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The Candidate/the President
Clara’s sister, Severo and Nívea’s daughter, and Esteban Trueba’s first fiancé. Rosa is Severo and Nívea’s oldest daughter, and she is incredibly beautiful. She has a greenish tint to her hair and resembles a mermaid, and from the moment she is born, Nívea knows Rosa is “not of this world.” Rosa’s family refers to her as a “heavenly being,” and Nívea doesn’t make her learn domestic skills because she suspects that Rosa’s life will be short. Rosa is engaged to Esteban when she is just 16, but she doesn’t see him for two years while he goes to work in the northern mines. Early in the novel, Rosa comes down with a fever, and after drinking poisoned brandy meant for her father, Severo, she dies. Clara witnesses Dr. Cuevas’s assistant sexually assaulting Rosa’s dead body during the autopsy, which traumatizes her and prompts her to stop talking entirely for many years. Like Clara, Rosa is an example of the supernatural within the novel. Her mermaid-like qualities and angelic nature make her appear not entirely human, yet she is oblivious to the power and hold she has over others—especially Esteban, who deeply loves her.
Rosa del Valle Quotes in The House of the Spirits
The The House of the Spirits quotes below are all either spoken by Rosa del Valle or refer to Rosa 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:
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Chapter 10 Quotes
When the project was complete, I came up against an unexpected obstacle: I was unable to transfer Rosa to the new tomb because the del Valle family objected. I tried to convince them, using every argument I could think of along with gifts and pressure, even bringing my political power to bear, but it was all in vain. My brothers-in-law were unyielding. I think they must have heard about Nívea’s head and were angry with me for having kept it in the basement all that time. In light of their obstinacy, I called Jaime in and told him to get ready to accompany me to the cemetery to steal Rosa’s body. He didn’t look surprised.
“If they won’t give her to us, we’ll have to take her by force,” I told him.
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This passage occurs after Clara dies, when Esteban tries to move Rosa’s body to the Trueba mausoleum, and it is important because it further illustrates Esteban’s selfishness and summarizes his sexist attitude toward women. With Clara’s death, Esteban wants both his loves in the same place. As sisters, they will be together, and he can visit them at the same time. The del Valles’ objection is an “unexpected obstacle,” as it never occurs to Esteban to considers the feelings and desires of others. Instead of respecting the decision of Rosa’s family, he tries to convince them with “gifts and pressure,” 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 quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleni
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Rosa del Valle Character Timeline in The House of the Spirits
The timeline below shows where the character Rosa del Valle appears in The House of the Spirits. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: Rosa the Beautiful
...crowded church, and the del Valle family takes up three whole rows. Nívea looks to Rosa, her oldest living daughter. Rosa is breathtakingly beautiful, and she has a strange, mysterious quality,...
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Rosa is engaged to Esteban Trueba, but he has been gone nearly two years, working in...
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The narrator, Esteban Trueba, is 25 years old, and he is miserable being away from Rosa. He has been working and living in the mines for the past two years, trying...
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The first time Esteban saw Rosa walking down the street with her siblings and Nana, he was mesmerized. The other men...
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On Saturday, Rosa comes down with a chill and takes to her bed. Dr. Cuevas, the local physician,...
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Dr. Cuevas is called and declares that no ordinary fever killed Rosa. He begins to tear the house apart looking for anything out of the ordinary and...
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As Dr. Cuevas lifts Rosa’s nightgown and reveals her beautiful mermaid-like body, Severo is overcome with grief and leaves the...
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Dr. Cuevas knows without a doubt that Rosa’s poisoning was meant for Severo. When their work is done, Dr. Cuevas’s assistant can’t stand...
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Dr. Cuevas tells Severo that Rosa was murdered with rat poisoning, and Severo collapses to the floor. He renounces his candidacy...
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Everyone says goodbye to Rosa, except for Clara, who refuses to even enter the dining room. She goes to the...
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In the meantime, Esteban is sure that he will have enough money to marry Rosa in six months, and he is happy thinking about the future. When the telegram from...
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Esteban arrives at the del Valles’ just as the carriage comes to take Rosa to the cemetery for the funeral. Esteban, Severo, and Rosa’s brothers follow to the cemetery....
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The night of Rosa’s death, Clara could not sleep. She was feeling lonely and guilty, and Clara worried that...
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Chapter 2: The Three Marías
...off with him than without him. He uses all the money he saved to marry Rosa to fix up Tres Marías, and with hard work and organization, it begins to resemble...
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Esteban thinks of Rosa’s mother, Nívea, who campaigned for women’s rights with the other suffragettes. Such women made their...
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Chapter 3: Clara the Clairvoyant
...finally breaks her silence. Clara tells her parents that she will soon be married to Rosa’s fiancé, Esteban.
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Chapter 5: The Lovers
...their Christmas manger. Blanca begins to make strange hybrid animals, not unlike the animals of Rosa’s tablecloth, and her crèches become a tourist attraction.
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Chapter 6: Revenge
Afterward, Esteban is so lonely that Rosa begins to haunt his dreams. He can’t stop crying and blames Pedro Tercero for everything....
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Chapter 9: Little Alba
...fresco, filled with invented animals—just like the ones Blanca bakes in her kiln and that Rosa stitched onto her tablecloth. As Alba grows up in the house on the corner, surrounded...
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Chapter 10: The Epoch of Decline
...completed on the mausoleum for Clara, and Esteban asks the del Valle family to transfer Rosa’s body to the mausoleum, but they refuse. When Esteban goes to Jaime and tells him...
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After Esteban and Jaime successfully move Rosa into Clara’s mausoleum, Esteban begins to feel better. He keeps Clara’s room locked up, however,...
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