The novel prominently features the theme of women's equality and self-determination, particularly through the tensions between female characters and Esteban Trueba. Esteban holds the belief that women belong in "motherhood and the home," yet he admits to Ferula, "I would not have liked to be a woman," acknowledging the challenges women face when she expresses her frustration over caring for their sick mother. Despite his traditional mindset, Esteban respects the ambitious Transito Soto, who has become a successful businesswoman. Nevertheless, he continues to treat women as possessions, showing no remorse for assaulting peasant women, paying female workers less than their male counterparts, and demanding absolute obedience from his female family members. He disapproves of Nivea del Valle's campaign for voting rights and forbids Clara from teaching the hacienda workers about women's rights. However, Clara defies her husband's expectations, choosing to live independently by hosting spiritualist gatherings and assisting the poor within his household. Blanca also rebels against her father by taking Pedro Tercero as her lover, although she eventually marries Jean de Satigny due to Esteban's pressure. By the time his granddaughter Alba grows up, Esteban acknowledges that "not all women were complete idiots" and permits Alba to "enter one of the professions and make her living like a man." Alba comes to understand the resilience that the fight for equality has instilled in women after being saved by a practical and courageous woman who risks her safety to help a stranger. This experience leads Alba to realize that "the days of Colonel Garcia and all those like him are numbered, because they have not been able to destroy the spirit of these women."