Magical Realism in ‘The House of the Spirits’: A Deep Dive
Literary Context of Magical Realism
During this period, magical realism emerged as a literary attempt at renewal, tied to the aesthetics of the European avant-garde. Although characterized by an attempt to reflect American reality, most authors maintained significant contact with the European world. This included both avant-garde poetry and the most innovative European novels, as well as currents influenced by Surrealism. In magical realism, the wonderful or marvelous is presented as real. The most fantastic events are not treated as they would be in a traditional fairy tale. Magical realism developed strongly in the 1960s and 1970s, a product of the discrepancies between two coexisting visions in Latin America at that time: the culture of technology and the culture of superstition. Furthermore, it emerged as a way of reacting to the dictatorial regimes of the time.
Characteristics of Magical Realism
- Content includes magical/fantastic elements, perceived by characters as normal.
- Presence of sensory perception as part of reality.
- Time is perceived as cyclical, not linear, decoupled from traditions of modern rationality.
Historical Context in ‘The House of the Spirits’
The House of the Spirits is a family saga set in a Latin America marked by political and economic changes, guerrillas, clashes between highly differentiated social classes, dictatorships, and ultimately, the fight for freedom. It is the saga of a family and a world, a history of the rapture of authoritarianism, the excesses of the imagination, and an interpretation of the unreal and illusory. All this occurs in an area where violence, struggle, and hope coincide—a space in which to recognize the life of Latin American countries. The novel shows the behavior of the upper classes. While it never mentions the name of a city or a specific date, one can infer that this feudal organization occurs simultaneously with the development of the First World War in Europe, as Trueba followed the fate of the war on a transoceanic radio he had in the capital. The peasants still lived as in colonial times and had not heard of unions, Sundays or holidays, or a minimum wage. Groups of landowners, mine owners, and beneficiaries of trade monopolies—all those who held economic power—accepted and vehemently practiced the established order based on the slavery of indigenous peoples. In rural areas, the social scheme that had prevailed in Europe during the Middle Ages, and still persisted in many parts during the Modern Age, endured. The city, however, walked away and fostered the seeds of bourgeois dissent. The novel provides a clear description of Chilean society, the deep division in its classes, and the rattling of an old system that was not resigned to being replaced. Through each of its characters, we venture into Chilean history, and through that, into Latin American history.
Main Theme and Secondary Issues
The main theme focuses on the history of Esteban Trueba and his family, whose environment is affected by a complex political and social context. Different family members represent different ideals, especially political ideas or ideas regarding the good of society in general. We can therefore say that in the work we find two levels: one represents the plane of emotions and the complexity of human relations within a family environment, and the other displays political ideologies, social differences, and the intrigues and conflicts that accompanied political and social change in Chile for nearly a century.
Themes in ‘The House of the Spirits’
- Love
- Hatred
- Death
- Family relationships
- Class struggle
- Gender violence: Man’s power over women
Isabel Allende’s Style
Isabel Allende’s work is characterized by a lyrical narrative incorporating humor, suspense, and social commentary. This social commitment is highlighted in the reconstruction of family myths and the history of a Latin American heritage torn by oppression. However, such a legacy, which Allende airs in family sins, promises redemption through solidarity and compassion. One could see that Allende’s work demonstrates features of magical realism, as the Chilean writer uses elements that exalt the imagination of reality. Her first novel, The House of the Spirits, highlights this heightened reality, uniting the everyday and the unusual with descriptions of hyperbolic carnival, surreal coincidences, and supernatural events as routine.