Like Water for Chocolate

by Laura Esquivel

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Form and Content

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Like Water for Chocolate is divided into twelve chapters, one for each month of the year. Each chapter is preceded by a recipe that corresponds to the action that follows. The structure of the novel suggests the tradition of women’s magazines that came into vogue during the mid-nineteenth century. These periodicals included, like Esquivel’s novel, recipes, home remedies, and, often, sentimental novels in monthly installments.

The novel takes place on a ranch in northern Mexico at the time of the Revolution. Just as the country is in a state of flux, the family must also adapt to changing times. Tita is in love with Pedro, but because she cannot be married, Pedro marries her sister, Rosaura. When Rosaura is unable to care for her newborn son, Roberto, Tita assumes all the caretaking responsibilities for the child. As the attraction between Tita and Pedro becomes increasingly evident, however, Mamá Elena orders Pedro and Rosaura to move to San Antonio. Separated from his aunt, the child dies, and Tita suffers an emotional crisis. The family doctor, John Brown, is summoned to take the girl to an asylum. Because he is in love with Tita, however, rather than complying with her mother’s request, he brings her to live with him, and she eventually recovers.

Meanwhile, the ranch has been caught in revolutionary crossfire, leaving Mamá Elena paralyzed. Tita returns home to care for her mother, but Elena remains as dictatorial as ever and dies soon after from a prolonged attack of vomiting. After Elena’s death, Pedro and Rosaura return to the ranch with a second child, Esperanza. Although Rosaura insists upon preparing her only daughter to be her caretaker, Tita teaches Esperanza the secrets of the kitchen. It is during this period that Pedro and Tita consummate their love and Tita suspects she may be pregnant. No sooner does this prove to be a false alarm than Pedro, attacked by the ghost of Mamá Elena, is seriously burned by a kerosene lamp. In the final chapter, the action of the novel shifts to several years later. Rosaura has died and her daughter, Esperanza, is marrying Alex, the son of John Brown. After the wedding guests have left, Pedro and Tita give full rein to their pleasure for the first time. Pedro dies at the moment of climax, and to join him, Tita must rekindle the flame of passion. To do so, she swallows matches, and their bodies are so inflamed at the moment of her death that the entire ranch burns. When Esperanza returns from her honeymoon, she recovers Tita’s recipe book, which her daughter, the narrator of the novel, inherits upon her death.

Context

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Despite the book’s popularity with the reading public, initial critical reaction to Like Water for Chocolate has tended to dismiss the work as, at best, a poor imitation of the male canon. Limited by conventional reading expectations, such criticism seemingly fails to admit the possibility that Esquivel’s appropriation of past texts, both from the male canon and from popular literature, indicates anything more than a lack of originality. A careful examination of the text reveals that Esquivel has replicated neither the male canon nor popular literature. In fact, underlying the appearance of conventionalism and traditional gender roles is a subtle form of parodic inversion that serves not only to undermine the canon but also to redirect its focus to an aesthetic project in which binary oppositions of “high art” and popular literature are overturned.

The use of traditional resources becomes revolutionary when it is reorganized from the vantage point of women or any other...

(This entire section contains 323 words.)

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marginalized group. The fact that Esquivel has chosen discourses not merely outside the canon but specifically associated with women’s values and experiences allows her to set forth an alternative to the hegemonic standard, based upon real women’s lives.Like Water for Chocolate portrays women and men as individuals, not as allegorical others. Real women, the novel demonstrates, may have “masculine” attributes such as strength and courage, just as real men may show “feminine” sides. In the canon, male voice and vision are often privileged as the source of power. Humorously deconstructing this gaze and proclaiming women as a source of energy in their own right causes such patriarchal binary schemes to be undermined and an alternate order to be posited. While reaffirming the traditional roles of women, Esquivel asserts their value with a project based on—but not replicating—such roles. When the borders between canonized and popular literatures, between oral and written discourses, are dissolved, the hierarchy governing such distinctions is subverted as well.

