By: Abigail Phillips
Love is a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person, or at least this definition is what the dictionary conveys. Society has viewed the philosophy of love in different forms. Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel is a prime example of how the many perspectives of love affect the character’s mindset throughout the book. Tita, Mama Elena, and Pedro’s outlook on Love was all different, each contrasting with one another’s personal opinions.
In the novel, the strong emotion of love takes a toll on each of the characters, hearts and affects each of them in a different way. For example, Tita, a main character in the novel, falls in love with a man named Pedro, but their love is banned because of her mother’s rash policy that the youngest daughter may not marry, and instead must live with her mother and take care of her until she dies. In the novel Mama Elena declares, “If he intends to ask for your hand, tell him not to bother. He’ll be wasting his time and mine too. You know perfectly well that being the youngest daughter means you have to take care of me until the day I die.” For Tita’s family, this type of arrangement was a tradition that went back many generations in her family, but although this was the case, she wanted nothing of it. Pedro, the man of her dreams, heard this implacable decision, and would not stand for it. He loved Tita so much; he would do anything to be close to her. However, because of Mama Elena’s obtuse inveterate, the only way he could do so was to marry Tita’s sister, Rosaura. As it states in the book Mama Elena tells Pedro, “But if you really want Pedro to get married, allow me to suggest my daughter Rosaura, who is just two years older than Tita. She is one hundred percent available, and ready for marriage.” Pedro agreed to this arrangement but even though he was to marry Rosaura, the love that he had for Tita was so great that it would never die. The relationship between Tita and Pedro is just one example of how the characters were affected by love and how one mother’s philosophy was different than the perspectives of the daughter’s. Once Pedro and Rosaura were married, they too faced problems of their own. Pedro’s strong emotion towards Tita made Rosaura suspicious that something was going on between them, and sure enough there was. In the novel Tita and Pedro reunited in awkward situations throughout the story. Such as when Tita is taking a shower, Pedro walks in on her; and stares at her with lust in his eyes. Then another time where Tita goes out to the shed to look for something she needs and Pedro sneaks in and they make love. The affection they shared between one another affected many of the characters around them, mostly in negative ways. Although person who was affected most by this love affair was Mama Elena.
Mama Elena is a very haughty woman who thinks all her ideas are right and she is never wrong. She believes in her traditions and doesn’t stop to think about other people’s opinions. The way love comes into play for this situation is that Mama Elena loves Tita, she just does not always show it. However, her definition of love is to be strict and harsh because that is what she feels is necessary in order to run a well-refined household and take care of her daughters. Even though Mama Elena loves Tita, she feels that she does not understand her. The love between Tita and Pedro had affected the relationship between her and her mother deeply. The love Tita has for her mother is very little because of the rising emotions affecting the way her mother treats her; as if she was a child. For instance, in the beginning of novel Mama Elena and Tita get into an argument about the way Tita sewed her clothing (even though Tita’s was the most perfect out of all the sisters). She told her that she never basted the clothes before she sewed them, so her mother told her to rip it up