Like Water For ChocolateComo Agua Para Chocolate

• Laura Esquivel, born in Mexico, 1950• Grew up in Mexico City; attended Escuela

Normal de Maestros• "I grew up in a modern home, but my

grandmother lived across the street in an old house that was built when churches were illegal in Mexico.

Historical Context• Mexican revolution: began in 1910…

culminated in the Mexican Constitution in 1917

• Women’s role in society– Machismo v. Women’s suffrage– Masculine superiority is culturally accepted– Not always gender-specific

Like Water For ChocolateThemes

Duty and Responsibility, Obedience Tears

Cruelty and violence Supernatural: Magic Realism

Victim/victimizationSex roles

Love and passionSanity

CreativityFood

Symbolism

• Fire • Heat, Passion, Danger, Destruction, Creation

• Water• Creates, nourishes, destroys

• The title of the book• What happens to chocolate when water is

introduced to it?

• Food • As sustenance, as magic, as an aphrodisiac, as an

article of control and manipulation

Key Characters• Tita – the protagonist, youngest daughter of Mama Elena• Mama Elena – forceful, tyrannical matriarch of the De La

Garza family• Pedro – Tita’s true love and soul mate• Rosaura – second daughter of Mama Elena, who marries

Pedro• Gertrudis – eldest daughter, becomes a general in the

revolutionary army• Dr. John Brown – falls in love with Tita, unrequited love• Nacha – the ranch cook, Tita’s mentor• Chencha – Tita’s companion in the kitchen• Roberto & Esperanza – children of Pedro and Rosaura• Alex – son of Dr. Brown, father of the narrator. Marries

Esperanza

Chapter OrganizationMonth by Month

• January: Christmas Rolls• February: Chabela Wedding Cake• March: Quail in Rose Petal Sauce• April: Turkey Mole with Almonds and Pumpkin Seeds• May: Northern Style Chorizo• June: A Recipe for Making Matches• July: Ox Tail Soup• August: Champandongo• September: Chocolate and Three Kings Day Bread• October: Cream Fritters• November: Beans with Chile Tezcucana Style• December: Chiles in Walnut Sauce

La Pregunta Principal

• What are the primary roles that food plays in Like Water For Chocolate?

We’ve already discussed that food operates (symbolizes…) as sustenance, magic, aphrodisiac, and an article of control and manipulation…

But how else does Tita use food?