Historical Context

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The Mexican Revolution

Although Mexico had gained independence from Spain in the early 19th century, its governments faced persistent internal and external conflicts. In the early 20th century, the country was torn apart by revolution. In November 1910, liberal leader Francisco Madero led a successful revolt against Mexican President Porfirio Diaz, following a fraudulent election. Diaz soon resigned, and Madero assumed the presidency in November 1911. Viewed as ineffective by both conservatives and liberals, Madero was soon overthrown and executed by his general, Victoriano Huerta. After Huerta's rise to power, his oppressive regime faced immediate resistance. Venustiano Carranza, Francisco "Pancho" Villa, and Emiliano Zapata spearheaded revolts against the government. In 1914, Carranza became president as civil war broke out. Although the war ended by late 1915, Villa and Zapata continued to challenge the new government with their rebel factions for several years.

A Woman's Place

Richard Corliss, in his Time review of Like Water for Chocolate, notes that "Laura Esquivel brought Gabriel Garcia Marquez's brand of magic realism into the kitchen and the bedroom, the Latin woman's traditional castle and dungeon." Traditionally, a Latin woman's role was centered around the home. In the patriarchal society of the early 20th century, Mexican women were expected to serve their fathers and brothers and, upon marriage, their husbands, sons, and daughters. These women often turned to domestic arts—such as cooking, sewing, and interior decoration—for creative expression, alongside storytelling, gossip, and giving advice. Consequently, they cultivated their own female culture within the confines of married life.

Maria Elena de Valdes, in her article on Like Water for Chocolate in World Literature Today, asserts that little has changed for Mexican women. She describes the ideal Mexican rural, middle-class woman as: "She must be strong and far more clever than the men who supposedly protect her. She must be pious, observing all the religious requirements of a virtuous daughter, wife, and mother. She must exercise great care to keep her sentimental relations as private as possible, and, most important of all, she must be in control of life in her house, which means essentially the kitchen and bedroom or food and sex."

Reading women's magazines became a favored pastime for many married Mexican women. These magazines often featured fiction published in monthly installments, poetry, recipes, home remedies, sewing and decoration tips, advice, and a calendar of religious observances. Valdes finds parallels between the structure of Like Water for Chocolate and these magazines. She explains that "since home and church were the private and public sites of all educated young ladies, these publications represented the written counterpart to women's socialization, and as such, they are documents that conserve and transmit a Mexican female culture in which the social context and cultural space are particularly for women by women."

Literary Style

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Point of View

In fiction, the point of view refers to the perspective from which the story is told. The distinctive point of view in Like Water for Chocolate effectively highlights the narrative's significance. Esperanza, Tita De la Garza's niece, discovers her aunt's cookbook amidst the remnants of the De la Garza ranch. As she recreates the recipes in her own home, she passes down the family stories to her daughter. Her daughter then becomes the novel's narrator, blending her great-aunt's recipes, remedies, and experiences into a single book. She clarifies her unique narrative by explaining that Tita "will go on living as long as there is someone who cooks her recipes."

Setting

The chaotic era of rebellion in Mexico serves as a fitting backdrop for the novel's themes of tyranny and resistance. Soldiers, bandits, and rebels are frequently mentioned and often play crucial roles in the story. For example, a bandit's attack forces Tita to return home after being disowned by her mother. As Pancho Villa's revolutionary forces clash with the oppressive Mexican regime, Tita fights her own battle against her mother's oppressive rules.

Structure

The novel's narrative structure interweaves Tita's story with the recipes and remedies that are central to her life. By including an actual recipe at the start of each chapter, the author underscores the significance of food in the narrative. This structure highlights the female bonding and creativity that can arise from a focus on domestic arts.

Symbolism

A symbol is an object or image that represents or stands for another object or image. In this novel, food is the primary symbol, as indicated by the title. The phrase "Like water for (hot) chocolate" is a Mexican expression that literally means water at the boiling point and figuratively represents intense emotions ready to burst forth. Throughout the novel, Tita's passion for Pedro is "Like Water for Chocolate" but is continually suppressed by her authoritarian mother. A symbolic incident of Mama Elena's oppression occurs when Tita prepares two hundred roosters for a wedding feast. As she castrates live roosters to ensure they will be fat and tender for the guests, the violent and gruesome process causes her to swoon and shake with anger. She admits, "when they had chosen something to be neutered, they'd made a mistake, they should have chosen her. At least then there would be some justification for not allowing her to marry and giving Rosaura her place beside the man she loved." Food becomes a symbol of Tita's love for Pedro as she uses it to express her feelings. Despite being confined to the kitchen, her creative preparation of meals continues to serve as a conduit for her love for Pedro and his children, thus symbolizing her rebellion against her mother's attempts to keep them apart.

