How a character's physical characteristics provide an insight into their states of mind in The novel The House of the Spirits, written by Isabel Allende

Authors Avatar

Dushyant Pattni                                                                                The House of the Spirits Essay

Grade 11S                                                                                                         10th November 2006

The novel The House of the Spirits, written by Isabel Allende presents the reader with a microcosm that represents the life of the people in Chile. It is a story about the Del Valle and Trueba families spanning four generations that contains magical elements in it. This paper will examine how the author’s portrayal of Esteban’s appearance reveals his relationships and class differences in society.

The differences in class are evident when Esteban is described to have a “high forehead, which [is] crowned with a lion’s mane of hair” (41).The diction of “crowned” and the metaphor comparing him to a lion portray the stark contrast between classes in economic and social terms. Allende’s comparison of Esteban to a lion could foreshadow his rise in power. This is significant because at Tres Marías Esteban is superior to the peasants economically and socially. As a result of Allende’s diction, the reader learns that the gap between the haves and the have-nots is quite substantial in society.

Join now!

Allende portrays the conflict between civilization and barbarity in different classes through situational irony when Esteban “stop[s] shaving, cut[s] his hair only when it reache[s] his shoulders [and] grows indifferent to his clothes and manners” (55). This is ironic because you would not expect someone like Esteban, who hails from a civilized background to display manners and fits of anger that are barbaric. In spite of this, he classifies Pedro Tercero as a cannibal but in reality he is civilized in his relationship with Blanca.

Male dominance can be seen when Esteban is making love with Clara, and “his ...

This is a preview of the whole essay