Nívea del Valle Character Analysis in The House of the Spirits

Severo’s wife. Nívea is the mother of 15 children (four of whom have already died at the beginning the novel), including Clara and Rosa. Like Severo, Nívea has political aspirations. Nívea wants to fight for women’s rights from the inside, and she is referred to as “the country’s first feminist.” She stands on soapboxes and protests with her suffragette friends, but she can’t bring herself to take off her corset like the rest of them, which reflects the power of the patriarchy to control even the strongest women. Nívea is a loving mother, and Clara grows up hearing her outrageous stories of the past and their family history. Nívea and Severo are killed in a car accident when Clara is an adult, during which Nívea is decapitated and her head misplaced. Clara manages to find Nívea’s head—thanks to her supernatural powers—when even police bloodhounds fail. However, Esteban Trueba fears people will ask how Clara found Nívea’s head, so instead of having the head properly buried, he puts it in a hat box in the basement. Years later, when Clara dies, Esteban buries her with Nívea’s head. Nívea is the personification of female strength and power within the novel. She believes in women’s rights, and it is because of women like Nívea that future generations of women can vote and wear long pants. Nívea’s fight, however, isn’t easy, and many men (including her son-in-law, Esteban) condemn her. Esteban says Nívea is “sick in the head,” and claims what she really needs is a “strong hand” to keep her line.

Nívea del Valle Quotes in The House of the Spirits

The The House of the Spirits quotes below are all either spoken by Nívea del Valle or refer to Nívea del Valle. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Class, Politics, and Corruption Theme Icon

At times Clara would accompany her mother and two or three of her suffragette friends on their visits to factories, where they would stand on soapboxes and make speeches to the women who worked there while the foremen and bosses, snickering and hostile, observed them from a prudent distance. Despite her tender age and complete ignorance of matters of this world, Clara grasped the absurdity of the situation and wrote in her notebook about the contrast of her mother and her friends, in their fur coats and suede boots, speaking of oppression, equality, and rights to a sad, resigned group of hard-working women in denim aprons, their hands red with chilblains.

Related Characters: Clara del Valle/Trueba, Nívea del Valle

Related Symbols: Clara’s Notebooks

Page Number and Citation: 91

Explanation and Analysis:

This quote occurs during Clara’s childhood, when her mother, Nívea, a suffragette, takes Clara along as she lectures on soapboxes about women’s rights. It is important because it reflects the class and gender struggles that pervade Allende’s novel. This quote takes place during a time in history when women, fighting for equality and voting rights, would stand on wooden crates, usually empty “soapboxes,” to publicly air their grievances. Fighting for one’s rights is never met without opposition, and even though Nívea and the other suffragettes aim their messages at working women, “the foremen and bosses”—i.e., the men—watch from a distance, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi

Nívea del Valle Character Timeline in The House of the Spirits

The timeline below shows where the character Nívea del Valle appears in The House of the Spirits. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...but he has political ambitions, and church is a great place to network. Clara’s mother, Nívea, has political aspirations as well, and she is hoping that if Severo is elected, she... (full context)

Nívea has given birth to 15 children, 11 of which are still living. Clara, her youngest,... (full context)

...tablecloth a waste of time and that Rosa should be learning useful domestic skills instead. Nívea, however, lets Rosa embroider as much as she wants. Rosa is a “heavenly being,” and... (full context)

...family out of the church. “Possessed…She’s possessed by the devil!” Father Restrepo yells of Clara. Nívea is humiliated. Father Restrepo’s words hang in the air “with all the gravity of a... (full context)

Nana enters and tells Severo and Nívea that a group of men have arrived with the dead body of Nívea’s brother Marcos.... (full context)

...country’s first Marxist candidate runs for president. A week passes without sign of Marcos’s plane. Nívea and the children pray for his safe return, but as time passes, Marcos is declared... (full context)

...on the del Valles’ doorstep. He lost his plane and had to walk back, but Nívea’s prayers were answered. He stays for weeks, as usual, and thinks Clara’s special powers the... (full context)

Esteban thinks of Rosa’s mother, Nívea, who campaigned for women’s rights with the other suffragettes. Such women made their husbands look... (full context)

Clara is 10 years old when she decides to stop speaking. Severo and Nívea call Dr. Cuevas, but his failed treatments only manage to terrify Clara. Finally, Severo and... (full context)

...future or knitting (the only domestic skill Clara masters), she is listening to one of Nívea’s many stories of their family’s past. Nívea points to old pictures of dead relatives and... (full context)

Nívea takes Clara to the city tenements to give food and clothing to the poor. Other... (full context)

...and considers a mute wife a good thing, so he asks to meet Clara. When Nívea brings Clara out to meet Esteban, Clara says that she has been expecting him and... (full context)

...knife buried in his back, lumbers toward Clara. He falls dead at her feet, and Nívea and Severo are terrified at such a bad omen. (full context)

The next year is spent preparing for the wedding. Nívea meticulously packs Clara’s wedding trunks, filling them with the latest fashions, but Clara shows little... (full context)

...to say the rosary, and when she is done, Clara takes the opportunity to repeat Nívea’s messages of equality. The women smile and listen, but they know that their husbands will... (full context)

...equality and justice, he is infuriated. No wife of his will espouse the same nonsense Nívea preached, and he tells Clara that if she doesn’t stop immediately, he will take down... (full context)

As Dr. Cuevas makes plans to perform another cesarean section on Clara, Severo and Nívea del Valle are killed in an accident. Esteban tells Férula that he doesn’t want to... (full context)

When Severo and Nívea’s bodies begin to decompose, they are buried without Nívea’s head. People come from near and... (full context)

...delivers Clara’s two healthy baby boys before Dr. Cuevas or the midwife arrive. Esteban puts Nívea’s head in a hatbox, which is sure to be a problem. A proper burial of... (full context)

...however, becomes more obsessive. The children grow, too, and Clara tells Blanca stories just as Nívea did before her, and Jaime and Nicolás become young men and go off to school.... (full context)

...money and buy an old car, which they call “Covadonga” in honor of Severo and Nívea del Valle. One day, Jaime says that he thinks Blanca is pregnant, and Clara confirms... (full context)

...room and informs the servants they may bury her, and he tells them to bury Nívea’s head with her. The funeral is an event, and people come from everywhere to pay... (full context)

Nívea del Valle Character Analysis

Nívea del Valle Quotes in The House of the Spirits

Chapter 3 Quotes

Nívea del Valle Character Timeline in The House of the Spirits