Style

Magic realism is a narrative technique, brought into prominence by Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, that is frequently found in Latin American literature. Authors employing this style blend the fantastical or unusual with the everyday. Magic realism often features time shifts, dreams, myths, fairy tales, surreal descriptions, and elements of surprise and shock, as well as the inexplicable. In Like Water for Chocolate, instances of magic realism include Tita's recipes having peculiar effects on those who consume them, spirits appearing to her, and her shedding literal rivers of tears. The magical aspect of Tita's cooking is that it evokes powerful emotions in her family. Nonetheless, the culinary art reflects the patience and skill of the cook—attributes appreciated by those who savor the results. The spirits appearing to Tita symbolize the enduring impact of significant individuals in our lives and our own feelings of responsibility and guilt.

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is a literary technique used to set up expectations for future events. In Like Water for Chocolate, foreshadowing is evident when John explains his grandmother's theory of love and life to Tita. She believed that "each of us is born with a box of matches inside us but we can't strike them all by ourselves." We need the breath of a loved one to ignite them and thus nourish our souls. She cautions, however, that igniting all the matches at once would be fatal. This theory comes to fruition at the novel's conclusion when Pedro's repressed passion for Tita is finally "ignited," and the intense flame proves too overwhelming for him.

Paradox

A paradox is a statement or situation that seems contradictory or absurd but is actually true. In the novel, the kitchen serves as a paradoxical symbol. On one hand, it is a space where Tita is confined to domestic chores, threatening to strip her of her identity. Yet, it is also a nurturing and creative realm, offering Tita an outlet for her passions and providing sustenance and pleasure to others.

Literary Techniques

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The structure of Like Water for Chocolate, as indicated by its subtitle, "A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies," combines elements of genres typically associated with women—the cookbook, the personal diary, the romance, and the how-to manual. This blend provides the narrator with a great deal of flexibility. The book feels like a conversation among friends or family around the kitchen table, filled with spontaneous thoughts, sudden shifts in time or place, and changes from storytelling to explanatory passages. The recipes are conveyed in a personal manner, akin to someone speaking them aloud while cooking. For instance, the book begins with, "Take care to chop the onion fine. To keep from crying when you chop it (which is so annoying), I suggest you place a little bit on your head . . . ." The narrator continues, noting that "once the tears begin to well up, the next thing you know, you just can't stop." However, the tears in this book stem from more than just onions, serving as a bridge to the tears Tita shed at birth and throughout her life, both in joy and in sorrow.

The cookbook format, presented in installments, also serves as an effective narrative device for the storyteller, who is Tita's grandniece. She reconstructs Tita's story for us some fifty years later using the surviving cookbook/diary, which Tita began the day Gertrudis ran away. This text is further enriched with details passed down by her mother, Esperanza, who heard the stories directly from Tita.

The narrative is enlivened by extraordinary exaggerations, sometimes approaching the realm of tall tales. For example, the tears Tita shed at birth left a salt residue on the floor that, when swept up, filled a ten-pound sack. The bedspread she started the day Pedro first mentioned marriage eventually grew large enough to cover the entire ranch, all three hectares. The longing and illness caused by Rosaura's wedding cake created a river of vomit that swept Rosaura away. The excitement generated when Tita threw bits of tortilla to the chickens caused "a hen hurricane [that] was boring a hole in the dirt of the patio, a hole so deep that most of the chickens disappeared from the face of the earth. The earth swallowed them up."

Such intricate details heighten the authenticity of the experiences. Other occurrences delve further—into the domain of magic, where events defy the natural laws of the universe. The longing that Tita unknowingly infuses into Rosaura's wedding cake, the potent sexual allure in the quail with rose petals, and the milk that fills Tita's breasts to nourish Roberto are examples of such magical phenomena.

