IV - Albert Einstein
Laura Esquivel’s first novel, Like Water for Chocolate, is a story of a woman tied between love, family tradition and magical recipes. This book met with unusual success when it was published in 1989. The enthusiasm about the book led to a Spanish-language movie of the same title, which also was immensely popular. Upon translation from Spanish into English in 1992, the novel incited similar excitement, becoming a best-seller; subsequently, the English-subtitled film became one of the most popular foreign-language films in American film history.
This book was first published during 1989. Laura Esquivel's first novel, Como agua para chocolate: novela de entregas mensuales con recetas, amores, y remedios caseros, became a best seller in the author's native Mexico. It has been translated into numerous languages, and the English version, Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments, with Recipes, Romances and Home Remedies, enjoyed similar success in the United States.
This tells a story about a young Mexican woman named Tita de la Garza. Being the youngest daughter, she is destined not to marry but only to take care of her mother until her mother dies. Tita’s story began on her misery no t getting married to Pedro where as she also started her wonderful recipe. Because of Mama Elena’s power, Pedro agreed to marry Rosaura, Tita’s sister. Tita extraordinary kitchen skills served as her outlet of anger towards Mama Elena and sorrow to the marriage of Pedro and Rosaura. Her recipes ablaze Pedro’s desire for her though he is already married to Rosaura. He never stopped loving Tita. As Tita’s recipe grew, the more they realize that they could never get away from whatever feeling Pedro and Tita share. The story went on with recipes and remedies that Tita encounters and in the end, she will find herself in a way she has always wanted.
It was self growth that made Tita go against the wicked grip of her mother. At the beginning of the novel, Tita was a generally submissive young lady. As the novel progresses, Tita learns to disobey the injustice of her mother, and gradually becomes more and more adept at expressing her inner fire through various means. At first, cooking was her only outlet, but through self-discovery she learned to verbalize and actualize her feelings, and stand up to her despotic mother.
In Like Water for Chocolate, Esquivel extends the religious-mythical themes of magic realism to the everyday world of the domestic realm of a female-dominated household. Though not a story of the battles, great figures, and moral challenges generally associated with the epic form, Esquivel elevates this story of women, and one woman in particular, to such proportions. This strategy leads the reader to explore the feminist properties of Like Water for Chocolate, which are evident in the depictions of Tita's struggle to gain independence and develop her identity, and also in the fact that this struggle is depicted at all.
The structuring of Like Water for Chocolate as "A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies," as it is subtitled, establishes the filter through which the reader will experience the world of the novel. Like Tita--whose knowledge of life is "based on the kitchen"-- the reader must explore the work through the role and power of food, guided by the recipes that begin each chapter. The division of the novel into "monthly installments" conjures up the image of serial narratives published in periodicals (often women's magazines). This organization, along with the matter-of-fact weaving of recipes and remedies into the fabric of the narrative, underscores the fact that the novel offers substantial opportunities for feminist analysis. Just by the fact that this book covers some recipes, you can already tell that feminism is present.
The title, Like Water for Chocolate, indicates that Tita is as heated as boiling water because in other Latin America Countries, they use boiling water to make hot chocolate. This describes the boiling passion in Tita whether for cooking or for Pedro. It can be used as a metaphor for describing a state of passion or – sometimes – sexual arousal. It may also be used to refer to anger, such as being 'boiling mad'. Tita, the main character, actually uses the expression in the book when she says 'estoy como agua para chocolate' (I am like water for chocolate) meaning that she is boiling mad.
The story conveys the greatness of a woman who is set to give the world her recipes and love. In creating this female-centered cast of characters, Esquivel imagines a world in which men are physically present only occasionally, though the legacy of sexism and the confinement of women to the domestic sphere persist. Esquivel does not offer her readers the vision of a happy-ending sisterhood, but rather insight into the way women are restricted by standards of societal correctness perpetuated by other women.
Laura Esquivel’s first novel, Like Water for Chocolate, is a story of a woman tied between love, family tradition and magical recipes. This book met with unusual success when it was published in 1989. The enthusiasm about the book led to a Spanish-language movie of the same title, which also was immensely popular. Upon translation from Spanish into English in 1992, the novel incited similar excitement, becoming a best-seller; subsequently, the English-subtitled film became one of the most popular foreign-language films in American film history.
This book was first published during 1989. Laura Esquivel's first novel, Como agua para chocolate: novela de entregas mensuales con recetas, amores, y remedios caseros, became a best seller in the author's native Mexico. It has been translated into numerous languages, and the English version, Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments, with Recipes, Romances and Home Remedies, enjoyed similar success in the United States.
This tells a story about a young Mexican woman named Tita de la Garza. Being the youngest daughter, she is destined not to marry but only to take care of her mother until her mother dies. Tita’s story began on her misery no t getting married to Pedro where as she also started her wonderful recipe. Because of Mama Elena’s power, Pedro agreed to marry Rosaura, Tita’s sister. Tita extraordinary kitchen skills served as her outlet of anger towards Mama Elena and sorrow to the marriage of Pedro and Rosaura. Her recipes ablaze Pedro’s desire for her though he is already married to Rosaura. He never stopped loving Tita. As Tita’s recipe grew, the more they realize that they could never get away from whatever feeling Pedro and Tita share. The story went on with recipes and remedies that Tita encounters and in the end, she will find herself in a way she has always wanted.
It was self growth that made Tita go against the wicked grip of her mother. At the beginning of the novel, Tita was a generally submissive young lady. As the novel progresses, Tita learns to disobey the injustice of her mother, and gradually becomes more and more adept at expressing her inner fire through various means. At first, cooking was her only outlet, but through self-discovery she learned to verbalize and actualize her feelings, and stand up to her despotic mother.
In Like Water for Chocolate, Esquivel extends the religious-mythical themes of magic realism to the everyday world of the domestic realm of a female-dominated household. Though not a story of the battles, great figures, and moral challenges generally associated with the epic form, Esquivel elevates this story of women, and one woman in particular, to such proportions. This strategy leads the reader to explore the feminist properties of Like Water for Chocolate, which are evident in the depictions of Tita's struggle to gain independence and develop her identity, and also in the fact that this struggle is depicted at all.
The structuring of Like Water for Chocolate as "A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies," as it is subtitled, establishes the filter through which the reader will experience the world of the novel. Like Tita--whose knowledge of life is "based on the kitchen"-- the reader must explore the work through the role and power of food, guided by the recipes that begin each chapter. The division of the novel into "monthly installments" conjures up the image of serial narratives published in periodicals (often women's magazines). This organization, along with the matter-of-fact weaving of recipes and remedies into the fabric of the narrative, underscores the fact that the novel offers substantial opportunities for feminist analysis. Just by the fact that this book covers some recipes, you can already tell that feminism is present.
The title, Like Water for Chocolate, indicates that Tita is as heated as boiling water because in other Latin America Countries, they use boiling water to make hot chocolate. This describes the boiling passion in Tita whether for cooking or for Pedro. It can be used as a metaphor for describing a state of passion or – sometimes – sexual arousal. It may also be used to refer to anger, such as being 'boiling mad'. Tita, the main character, actually uses the expression in the book when she says 'estoy como agua para chocolate' (I am like water for chocolate) meaning that she is boiling mad.
The story conveys the greatness of a woman who is set to give the world her recipes and love. In creating this female-centered cast of characters, Esquivel imagines a world in which men are physically present only occasionally, though the legacy of sexism and the confinement of women to the domestic sphere persist. Esquivel does not offer her readers the vision of a happy-ending sisterhood, but rather insight into the way women are restricted by standards of societal correctness perpetuated by other women.
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