposite in being the fragile woman and staying in the kitchen and instead becomes very independent as the story progresses. Gertrudis already starts the feminist idea as she doesn’t fit into the traditional woman's role of staying in the kitchen and goes more toward dancing as hinted on page 9. Gertrudis was busy doing…

    • 293 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Magical realism is a literary style used by many authors. Written by Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate is a love story that is both magical and tragic. Tita is the youngest of three daughters, meaning she has to take care of her ill-tempered mother, Mama Elena. She is in love with Pedro, but is not allowed the marry anyone due to a longstanding family tradition. Being so restricted and madly in love with each other, Pedro decides to marry Rosaura, the eldest daughter and Tita’s sister, seeing it as the only way to be close to Tita. This causes an emotional rollercoaster within Tita who is forced to witness the marriage between Pedro and her sister. However, Mama Elena and how outsiders may view her does not allow her to express any of these feelings. Through magical realism, Esquivel expresses the theme of social repression of women by tradition and society.…

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    It is viewed that in Latino culture, men are the dominant gender, and women are submissive to their male counterparts. However, in “Rain of Gold” written by Victor Villasenor, the character of Dona Margarita, a wife and a mother, possessed strength that was even able to boldly reprimand the character of her husband. Dona Margarita’s strength and support was valued in the book as one of the reason of fulfilling the family’s dreams. She was able to express her anger and frustration on her husband, Don Victor, when he gambled and got drunk. Her family felt hope when she did not give-up her hope that her daughter, Sophia, was still alive. Although she wanted to give the leadership role to her husband Don Victor, the book made it apparent that she is the strength of her family. However, the story also depicted Dona Margarita as a housewife whose primary role is to raise her children and manage the…

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Alvarez presents a series of ironic situations to make candid observations about how women are just as capable as men to do what society defines as “men’s” work. In The Time of the Butterflies is set in the era of Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship in the Dominican Republic, where the Mirabal sisters assist in organizing a rebellion against the regime and are soon known as the “Butterflies.” Despite the bravery they demonstrated, the Mirabal sisters were ordinary wives and mothers who did not take the passive role of a woman but instead rose above their titles. When the Mirabal sisters try to convince sister Dedé to join them in the revolution, Dedé expects charismatic and passionate Minerva to speak up but instead hears littlest sister Mate do so, the little sister…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Do you know how to be happy and powerful ? Laura Esquivel answers it well by represents the answer in her book “ Like Water For Chocolate “. For Tita, who is the main character of the book that everything of the book is around and about her life, that how she struggles about her boyfriend - Pedro marries her sister - Rosaura, worries about life of children of Pedro and Rosaura and John who really loves her. The kitchen she can control of, food like Ox-Tail Soup and Turkey Mole with Almonds and Sesame Seeds that she loves which these three symbols show what it means to be happy and powerful.…

    • 1168 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    The purpose of this essay is to look at how the two protagonist women, Offred from “The Handmaid’s Tale” and Celie from “The Color Purple” are treated in literature. This essay aims to answer the question: “How are the two protagonist women Offred from “The handmaid’s tale” and Celie from “The Color Purple” oppressed by the circumstances, the society they live in and the men in their lives and in what ways are their situations are similar?”, focusing on the similarities between their situations and how they deal with the pressure and abuse. Both authors are particularly strong women in literature who write about the oppression of two women within society. The two protagonist women, Offred and Celie, were selected because they live within similar circumstances in which they are subjugated and abused by men. The situations of the two women will be examined, compared and contrasted. The conclusion I arrived at, is that both female protagonist women suffer from oppression and abuse by the men in their lives. The two women suffer from the subjugation and live within similar circumstances in which they are exploited by their functions, surroundings and their situation. Even though both women face many difficulties and struggle to emerge as women, they grow stronger and gain strength in their lives throughout time. Research was carried out on the internet, through literary study guides and other people’s literary criticisms. The other people’s literary criticisms were not particularly useful, since they did not concentrate on the protagonists situation and oppression, but focused merely on how the literary works could be examined and interpreted and what the author’s intentions were. However, what I found out how…

    • 4457 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Beneatha Feminism Essay

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Feminism was a topic that kept recurring throughout the story. Feminism was usually showcased to be important to Beneatha, she was a young black woman going to college “Listen, i’m going to be a doctor. I’m not worried about who i’m going to marry yet if i ever get married”. Beneatha didn’t care what people wanted for her, she wanted to do what she wanted like become a doctor, even if her older brother didn’t believe in her. Also she wasn’t worried about getting married, she wants to finish a career first. “You see! You never understood that there’s more than one kind of feeling which can exist between a man and a woman-or, at least there should be” (Beneatha). Beneatha believes that men and women can be just friends without having any to be anything more. That just because a man support a woman or talks to them that means automatically like a man.…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The presentation of relationships and marriage is a significant concept within literature and society. The writers of the three texts; ‘A Doll’s House’, ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’ and ‘The Worlds Wife’, explore the patriarchal ideal that was supported and reinforced by a social structure, wherein women had little political or economic power. They were economically, socially, and psychologically dependent on men, especially on the institutions of marriage and motherhood .On the other hand men struggled to increase their reputation in society by gaining social and economic power and status, in order to have a superior image and dominant character in relationship and marriage. In these literary texts women are presented to be obliged to obey men to some extent, therefore there is an explicit indication of relationships and marriage being overwhelming and shown to be an unequal relationship in literary texts such as ‘A Doll’s House’, ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’ and ‘The Worlds Wife’.…

    • 3008 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Femminism

    • 2435 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Although most humans are born free, they can live life bound by the barriers and expectations of society. The novels The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and Sister Wife focus on female protagonists who break out of the moulds their societies place them in and form their own identities. In this essay, I will argue that these novels show how feminism has a positive impact on society and on the individuals who practise it. To do this, I will analyze how the cultures restricted females, how each protagonist resisted conformity, and the successful conclusion each character reached.…

    • 2435 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    This presentation will introduce you to the feminist critical perspective through a close examination of the short story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid.…

    • 1603 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As tiny children, we were taught to read. Our teachers introduced us to new books everyday. Some books were about astronauts, some were about politicians, and some were about engineers. All of those books that our teachers introduced us to had something in common, they all depicted men as astronauts, lawyers, engineers, and much more, while women were depicted as princesses or housewives. Laura Esquivel worked to change this lens through her feminist novel Like Water For Chocolate. Feminism is the belief that all women should be allowed the same opportunities, power, and rights as men. They should be treated the same, and should not face discrimination or disadvanetage based on their gender. Like Water For Chocolate is shown to be a feminist…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Suppression of women was a serious issue in several countries over the past few centuries. The women of Spain and Norway were suppressed at the time the two plays A Doll’s House and The House of Bernarda Alba were written. Although this issue has improved in most countries, it still is occurring in some countries. This issue was portrayed in the themes of these two plays.…

    • 1020 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays