Men and Women in Isabel Allende’s The Stories of Eva Luna.

In her short story collection, The Stories of Eva Luna, the Chilean author Isabel Allende introduces unconventional characters to the reader. Though, on the surface, her characters are merely entertaining, it is through these characters that Isabel Allende explores the sexuality of women and men and, not only the place of each in the ephemeral sphere of lifetime, but in the perpetual wheel of humanity. Each of her stories compares and contrasts men and women. Known for her extended sagas about multiple generations in one family, Allende changes pace to give us snap shots into the lives of many in her short story collection. At the end of each tale she adds new concepts to her evolving definition of man and woman. Three of Allende’s stories can be highlighted to demonstrate her take on the differences between the sexes: “Two Words,” “Wicked Girl,” and “Clarisa.”

In her short story “Two Words,” Allende juxtaposes the power of men and women. She also uses description to develop individual characters to differentiate between the universal man and woman. In her main character of Belisa, Allende creates a powerful woman on whom people depend to feel connected to the world around them. In Belisa’s relationship with the Colonel, a feared military man and a symbol of terror in her country, Allend highlights how men and women rely on each other’s strenghs and weaknesses to achieve their highest “power” in society or in humanity in general. She dispels stereotypes of men and women through making her non-stereotypical characters seem realistic.

In her story “Wicked Girl,” while addressing the same themes as in “Two Words”, Allende takes another focus as well. This time she hones in on the discrepancy between women’s and men’s regard of love and passion. Allende addresses sexuality through her coming-of-age main character, Elena Mejias, who centers her pre-pubescent awakening on one of the residents of her mother’s boarding house, a mid-aged man named Juan Jose Bernal. Allende points out the power of adults’ sexual radar. None of the adults take an interest in Elena until she begins to grow into her sexual identity. However, Allende differentiates that sexuality has a tighter grip on the identity of men than it does on women.

Allende’s short story “Clarisa” challenges reality, as all her stories do, in order to prove a greater point about humanity. In this story, Allende analyses the benevolence of womanhood, and contrasts this with the weaknesses and strengths of men. She particularly highlights Clarisa, a saint-like figure with her sloth husband. However, Allende includes Clarisa’s good-natured sons and gives examples of Clarisa’s petty habits to offset the negative and positive focus on men and women respectively.

I recommend to all of you that you read "Two Words" because Allende uses powerful language and discription to butress the discrepancy between the universal man and woman. (SBS)