Like Water For Chocolate Feminist Analysis

How impressive it would be to read a book all about feminism. A quick glance over Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate, and one may miss all the power women have, but let’s take a closer look and see what we find. Like Water for Chocolate, is a satirical story following a woman named Tita. She struggles through the constraints of her family's traditions, battling with feelings of love and unfamiliar empowerment. This theme connects throughout the book with other characters such as Gertrudis and Esperanza. The author was able to achieve satire, as she brought a new light to feminist power, by reversing the stereotypical roles often found in a romantic plot, such as ‘The Little Mermaid’.
Throughout the story, Tita is shown as a strong

female character who pushes against stereotypes. Tita often disagrees with her mother, a woman who holds much of the power in their family.

The long held tradition is that the youngest daughter is not allowed to get married, she must stay home and take care of her parents. Throughout the book, Tita and Mama Elena argue about Tita’s future and who is in charge of making the choices. In the midst of an argument, Tita exclaims ““I know who I am! A person who has a perfect right to live her life as she pleases”” (Esquivel, 199). The fact that Tita so blatantly rebels against her mother makes other romantic stories seem like a meaningless joke. The instance with Tita and her mother is contradictory to The Little Mermaid’, where it is made evident that women are there to support men, and look pretty. Right from the beginning the viewer can see that the mermaids, or women are dressed very provocatively, wearing bombshell bras and plenty of accessories to catch attention to their looks. Not to mention the insane bodily proportions, that if attempted to achieve by a real human, they would find themselves dead. As the waists of the mermaids are almost the same size as their necks. Nonetheless, the men are portrayed as strong and masculine, all the men on the boats are fully dressed and are of proportional human size. Tita is portrayed as a strong

female character contrary to the ‘The Little Mermaid’, where Ariel, the main female character is sexualized constantly and meant to be a proper princess. Ariel’s one wish is to go up to the surface of the water and meet her prince charming, but her father forbids it. Instead of standing up to him, and letting him know that she makes the choices in her own life, she goes behind his back and keeps believing that he has the power over her. She is pushed into a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, who says she will give Ariel legs, or permission to go up to meet her prince, in exchange for her voice. Ursula literally takes away her voice, the only thing Ariel could really use to stand up for herself. In contrast, Tita holds true to who she is and constantly defies the box that she is supposed to fit in. She knows that she is the one who should be controlling her own life, not her mother, and always finds her voice, even when it seems she has lost it.
It is also ironic that two guys are fawning over Tita, that they feel as though their life depends on marrying the girl of their dreams and they would do anything to be with her. They fight over her, each in their own way, believing Tita is their one and only. John fought with kindness, trying to win Tita’s love by impressing her and treating her with respect. “John rose to push in her chair and treated her with the same tenderness and respect as always”(Esquivel, 224). In many romantic stories, like ‘The Little Mermaid’, women are treated as if they have very little dignity. The fact that John has always been so kind to Tita, and had her best interest in mind is a major contrast. However, Pedro is a different story. He goes about getting Tita with force, and by trash talking John. In a moment of haste, Pedro calls out, “”Tita, I want to say, I think your idea of marrying John is a terrible mistake””(Esquivel, 148). Pedro fights with force, which is typical for a male role in romantic stories, similar to how King Triton Ariel’s father yells at Ariel, saying “You went up to the surface again didn't you?” “As long as you live under my ocean, you’ll obey my rules” (Andersen, ‘The Little Mermaid’). After her father is finished yelling, Ariel hurries away to cry. She is constantly being told what to do by men, and never fights back. Even her ‘conscience’, Sebastian, the crab, is male. However, Esquivel makes an amusing contrast to the typical female response, while Pedro fights with Tita, Tita is willing to fight back. Yelling at Pedro, Tita says, “Well you think so too late””,(Esquivel, 149)“”I entreat you, never bother me again for the rest of my life””(Esquivel, 149). In typical romantic stories, like ‘The Little Mermaid’, the woman is the one fawning over the man, believing he is the only thing in the world that matters, and would never fight with him. However, Esquivel brings focus to the fact that the men in the book are fawning over Tita, doing everything in their power to make her theirs, while Tita stands up to Pedro, protecting herself and her future.
In Like Water for Chocolate, feminist power is vital to the plot of the story. Gertrudis is a young woman who runs away with an army man to make love with him. She ended up in a brothel and was away from home for many months. When she finally returned home, Tita “could see that the person in charge of that troop was none other than her sister Gertrudis”(Esquivel, 177). The fact that when she returned home Gertrudis was an army general is a huge contrast to the typical romance plot. Having her in such a powerful ‘masculine’ title is so ironic considering how powerless most women feel, especially once they have been part of a brothel. Ariel however, runs away to be with the man of her dreams, Eric, and when she returns, she is married, and will now live with her prince, and take care of him and his family. Gertrudis has power over all the men even the man she's courted with, while Ariel forfeits her power of being a mermaid to be with her one and only life goal, her prince.
Lastly, Rosauras daughter Esperanza, is the first to break the long lasting tradition.

Esperanza is the youngest daughter, and she gets married to Alex, Dr. Brown’s son. Rosaura didn’t want to accept this, she wouldn’t, but “Tita knew that Alex and Esperanza would be bound together forever” (Esquivel, 238). Esperanza completely broke tradition. By getting married, she would no longer carry on the tradition of the youngest daughter caring for her mother. This is an example of the author poking fun at the fact that men are typically the ones who disobey and rebel, however in this case Esperanza disobeyed. While contrast to this, Ariel keeps the family tradition of marrying royalty, because, she is a princess and she marries prince

Eric.
So, one may say that even through all the contrast, ‘The Little Mermaid’ and Like Water for Chocolate are the same story, just told in different ways. In both stories, the main character is the youngest of several sisters. The main characters both have trouble being with the one they love because they are held back by their parent’s rules. They both have to overcome struggles with their family, and neither of their families understand why they love who they do. Both of their parents don't approve of who they want to marry, and through all the rough times and heart ache both women end up with the ones they love, in an illusion of a happy ending. However, the stories are vastly different in the messages they convey. They may have similar plots, however ‘The Little Mermaid’ is fairy tale, that is meant to show children they must follow their dreams and find their true love. The movie also entails hefty amounts of sexist biased. Throughout the whole movie, it is made evident that women are there to support men, and look pretty, rather than to live a life that is their own. Like Water for Chocolate, sends a message that through all the deeply rooted oppression, women can still fight back, and can live life for themselves. Women don’t have to let tradition and normativity control their lives. They can marry whom they want, stand up for themselves, and even be an army general. At a quick glance, ‘The Little Mermaid’ and Like Water for Chocolate may seem one and the same, but a closer look will show the feminist power and role reversal that is tucked neatly with in Esquivel’s works.