Isabel Allende (1942- )

Lecture Notes

Writing is an attempt to bring an illusory order to the natural chaos of life, to decode the mysteries of memory.

-Isabel Allende

Bio:

·  Born in 1942 in Lima, Peru

·  Father was a Chilean diplomat but parents were divorced in 1945

·  Moved to maternal grandparents house in Santiago, Chile

·  Mother remarries another diplomat and Isabel spends time in Bolivia, Lebanon and various European countries

·  1962 Isabel marries, daughter Paula is born in 1963

·  Family lives in Belgium and Switzerland

·  Allende returns to Chile in 1966 when son Nicolas is born

·  1967-1974 Allende works as a journalist

·  1970 Isabel’s uncle, Salvador Allende is elected president

·  1973 Military Coup d’etat under orders of General Augusto Pinochet results in President Allende’s “suicide”

·  1975 Allende moves to Caracas, Venezuela

·  1981 Isabel receives news that her 99-year-old grandfather is dying. She begins letter to him that eventually becomes the novel, The House of Spirits.

·  1987 Allende divorces first husband and moves to San Rafael, CA

·  1988 Allende remarries and becomes US resident

·  1990 Democracy is restored in Chile

·  1992 Daughter, Paula, dies exactly one year after she falls into coma. Allende writes novel, Paula, in 1995 about this experience.

Major works:

See link on author’s photo.

Literary significance:

Prominent female author who writes in Spanish and work is translated. She is understood to be a part of the Latin American feminist literary awakening. Best known for The House of Spirits. Her novel Paula about her daughter’s death is not in the tradition of her other works. Her most recent works has be “less literary” and more “popular.” She is still publishing quite frequently.

The House of Spirits:

·  The novel was first published in 1982

·  The novel is set from about 1910 to 1973

·  The book is working toward the present tense moment of the Epilogue where “historical writing replaces magical writing, tragic sentiments replace comic sentiments” (Antoni)

·  The novel moves away from Magical realism and more towards realism as it becomes less of Clara’s story and more of Alba’s story.

·  Novel is broken up into three parts: Chapters 3-5 are Clara’s family story, Chapters 7-9 are about love stories, Chapters 11-Epilogue are political history

·  Chapters 2,6,10 are interruptions from Esteban that indicate a shift in the story

·  Many of the characters are based on real people in history and in Allende’s life: Pedro Tercero is based on Victor Jara and “the poet” is Pablo Neruda. Additionally, Clara is very similar to Allende’s own grandmother. Many of Allende’s experiences are similar to those of Alba.

References:

Robert Antoni, “Parody or Piracy: The Relationship of The House of Spirits to One Hundred Years of Solitude,” in Latin American Literary Review, Vol. XVI, No. 32, July-December, 1988, pp. 16-28.

Sheri E. Metzger, “Overview of The House of Spirits,” in Literature of Developing Nations for Students, Vol. 1, The Gale Group, 2000

Kelly Winters, “Overview of The House of Spirits,” in Literature of Developing Nations for Students, Vol. 1, The Gale Group, 2000

“Certainly I write because I love it,

because if I didn’t my soul would dry up and die.”

Isabel Allende

Discussion Questions for Allende’s The House of Spirits

  1. Explain the significance of the opening line: “Barrabas came to us by sea, the child Clara wrote in her delicate calligraphy.”
  1. What affect is achieved through the use of multiple narrators (points of view, voices)?
  1. What purpose does the supernatural serve for the women of the novel? Why are men rarely involved in these “magical” forces?
  1. What role does silence play traditionally in this society? How is that role changed in The House of Spirits?
  1. How is the act of writing used in this novel? What does is provide for the characters that use it?
  1. Many have suggested that Allende’s female characters are feminists. How would you support or deny this statement?
  1. How are the roles of the male and female characters in the novel indicative of Latin American culture?
  1. Women were not allowed to vote in national elections in Chile until 1949. How does that compare with the United States? What comparisons can be made between these two cultures?
  1. What is Clara’s gift to her granddaughter Alba?
  1. What is the baby Alba is expecting at the end of the novel a symbol of?
  1. One critic suggested that Allende would never be “a writer of worth” until she created a male character who was as strong as her many female characters. Allende responded, I wonder how many male writers have good female characters. Very few. And that doesn’t mean that they write badly or that they are recognized as writers…I’m not asking for any concessions because I’m a woman, nor do I permit superfluous demands to be made of me because I’m a woman.” What is your opinion on this debate?
  1. What do you think about the United States’ role in the Coup that killed Allende’s Uncle and place Augusto Pinochet in power?