Laura Esquivel s Film Adaptation Of Like Water For...

Central Idea Laura Esquivel’s film adaptation of Like Water for Chocolate and Kate Chopin’s stories, A Pair of Silk Stockings and The Storm, share a similar theme. They all focus on the complexity of women’s struggles to discover their freedom and individuality against social norms and traditions. At first they all place their desires aside because they feel a sense of duty, whether they are forced or self imposed. Eventually, each woman takes a step to fulfill their desires if only for one brief time. In the film Like Water for Chocolate family tradition makes it impossible for Tita to marry Pedro, the man she loves. She struggles throughout the story with the desire to be with her true love and find her independence and individuality. When Pedro marries her sister Rosaura, Tita is very distraught, but does not say a word because, she is afraid of her abusive mother and feels like she has no choice but to follow family tradition. Tita does not have the courage to verbally e xpress her unhappiness so she pours her emotions into her cooking which affects anyone who eats it. For example, when she bakes the cake for the wedding, her tears are baked into the cake, which causes everyone who eats it to fall ill. Eventually, Tita’s mother dies and she is finally free to make her own choices and seek out her desires. One day her mother’s spirit comes to haunt her however; she stands up for herself and cast the spirit away. When Rosaura dies Pedro and Tita are finally free to