The House of Spirits

There are connections to the past with the present lives of the des Valle and Trueba family tree that involve death or cruelty. With violence saturated throughout the novel, a storyline of melancholy and love is evident among those families. Isabel Allende addresses the issues of rape, verbal use and domination of an individual as cyclical forms of violent behaviors.

When young, Esteban Trueba's aggressive temper and desire to fulfill his concupiscence intensified to the point where he sexually raped all women "available in Tres Maris" (63). However, Allende portrayed rape as a reoccurring theme when Pancha Ancha, the first of Esteban Trueba's victims becomes the grandmother of a child: Esteban Garcia. Esteban Garcia grows up cognizant of the truth about his bloodline and seeks vengeance. Esteban Trueba's actions come back to haunt him later. Alba, Esteban Trueba's most beloved granddaughter, is captured and sexually abused by Esteban Garcia. "At that moment she understood that he had been waiting for her since..when she was just a child" (404). Allende shows through Esteban Garcia that revenge can be done through the same reason why one is seeking revenge. Esteban Garcia's revenge against Esteban Trueba's granddaughter was a parallel to the rape of Esteban Garcia's grandmother.

When Esteban Trueba's own daughter, Blanca Trueba, is at the age to wed, a "Jean de Satigny began to visit them" (194). Esteban Trueba is satisfied with Satigny's social status obliges to Satigny's desire to marry Blanca. Determined to have a prominent, new family member, Esteban tries to persuade Blanca. However, Blanca is infatuated and in love with Pedro Tercero. Esteban Trueba is oblivious to this romance and Allende portrays Esteban progressively getting agitated and frustrated with Blanca until his anger can't be contained. After finding out that Blanca was furtively meeting up with a mystery guy, Esteban demands to find out the truth. "Tell me who it is or I'll kill you!" (199). Allende uses Esteban Trueba's anger as an instigator for his verbal death threats. Blanca unwillingly sacrifices her wishes to marry the man of her