Moments of passion generate unnatural heat and light: the wooden shower combusts from the heat of Gertrudis's body, and the pink cloud envelops Juan, drawing him to her from the battlefield. The "plumes of phosphorescent colors... ascending to the sky like delicate Bengal lights" illuminate the night when Tita and Pedro first make love. On their final night, their room transforms into an erupting volcano, spewing stones, ash, and multicolored lights visible for miles.

The dead also make appearances—Nacha, Morning Light, and Mama Elena. Mama Elena's presence is palpable during the Three Kings' Day celebration, even causing the dog to bark and retreat in fear. In a later vision seen only by Tita, her declaration of "I hate you, I've always hated you!" causes Mama Elena to vanish forever, but not before shrinking to a tiny light that spins feverishly towards an oil lamp near Pedro, causing it to explode into fragments and setting Pedro on fire.

This book is rich with imagery of heat and cold, fertility and castration, light and dark. However, the most significant imagery relates to food. As Kristine Ibsen notes, "food transports both the characters and the reader into a sensual dimension of reality." In Esquivel's own words,

the simple act of cooking is, in fact, an act of love. . . . And I am convinced that cooking ... is an inversion of the couple's sexual role. This nurturing that our essence carries, and that our love carries and all these emotions, where we are all contained—this is how the woman can, in fact, penetrate the man, this is how it converts, and the man is the passive one, he receives this, and for me it is very intense and very erotic.

We observe this phenomenon at the dinner table: "It was as if a strange alchemical process had dissolved her entire being into the rose petal sauce, in the tender flesh of the quails, in the wine, in every one of the meal's aromas. That was the way she entered Pedro's body, hot, voluptuous, perfumed, totally sensuous." This consummation then permeates Gertrudis's body, allowing her to physically embody their passion. Love is consistently linked with food. For instance, Tita recognizes Esperanza and Alex's love when she tells her aunt that "when she felt Alex's eyes on her body, she felt like dough being plunged in boiling oil," similar to how Pedro's gaze, years earlier, made Tita understand "how fire transforms the elements, how a lump of corn flour is changed into a tortilla."

Occasionally, food imagery is used to signify the absence of love. When faced with the task of informing John that she would not marry him, Tita "felt completely empty, like a platter that held only crumbs, all that was left of a marvelous pastry." Additionally, there are times when cooking fails to work its magic. For cooking to be truly successful, it must be done with calmness, love, and patience. Negative emotions during preparation—such as rushing or arguing—can spell disaster. When Tita prepares Beans with Chile for John and his Aunt Mary, the beans refuse to soften because they "had witnessed her fight with Rosaura. That meant all she could do was to try to improve their mood," which she does by singing a love-filled song. Instantly, the beans absorbed the liquid they were floating in, swelling until they were on the verge of bursting. The kitchen must be a place of love for food to achieve perfection. Interestingly, the food imagery in the title suggests emotions at a tipping point: "like water for chocolate" is a common Mexican expression indicating being on the verge of boiling over, whether from passion or anger.

Ideas for Group Discussions

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With Like Water for Chocolate being deeply rooted in the literature and experiences of women, men might find themselves at a bit of a disadvantage when discussing this book. Many of the underlying messages are easily recognized by women but can sometimes be more challenging for men to grasp.

1. How does Like Water for Chocolate align with the typical love stories you have encountered? In what ways does it surpass these conventional expectations?

2. A critic has summarized Like Water for Chocolate with the phrase "Love is Food." Analyze the accuracy and significance of this statement in understanding the book. From your own perspective, do you believe that love is food? Conversely, do you think that food can also represent love?

3. Among other elements, Like Water for Chocolate serves as a recipe book. Esquivel asserts that all the recipes included are authentic, sourced from various regions of Mexico. What role do the recipes play in the broader context of the book? What qualities make recipes an ideal framework for shaping her narrative? While recipes primarily provide cooking instructions, the concept extends to many other aspects of life. Consider as many potential interpretations as you can when evaluating the significance of recipes in the story.

