Liberal Feminism in The House of The Spirits

Liberal Feminism in Allende's Narrative

Liberal feminism, the typical feminist perspective advocating for equal opportunities for both genders, encompasses more than just this basic principle. There are several other aspects and beliefs of liberal feminism that remain unknown to the general public. Isabel Allende offers her view of feminism through her novel The House of the Spirits. While Allende holds a general liberal feminist viewpoint, including concepts like silence and the separation of sexes, her perspective is not consistent throughout the novel. This inconsistency is evident in her conservative beliefs regarding women’s suffrage.

The Metaphor of Silence

Allende portrays Clara and Alba as women who exhibit the feminist behavior of silence. For example, when Clara was pregnant with Blanca, she says she’s “going to levitate… rise to a level that would allow her to leave behind the discomfort and heaviness of pregnancy and… [Enter] one of her long periods of silence” (Allende, 1985, p. 113). Allende uses silence as a metaphor for alternative space. Literally, “silence is the best way to get real attention,” and “great ideas also come from a world of deep silence” (Walker, 2004, pp. 1-2). For Clara, this silence is a “last refuge” (Allende, 1985, p. 113). She creates a mental space of silence that Esteban cannot enter, similar to the ideas illustrated by Alice Walker, a feminist fiction author. In addition to Walker’s claim that silence is a powerful tool for gaining attention and generating great ideas, Meredith Hall, a feminist professor at the University of New Hampshire, argues that “inciting the silent treatment… inflicts impotent shame” (Hall, 2010, p. 1). Esteban eventually giving in to Clara’s silence demonstrates that Allende supports the claims of Walker and Hall.

In addition, Alba serves as another example of the silent treatment. During Alba’s imprisonment, “her ideas had grown so jumbled… she decided to forget everything she knew” (Allende, 1985, p. 408). The disorganization of Alba’s ideas led her to forget everything and become silent, which ultimately generates great ideas. This further supports Hall’s claim, as Allende shows that through silence, Alba temporarily defeats Esteban Garcia with her silent treatment. This demonstrates that Walker’s and Hall’s views of feminism align with Allende’s perspective on the silence aspect of feminism.

The Separation of Sexes

Next, Allende emphasizes her belief in the separation of sexes through the division of relationships. While Esteban originally wanted to possess Clara and “lock her up,” when he runs for Senate, the distance between him and Clara grows due to his workload. While Clara needed space for her spiritual celebrations with her eccentric friends, Esteban needed space for the operation of his political party. The house became a house divided as “an invisible border arose between the parts of the house occupied by Esteban Trueba and those occupied by his wife” (Allende, 1985, p. 225). Furthermore, feminist authors Ann Ferguson and Rosemary Hennessy argue that “a separation between the family is needed in order… to stop the oppression brought by capitalism” (Ferguson & Hennessy, 1995, p. 2). Both Allende and Ferguson believe that the husband and wife need to be separated for the wife to gain independence.

Allende further demonstrates this by emphasizing the changes that occurred within the family after the separation. For example, while the “facade of the house underwent no alterations,” the house belonged to Clara (Allende, 1985, p. 225). Even the rear garden that was once an emulation of “a French garden” became “a tangled jungle in which every type of plant and flower had proliferated and where Clara’s birds kept up a steady din, along with many generations of cats and dogs.” This transformation illustrates Allende’s view of the separation aspect of feminism and its support by Ferguson.

Conservative Views on Gender Roles

Lastly, Allende demonstrates her conservative view of family gender roles. Despite Charlotte Krolokke’s view that “if women had the vote, the argument ran, they would perform their roles as mothers and housewives even better” (Krolokke, 2006, p. 5), Allende’s portrayal of Clara and Blanca suggests otherwise. While Clara became concerned with the suffrage of women, she didn’t care to concern herself with the daily upkeep of the house. On the other hand, Blanca, and later Alba, became devoted to its maintenance. This suggests that women who become concerned with their rights might abandon housework, contrary to Krolokke’s view that women with the right to vote could perform their household tasks better.

The course of the narrative indeed demonstrates that Allende holds a conservative view of family gender roles in contrast with the liberal Krolokke. Allende’s generally liberal viewpoint does not remain consistent throughout the novel, and there are times when she exhibits a conservative point of view. Generally speaking, Allende is a liberal feminist to a medium extent but does exhibit several liberal beliefs.

References

• Allende, I. (1985). The House of the Spirits. Knopf.
• Ferguson, A., & Hennessy, R. (1995). Gender and Capitalism: Feminist Theory and Politics. Rutgers University Press.
• Hall, M. (2010). Silence as Feminist Strategy. University of New Hampshire.
• Krolokke, C. (2006). Gender Communication Theories and Analyses: From Silence to Performance. Sage Publications.
• Walker, A. (2004). Living by the Word: Essays. Harcourt.