Laura Esquivel was born on September 30, 1950, in Mexico City, Mexico, to Julio César Esquivel and Josefa Valdés. In addition to being a novelist, Esquivel also taught kindergarten and wrote screenplays for children's television in her native Mexico. She is one of four children.
Esquivel's most noted work is the novel and cookbook Like Water for Chocolate, which details the life of the De la Garza family during the Mexican Revolution. Similar to Isabel Allende's works, Laura...
GradeSaver provides access to 2368 study guide PDFs and quizzes, 11018 literature essays, 2792 sample college application essays, 926 lesson plans, and ad-free surfing in this premium content, “Members Only” section of the site! Membership includes a 10% discount on all editing orders.
Throughout Like Water for Chocolate and Therese Raquin, mothers reinforce limitations that repress their daughters’ emotions. Striving for their goals, Tita and Therese face barricades that alter their personalities and morph their desires. The...
Throughout the novel, Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel, Tita, the struggling protagonist wages an emotional battle with herself. Given that the tale takes place in early 20th century Mexico, the concepts of uncontested familial...
It is widely acknowledged that women have often been “forced to occupy a secondary place in the world in relation to men” (Beauvoir 84). The woman is generally considered to be ‘the other’ or the ‘second sex’ and is used as a commodity for the...
Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate shows contrasts in many of the characters throughout the lifetime of Tita. Tita’s role as the protagonist reveals her struggle within the family, but also her development as a care-taker and nurturer...
Magical realism is the art of infusing the supernatural in the mundane. Many Latin American authors exploit the power of magical realism in their novels, in which characters have regular encounters with the spiritual world. This capacity equips...
Every culture has unique social tradition placed upon their ancestors for many generations. These social constraints force their people to adhere to the same set of boundaries because it is deemed as proper and acceptable. These constraints often...