4. One of the book's messages is to pursue one's desires, regardless of the cost. In this case, the cost is substantial, and Pedro, the object of desire, seems to be an unworthy prize. Discuss Esquivel's intentions in portraying Pedro in this manner.

5. Is Mama Elena a villain? Esquivel states that she "transforms herself into a represser because she herself was repressed." Can her actions be explained, justified, or forgiven?

6. Crying is a recurring motif in the book, which begins and ends with tears (and onions). What causes Tita to cry? Who else sheds tears? Who never cries? What does sensitivity to onions (and the tendency to cry) imply about a person's character?

7. Tita is torn between two forms of love—the peace and security offered by John and the turmoil and anxiety she experiences with Pedro. What advice would you offer her? What definition of "true love" does Esquivel propose?

8. Suzanne Ruta, in her review for the Women's Review of Books, commends the book's feminist message but argues that the magical elements are distractions that diminish its impact. She criticizes the "lovers who embrace in a shower of doves, of fireworks, of flames, kindly ghosts who roam old houses to protect the deserving, [and] prostitutes who just adore their work," claiming these "ersatz ingredients dilute the power of Esquivel's work." Do you agree with this assessment? Examine the effect of Esquivel's use of magic. What does it contribute or detract? Can its inclusion be justified?

9. Esquivel is delighted that psychotherapists use Like Water for Chocolate to help mothers and daughters discuss their relationships and emotions. What insights does the book provide about the mother-daughter dynamic? While the relationship between Mama Elena and Tita is unique, their struggles resonate with many other mothers and daughters. What specific aspects of the story are helpful in understanding and exploring these relationships?

10. Critic Maria Elena deValdes has stated that Like Water for Chocolate functions as feminist art, not as a protest movement but as a celebration of personal space that was previously hidden but is now accessible to all. She views the book primarily as a celebration of women's creativity. Do you concur with this perspective? What message does Esquivel convey about women and the women's movement in this book? How do you react to that message?

Social Concerns

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Tita, the protagonist in Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate, is a talented cook, a compassionate caregiver, and a passionate lover. However, her authoritarian mother, Mama Elena, imposes traditions and obligations that nearly crush Tita's dreams of happiness. This struggle isn't unique to Tita's northern Mexican ranch but reflects the broader challenges women face in balancing family duties and traditions with their personal desires. The novel, set in early 20th-century Mexico, delves into issues of sexual stereotypes, family responsibilities, and the need for personal autonomy. The backdrop of the 1910 Mexican Revolution, marked by societal upheaval, amplifies the questioning of societal norms on both personal and political fronts.

Mama Elena's decree that Tita, as the youngest daughter, must remain unmarried and care for her mother until her death, heightens the constraints typically imposed on women by tradition and duty. Esquivel revealed in a 1993 interview that she invented this tradition for the book to dramatize Tita's helplessness in altering her fate. Nonetheless, Tita's struggle exists within a society where sex is seen solely for procreation, men are encouraged to exhibit machismo, and women are expected to embody marianismo, mirroring the Virgin Mary in being long-suffering, pure, chaste, and devoted to homemaking and motherhood. Societal norms and proper conduct are dictated by etiquette books and community expectations, with strict adherence to Church teachings and commandments, especially "Honor thy Father and Mother," leaving little room for questioning.

Tita's childhood was filled with love, thanks to Nacha, a family servant who cared for her from birth. However, her mother, Mama Elena, is described as having "frigid breath," capable of extinguishing even the most intense fire with her mere presence. Tragically, Mama Elena became this way after being forbidden years earlier from marrying the dashing mulatto she loved, forced instead into a loveless marriage. She imposed even harsher fates on her daughters, such as forcing one to marry the man her sister loved, ensuring both were deprived of warmth and joy. This denial of love, ostensibly to maintain appearances and conventions, is a central tragedy in the novel.

Women in the story are depicted in traditional roles—emotional, nurturing, yet resilient. Esquivel offers a feminine perspective, though not necessarily a feminist one, as she admits to feeling ambivalent about the feminist movement.

