Introduction
First published in 1989, Laura Esquivel’s first novel, Como agua para chocolate: novela de entregas mensuales con recetas, amores, y remedios caseros, became a bestseller […]
Like Water for Chocolate
Laura Esquivel
Esquivel was born in 1951 in Mexico, the third of four children of Julio Caesar Esquivel, a telegraph operator, and his wife Josephina. In an […]
Plot Summary
A Chapters 1-4: Under Mama Elena’s Rule In Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate the narrator chronicles the life of her great-aunt, Tita De la […]
Characters
A Juan Alejandrez Juan is a captain in the revolutionary army when he first sees Gertrudis. He is known for his bravery, but when he […]
Themes
A Duty and Responsibility The first chapter begins the novel’s exploration of the theme of duty, responsibility, and tradition as it presents Tita’s main conflict. […]
Construction
A Point of View In fiction, the point of view is the perspective from which the story is presented. The unique point of view in […]
Historical Perspective
A The Mexican Revolution Although Mexico had been independent from Spain since the early nineteenth century, its government was continually beset by internal and external […]