"The House on Mango Street" tracks the sexual and emotional maturation of Esperanza over the course of one year living on Mango Street. There are several underlying themes and messages in this book that fall in line with issues in feminism. These ideas mostly center on male superiority over female sexuality and freedom. Ultimately, Esperanza rejects this male domination and obtains her freedom from Mango Street through her love of writing.
Cisneros encourages women to live as individuals, and not to rely on men throughout "The House on Mango Street." She portrays men as domineering and violent over the course of the novel. For example, Sally's father beats her due to her confidence and sexuality (113). This goes along with the recurring theme that female beauty equals trouble. Also, women in the novel that get married often sacrifice their own personal freedom. Rafaela is a good example of this. Esperanza explains that "she gets locked indoors because her husband is afraid Rafaela will run away since she is too beautiful to look at (99)." Esperanza decides to escape this male domination through her own personal interests, such as writing. She loves to tell stories and write poems (132). Esperanza's love for writing shows that women need to be viewed as individuals, not sexual objects like the other women in the novel.
Freedom from a male dominated society is a key concept in this book. Often, individual talents and interests are lost by women who marry because they immediately become an object to their husbands. Cisneros urges women to think for themselves and fight for the right to express themselves, much the same way Esperanza expresses herself through writing. Ultimately, freedom is important and should be preserved at all costs.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I agree and disagree with your ideas about the themes throughout the novel. Esperanza does experience sexual matuation during this part of her life; however, I do not agree that it was in rejecting male domination and writing that allowed her to escape from Mango Street.
Cisneros does encourage women to live as individuals and promotes female sexuality, especially where she describes the girls and their outing in high heels. I believe that Cisneros view of men is somewhat different. Cisneros made Esperanza's concerns not so much about men and and their domination, but as a potential way out of her current living situation. Esperanza was dissatisfied not only with her limitations as a female but her entire community that surrounded her.
If you ananlyze the chapter regarding Sally's marriage it is evident that Cisneros portrays Sally's life as less than ideal. Esperanza though sees this as an acceptable means of escape from their current living situation. Sally has a house. The house symbolizes a much more important theme throughout the novel. It symbolizes freedom, empowerment, and happiness. I do not necessarily believe it is freedom and empowerment as a women as much as it is an escape from her Latina background that Cisneros was trying to describe.
Cisneros conveys a message throughout the novel about the importance for freedom. Many of the women throughout the novel do not experience this freedom. At times it has to do with male domination and at other times it is the constraints that society has placed on them. Cisneros attempts to emphasize the importance of freedom by desribing various characters who lack freedom for different reasons.
Post a Comment