In a 1993 interview with Claudia Loewenstein, she articulated her belief that women need "a new revolution, revolucion interior al exterior." She feels that the initial struggle focused on external achievements, but the anticipated New Man did not materialize in that context. According to her, "the system and the progress that we established is, in fact, destroying us." She envisions the future for women as a return to their homes, arguing that the women's movement has lost its way and that the ideal balance lies in combining domestic and external roles. In this perspective, she sees Esperanza as the embodiment of the collective hope for a new generation of women, capable of balancing higher education with respect for family and culinary traditions.

The domestic setting depicted in this book mirrors the traditional Mexican world of fiercely independent women who crafted a unique women's culture within the confines of marriage. Across the globe, people grapple with unfulfilled dreams, and a central theme of this book is addressing reduced expectations and opportunities. Tita navigates this by expressing herself in a socially acceptable way—through her culinary creativity. Cast into a servant role within her own home, she gains absolute authority in the kitchen, where "flavors, smells, textures, and the effects they could have were beyond Mama Elena's iron command." Here, she flourishes, channeling emotions into her cooking that she is prohibited from showing or even feeling in other areas of her life. Through her dishes, she finds a way to love and be loved. Except for Nacha, others feel uneasy, even frightened, in the kitchen, and her dominance there is never challenged. As Esperanza matures, the kitchen also becomes a sanctuary for her, where she and her aunt can share not just recipes but also the intimate secrets of love and life revealed through their culinary endeavors.

Literary Precedents

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Like Water for Chocolate draws on several precedents, some earnestly and others with a touch of irony. One form that Esquivel adopts is inspired by the nineteenth-century Mexican women's magazine, known as a "calendar for young ladies." These publications featured monthly installments of fiction interwoven with recipes, home remedies, dressmaking patterns, short poems, moral advice, home decorating tips, and announcements of upcoming events. The stories were sentimental, the characters often stereotypical, and the plots melodramatic. Although the literary elite dismissed this fiction, it held great importance for its women readers, who treasured this writing by women for women, fulfilling their need for creativity and love. This model is ideal for Esquivel, allowing her to question its assumptions about the proper behavior of middle-class women.

This tradition of women's narratives focusing on domestic activities is not unique to Mexico. A recent book that taps into this form of women's discourse is Whitney Otto's How to Make an American Quilt (1991), which has been compared to Like Water for Chocolate.

Esquivel is part of a long and rich tradition of Latin American women writers. Myriam Jehensen explores this heritage in her 1995 book, highlighting "a feminine tradition in Latin America that focuses on the formation of the woman's voice as a collective as well as an individual subject." She observes that Latin American women are oppressed specifically as women, and that wealth does not liberate them but merely alters the nature of their oppression. Women writers have spotlighted these issues and worked to change prevailing attitudes. By advocating for the De la Garza women's need to control their own destinies, Esquivel adds her voice to this ongoing struggle.

Another tradition, closely associated with Latin America and evident in Like Water for Chocolate, is magical realism. In this genre, popularized by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, real elements coexist with magical ones that defy scientific or logical explanation. Unlike fantasy or allegory, magical realism is rooted in history and events that did or could happen. The narrative unfolds at the intersection of two worlds that approach each other without fully merging. There are fluid boundaries between matter and spirit, reality and imagination, life and death. Extraordinary events are described as if they are completely ordinary and unquestionable. Esquivel's use of magic and exaggeration, the extraordinary powers she attributes to food, the character of Nacha, and other elements, align perfectly with the tenets of magical realism.

Like Water for Chocolate mirrors several well-known tales. Tita is reminiscent of Cinderella, forced into servitude by her own mother, shielded by a fairy godmother figure (Nacha), but ultimately not achieving a fairy tale ending with her prince. The story also contains elements of Snow White, featuring a cruel mother instead of a stepmother, and aspects of the Little Match Girl. Feminist and postmodernist critics have thoroughly examined Esquivel's use of parody in these and other narratives. They have also analyzed the connection to the telenovela and popular romance genres.

