To What Extent and Purpose Does the Setting in the Novels ""like Water for Chocolate"

"I realized that I'm not very suited to my role."1 An author's character constructs are often heavily affected by the cultural contexts. Taken from Otsugi description of a doctor's wife's attributes in Ariyoshi's "The Doctor's Wife" (TDW), this quote implies the significance of fulfilling society's expectation of one's role in the 18th century Japan. Sawako Ariyoshi and Laura Esquivel come from very different cultural backgrounds, but both authors have chosen to use the setting in their novels to enhance certain stereotypical properties in their character constructs, which then aids in the idea of household conflict and pursuit of individuality. In "Like Water For Chocolate" (LWFC), Esquivel constructs Tita, a character possessing many properties viewed as stereotypical in the traditional Mexican society. She also presents Mama Elena, Tita's mother, as a representative of rebels that contrasts the traditional concept of female roles. Setting this novel in the Mexican Revolution (1910 – 1920) rationalizes the existence of these two opposing characters. When the parallel existence of such contrasting characters is made possible and reasonable to the readers, it highlights the tension between the characters which resulting conflict and pursuit of individuality.

Stereotypical properties refer to characteristics that a society considers to be standards for certain roles. For example, the female stereotypes valued in Mexican society before revolution were woman that entailed submission and accepted the "incredible inequality" 2 between genders. LWFC was set during the Mexican revolution, where traditional concepts were attacked, and slowly women began to get the recognition they deserved. Similarly, TDW was set from the late 17th century to the early 18th century, "sixth year of tempo (1835)"3, where technology advanced and communication linked Japan with the western society, introducing new concepts. Both authors have chosen to set the novel in past societies are traditional but experiencing changes. The traditionalistic background allows Ariyoshi to construct characters that are relatively stereotypical, such as Otsugi, the mother-in-law, and Kae, the daughter-in-law, and enables Esquivel to develop stereotypical properties in the construction of Tita. However, at the same time it also highlights the more unique and anti-stereotypical properties in the construction of other characters.

In TDW, Ariyoshi had set the background of her character constructs in a doctor's family, which is a separate system from the traditional hierarchies of power in the eighteenth-century feudalistic Japan. Through highlighting non-stereotypical features in the character construct, Ariyoshi generates household conflict between Kae and Otsugi through competition as the story progresses. The status as "a doctor's wife" 4 for