I really am sorry for how long (and possibly boring) this post is

 

Isabel Allende’s novel features a variety of themes ranging from political to economical. One of the strongest recurring themes, though, in “The House of the Spirits”, is a social one. Allende’s novel is set in a time where female oppression was a normal way of life. Throughout the novel we see the varying levels of subjection the female characters have to deal with, something that is best exemplified by Esteban’s various speeches on the subject of equality: “It would be lovely if we were all created equal, but the fact is that we are not.” (72-73) This line here in particular conveys the mindset people in the novel have when it comes to equal rights for men and women. There wasn’t some dark ulterior motive when it came to refusing women their rights; it was just the way things used to be. As Esteban had put it, it was simply a “fact”. Wrong as it was, women were considered inferior just because they weren’t men, even though in the novel, we can see how capable they are, as demonstrated through such female characters as Nana. Women were supposed to sit back and keep silent, like Nivea had to do with Severo, for instance. Even though she was as equally ambitious as her husband, Nivea had to put his political agenda before hers, just because she was a woman.

 

There is a brief passage in the novel where the narrator talks about the new house Esteban is building for himself and Clara. The narrator talks about how, “He [Esteban] could hardly guess that that solemn, cubic, dense, pompous house,…..,would end up full of protuberances and incrustations,……,of turrets, of small windows that could not be opened,…….,all of which were Clara’s inspiration….” (104-105).  When Esteban sees the outside of his future house, he already has a preconceived notion as to what it will look like on the inside; however, as the narrator tells us, Esteban could hardly even begin to imagine what the interior will be. He’s in for a surprise, though, because Clara has transformed the house into something completely different from what it appears to be from the outside. There is far more to the house than Esteban, or anybody else looking at it, could begin to think.

 

This passage here is a really powerful metaphor, especially in context with the message Allende is trying to send her readers. In relation to the idea that people used to have a lot of misconceptions about women, we can see the house as a metaphor for women in general, while Esteban here represents the rest of the world’s narrow sighted view of women. Two key words here are “pompous” and “cubic”; on the outside, we are told that the house looks exactly the way Esteban wants it to look. “Pompous” gives us the idea of arrogance and exaggerated airs; it connotes the idea of superiority, something that Esteban is bursting with, particularly when it comes to how he treats women. Then there is the word “cubic”, which gives us the impression of exactness, of a mathematical measurement. The word leaves no room for growth, for exploration- it even almost has the impression of confinement. Esteban has a very particular way that he wants the house to look, and this is a reflection of how society once treated women. It didn’t matter that women were just as capable as men; what mattered was the fact that they weren’t born men, and therefore, were considered inferior. The rights and opportunities that women wanted- for instance, like Ferula’s desire to be as free from filial duty as her brother- were inconsequential, because it freed women from conforming to the role that was already set out for them.

 

 

The inside of the house, however, is something very different from what Esteban sees on the outside. On the inside, we’re able to see that Clara has expanded the house beyond anything that Esteban, with his limited perspective, could possibly imagine. Clara has turned the house into something of her own creation: from the imposing, flamboyant monument that Esteban sees from the outside, Clara has made it something completely different. It is full of unexpected turns and imperfections: “of small windows that could not be opened…” (105). The interior demonstrates the idea that there was far more to women then people used to think and it also illustrates the capabilities that women weren’t given credit for- their abilities and ambitions that were just as powerful as that of a man’s.

 

This quote demonstrates an underlying theme in this novel: Allende’s desire for the world to see that there is more to people, and not just women, then the way we choose to see them. Allende talks about seeing people for who they really are, not for what we want them to be.