Esquivel leverages the familiarity of her readers, especially female readers, with these traditional models. Through her storytelling talent and humor, she encourages readers to take seriously these genres, which are often dismissed as insignificant by serious critics. Modern critics who dismiss the novel for its melodrama or exaggeration fail to grasp the intent; Esquivel enables her audience to enjoy the story while fully appreciating the underlying irony.

Adaptations

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After releasing Like Water for Chocolate in Mexico in 1989, Esquivel crafted a screenplay based on the novel. Her husband, Alfonso Arau, produced and directed the film, which was distributed in Mexico by Arau Films International and later in the United States with subtitles by Miramax. Esquivel initially worked as a screenwriter before transitioning to novels, altering the typical sequence of book first, film second. She acknowledges that the book was somewhat written with a filmmaker's perspective. "I see an image and then I explain it," she notes, highlighting her visually-driven method of writing. Thus, the text and its visual representation were developed almost simultaneously.

However, adapting the book to film came with challenges. The book's multiple layers were condensed into a single, relentless storyline for the movie. Characters like Mama Elena became one-dimensional, losing their complexity. The film struggled to capture the nuanced essence that written metaphors and readers' imaginations could. To bridge this gap, the movie included a voiceover—Tita's grand-niece speaking key phrases and images from the book directly into the camera—but it wasn't quite the same. Despite these compromises, Esquivel's story of unfulfilled passion achieved significant success in both mediums. The film, in particular, became the highest-grossing Latin American film in the United States. The simultaneous release of the subtitled film by Miramax and the hardcover translation by Doubleday in February 1993 bolstered the popularity of both versions. Additionally, a high-quality audiotape of Like Water for Chocolate, narrated by Kate Reading, was released by Books on Tape.

Media Adaptations

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Adapted from Esquivel's screenplay, the Spanish-language film Like Water for Chocolate was directed by Alfonso Arau. The 1992 film stars Lumi Cavazos, Regina Torne, and Marco Leonardi, and was produced by Arau Films. In 1993, an English-subtitled version was released by New Republic.

Bibliography and Further Reading

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Sources

Marialisa Calta, "The Art of the Novel as Cookbook," in the New York Times Book Review, February 17, 1993.

Richard Corliss, review of Like Water for Chocolate, in Time, Vol. 141, No. 14, April 5, 1993, p. 61.

Maria Elena de Valdes, "Verbal and Visual Representation of Women in 'Like Water for Chocolate,'" in World Literature Today, Vol. 69, No. 1, Winter 1995, pp. 78-82.

Barbara Hoffert, review of The Law of Love, in Library Journal, July 1996, p. 156.

Mansa Januzzi, review of Like Water for Chocolate, in Review of Contemporary Fiction, Vol. 13, No. 2, Summer 1993, pp. 245-46.

Molly O'Neill, "At Dinner with Laura Esquivel: Sensing the Spirit in All Things, Seen and Unseen," in the New York Times, March 31, 1993, pp. C1, C8.

Lilian Pizzichim, review of The Law of Love, in Times Literary Supplement, October 18, 1996, p. 23.

James Polk, review of Like Water for Chocolate, in Tribune Books (Chicago), October 8, 1992, p. 8.

Karen Stabiner, review of Like Water for Chocolate, in the Los Angeles Times Book Review, November 1, 1992, p. 6.

Han Stavans, review of Like Water for Chocolate, in Nation, Vol. 256, No. 23, June 14, 1993, p. 846.

Victor Zamudio-Taylor and Inma Gulu, "Criss-Crossing Texts: Reading Images in 'Like Water for Chocolate,'" in The Mexican Cinema Project: Studies in History, Criticism, and Theory, edited by Chon Nonega and Steven Ricci, The UCLA Film and TV Archive, 1994, pp. 45-52.

Further Reading

Mary Batts Estrada, review of Like Water for Chocolate, in the Washington Post, September 25, 1993, p. B2.
This review commends the novel for its blend of culinary expertise, sensuality, and magic as "the secrets of love and life [are] revealed by the kitchen."

Stanley Kauffmann, review of Like Water for Chocolate, in New Republic, Vol. 208, No. 9, March 1, 1993, pp. 24-25.
Kauffmann critiques the movie adaptation of the novel, describing it as "drawn-out" and "lacking in focus."

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