Como agua para chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate) (AQA A-Level Spanish): Revision Notes

Como agua para chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate)

Overview of the novel

"Como agua para chocolate" is a celebrated Mexican novel written by Laura Esquivel. The title itself is a Mexican expression meaning "like water for chocolate" – referring to the boiling point of water when making hot chocolate, symbolising extreme anger or passion. This novel combines elements of magical realism with a story of forbidden love, family traditions, and culinary arts.

The narrative is set during the turbulent period of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) and follows the De la Garza family as they navigate love, duty, and tradition. What makes this novel unique is its structure: each chapter begins with a traditional Mexican recipe, and the preparation of food is deeply intertwined with the emotions and events of the story.

Historical and cultural context

The novel takes place during the Mexican Revolution, a major armed struggle that transformed Mexican society. This period was characterised by social upheaval, political change, and the challenging of traditional structures. However, despite the revolutionary changes happening around them, the De la Garza family remains bound by strict traditional customs, particularly those affecting women's roles and freedoms.

One of the central traditions in the novel is a Mexican custom stating that the youngest daughter in a family cannot marry. Instead, she must dedicate her life to caring for her mother until the mother's death. This tradition forms the foundation of the novel's central conflict.

Main characters

Tita De la Garza

Tita is the protagonist and youngest of three daughters in the De la Garza family. She is a passionate, sensitive young woman who expresses her emotions primarily through cooking. Born in the kitchen, Tita develops an almost magical connection with food – her feelings are literally transferred into the dishes she prepares, affecting everyone who eats them.

Despite being deeply in love with Pedro Murquiz, family tradition forbids her from marrying. She must care for her demanding mother, Mamá Elena, until her death. Throughout the novel, Tita struggles between her duty to family and her desire for personal happiness. She channels her frustration, love, and pain into her cooking, becoming the ranch's primary cook. Her character represents the conflict between individual freedom and oppressive tradition.

Pedro Murquiz

Pedro is Tita's true love and the man who sets the story in motion. When he asks for Tita's hand in marriage, he is devastated to learn she cannot marry him due to family tradition. However, his love for Tita is so strong that he makes an unusual decision: he accepts Mamá Elena's offer to marry Tita's sister, Rosaura, instead. His reasoning is simple – by marrying Rosaura, he can remain close to Tita and maintain their connection.

Throughout the novel, Pedro remains devoted to Tita despite being married to her sister. This complicated situation creates tension and drama within the family, as Pedro and Tita continue their emotional connection whilst trying to respect social conventions.

Mamá Elena

Mamá Elena is the strict matriarch of the De la Garza family and the novel's primary antagonist. As a widow who inherited the ranch after her husband's death, she rules her household with severity and rigidity. She raises her three daughters – Gertrudis, Rosaura, and Tita – according to the harsh customs of her generation, showing little warmth or flexibility.

She particularly disapproves of Tita's rebellious spirit and forces her to renounce her love for Pedro. When Tita shows signs of emotional breakdown, Mamá Elena even considers sending her to an asylum. However, there is more complexity to her character than initially apparent. The novel reveals that Mamá Elena herself once had a passionate love affair with a man of African origin, but her father forced her to marry someone more "honourable" instead. This tragic past may explain her severity towards her daughters – she is perhaps trying to protect them from the pain she herself experienced, or she is bitter about her own lost happiness.

Rosaura

Rosaura is Tita's sister who becomes caught in the middle of the love triangle. She marries Pedro, knowing that he truly loves Tita. This creates a painful situation for all involved. Rosaura and Pedro have children together, though tragedy strikes when their first child dies, nearly driving Tita to madness.

John Brown

John Brown is a sympathetic American doctor from the United States who provides crucial support to Tita during her darkest moments. After the death of Rosaura and Pedro's first child, Tita experiences a mental breakdown. When Mamá Elena wants to send her to an asylum, John takes Tita into his home and cares for her with kindness and patience.

John falls in love with Tita and offers her a chance at a different life. After Mamá Elena's death, Tita decides to marry John, seeing him as a path to freedom and happiness. However, she has not forgotten Pedro, and their passionate connection ultimately proves too strong to resist.

Plot summary

The story centres on Tita, who falls deeply in love with Pedro Murquiz. When Pedro asks for her hand in marriage, Mamá Elena refuses, explaining that as the youngest daughter, Tita cannot marry according to Mexican tradition. She must instead dedicate her life to caring for her mother until death.

