Research Paper on:
Feminine Perspective in “The House of the Spirits”

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
it is a family saga. Moreover, it is also possible to view the novel as a supernatural thriller. However, any one of these perspectives is somewhat limited; while "The House  of the Spirits" is all of these things, it is also more than the sum of its parts. The novel occupies a short list of Spanish language masterworks written in  the style known as "magical realism" in which miraculous or supernatural events occur within the natural progression of the plot, and are treated as a matter of course rather than  a true departure from the ordinary. Allende is able to use the formal device of magical realism to convey a theme of the inherent power of femininity and female values,  as set against the prevailing patriarchy. This paragraph helps the student provide a summary overview of the text to be reviewed. "The House of the Spirits" is, genre-wise, situated  in a tradition dominated by male-oriented family histories (as seen in, for example, Allendes contemporary Marquezs infamous "One Hundred Years of Solitude"). In spite of that, it subversively presents a  national, multi-generational narrative from the perspective of the matriarchal lineage. Three female characters dominate the course of the novel: Clara, a clairvoyant young woman who ends up marrying a man  named Esteban Trueba, an industrialist with a penchant for mistreating the peasant class he employs; Blanca, their daughter;, and Alba, their granddaughter, who becomes the object of a villainous politicians  affections. The story largely involves how the lives of these three women intersect with the larger national narrative of a struggle between conservative and socialist political forces. The first  way in which the author emphasizes the feminine aspects of the main character is through the device of invoking the postcolonial subaltern (Hart, 2003). In postcolonial literary theory, the subaltern