The House of the Spirits Themes

Class struggle and politics are at the center of Isabel Allende’s multi-generational novel The House of the Spirits. The book examines the social and political changes of an unnamed South American country as it transitions from a class-based oligarchy—a political system in which a small group of very wealthy people hold most of the power—to a full-blown Marxist revolution. Much of the story unfolds at Tres Marías, a country hacienda (estate) owned by Esteban…

In addition to class struggle, The House of the Spirits also highlights the struggle of women in patriarchal society. The women of the novel’s unidentified South American country are expected to occupy a very specific role in society during the mid-20th century, and that role rarely leads out of the domestic sphere. Women are expected to be wives, mothers, and caregivers, and their education and upbringing are geared to that end. They are also expected…

Most of the characters in Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits are motivated in some way by love. The theme of love is first introduced with Esteban Trueba’s engagement to Rosa del Valle, a beautiful and angelic young woman whose untimely death leaves Esteban heartbroken. Esteban later marries Rosa’s younger sister, Clara, a mysterious woman with whom he also falls madly in love. Love is not limited to Esteban; it is…

Families and their interconnections with one another are a complex theme within The House of the Spirits. Allende’s exploration of families begins with the del Valles, who suffer endlessly when the family’s eldest daughter, Rosa, is inadvertently murdered in an assassination attempt meant for her father, Severo, an up-and-coming politician of the Liberal party in an overwhelmingly conservative country. The novel also examines the Trueba family, whose only son, Esteban, is…

The importance of recording the past is prominent in The House of the Spirits. From the time Clara, one of the main characters, is young girl, she is “already in the habit of writing down important matters” in various notebooks, which her future granddaughter, Alba, eventually uses to “reclaim the past and overcome terrors of [her] own.” For Clara, the recording of events bears “witness to life,” even if she does…