Like Water For Chocolate Gender Roles

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In her novel Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel explores the roles of men and women through the use of strong characterisation and contrast between the three sisters Rosaura, Gertrudis and Tita, as well as to the comparatively weak male characters. This helps to develop ideas about the danger of blind adherence to tradition, the importance of a balance between conformity to tradition and rebellion against it, and the place of traditional gender roles in society.
Rosaura is the oldest of the three sisters, and can be viewed as a symbol of unquestioning conformity to societal expectations. She submits to the will of Mama Elena, who fills the role of a domineering patriarch in the family. Mama Elena is selfish and masculine, “merciless, …show more content…
Instead of conforming to a traditional feminine gender role, she subverts expectations, eloping with a soldier in the revolution, and later becoming a general in the army, a traditionally male role. Gertrudis’ burst of passion is brought about by Tita’s roast quail in rose petal sauce in a notable case of magical realism, as a soldier, drawn by a “higher power” (p 51) to “quench the red-hot fire that was raging inside her” (p 52), “carried her away” (p 52). When she returns to the ranch as a prestigious “general in the revolutionary army” (p 163), in a “powerful position” (p 163) and “happily married” (p 163). She is respected, with a “court of admirers” (p 163), despite her transgression of societal norms by taking a traditionally male gender role. Her respectability despite her non-conformity shows that the most important thing is to only follow traditions and social norms if they lead to self-fulfilment, as opposed to Rosaura’s form of stifling self-repression in the name of conformity, as well as showing the value of female agency in …show more content…
She does this primarily through her characterisation, using symbolism to enhance the reader’s understanding of the characters, as well as the reversal of conventional gender roles by many characters. The understanding of gender roles in society, and the way that they are presented by Esquivel conveys a number of ideas, such as the danger of blindly following tradition, the importance of a balance between conformance to valuable traditions and rebellion against harmful ones, and the arbitrariness of gender
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