To solve the problem and remain close to Tita, Pedro accepts when Mamá Elena offers him her other daughter, Rosaura, in marriage. This arrangement creates immense pain for Tita, who must watch the man she loves marry her sister. To cope with this injustice, Tita throws herself into her work as the ranch cook, and the novel becomes filled with recipes that she prepares.

The recipes are not merely culinary instructions – they are deeply connected to the emotions of the story. Tita's feelings are so powerful that they infuse the food she cooks, causing those who eat it to experience intense emotions. This is one of the novel's elements of magical realism.

Life on the ranch continues with Tita and Pedro maintaining their forbidden love whilst living under the same roof. The situation is complicated by Mamá Elena's strict surveillance and Rosaura's presence. When tragedy strikes and Rosaura and Pedro's first child dies, Tita nearly loses her mind with grief. Mamá Elena decides to send her to an asylum, but the kind Dr John Brown intervenes, taking Tita to his home where he nurses her back to health.

After Mamá Elena's death, Tita finds herself free from the tradition that had imprisoned her. She decides to marry John, grateful for his kindness and support. However, she has not forgotten Pedro, and her feelings for him remain as strong as ever. The relationship between the two lovers continues, and by the novel's conclusion, the reader understands that their love is so powerful it transcends even death itself.

Key themes

Tradition versus individual freedom

The central conflict of the novel revolves around the oppressive tradition that prevents Tita from marrying. This tradition represents the broader theme of how social customs, particularly those affecting women, can restrict individual freedom and happiness. The novel questions whether adherence to tradition is more important than personal fulfilment.

Forbidden love and passion

The love between Tita and Pedro is forbidden by family obligation, yet it endures throughout the novel. Their passion cannot be contained by social rules or family duty, demonstrating the power of true love to persist despite obstacles.

Food as emotional expression

One of the novel's most distinctive features is the use of food and cooking as a means of expressing emotion. Tita's feelings are literally transferred into the dishes she prepares, affecting everyone who eats them. Food becomes a language through which she can communicate what she cannot say aloud.

Female oppression and duty

The novel explores how women, particularly in traditional Mexican society, were expected to sacrifice their own desires for family duty. Tita must give up her chance at love and marriage to serve her mother, whilst Mamá Elena's own past reveals she too was forced to give up love for duty.

The power of love beyond death

The novel's conclusion suggests that genuine love is so powerful it can continue beyond the boundaries of death, offering a hopeful message about the eternal nature of true connection.

Vocabulary: Family and relationships

Spanish	English
la novela	the novel
el personaje	the character
la familia	the family
la madre	the mother
la hija	the daughter
el rancho	the ranch
casarse	to get married
enamorado/a (de)	in love (with)
la boda	the wedding
la viuda	the widow
heredar	to inherit
criar	to raise (children)
la rebeldía	the rebellion
renunciar a	to renounce, give up

Vocabulary: Emotions and tradition

Spanish	English
la tradición	the tradition
la costumbre	the custom
el deber	the duty
la injusticia	the injustice
el amor prohibido	the forbidden love
la pasión	the passion
el sufrimiento	the suffering
la severidad	the severity
obligar	to force, oblige
consolar	to console
volverse loco/a	to go mad/crazy
el manicomio	the asylum
el sentimiento	the feeling
poderoso/a	powerful

Vocabulary: Cooking and food

Spanish	English
la cocina	the kitchen / cooking
la cocinera	the cook (female)
la receta	the recipe
cocinar	to cook
preparar	to prepare
el plato	the dish
la comida	the food / meal
provocar	to provoke, cause
llenar	to fill
mágico/a	magical
el sabor	the flavour
el ingrediente	the ingredient

Vocabulary: Historical context

Spanish	English
la Revolución mexicana	the Mexican Revolution
el periodo	the period
el siglo	the century
la época	the era, time period
el pasado	the past
la generación	the generation
la libertad	the freedom
la sociedad	the society
el cambio	the change

Pronunciation tips

Common mistakes & tips

Mistake 3: Using wrong tense when describing the plot

• Incorrect: En la novela, Tita amará a Pedro (future tense)
• Correct: En la novela, Tita ama a Pedro (present tense for literary present)
• Tip: When describing plot events in literature, use the present tense in Spanish (present historic)

Mistake 6: Confusing "por" and "para" in key phrases

• Incorrect: Como agua por chocolate
• Correct: Como agua para chocolate
• Tip: This is a fixed expression using "para" – memorise set phrases as they are