Matriarchs Are The Most Influential Characters In

The Novels ‘One Hundred Years Of Solitude’ And ‘Th Essay, Research Paper

“I had lost my wife and my daughter. My mother, my sister, dear old

Nana.were all dead. Even Rosa returned to haunt me like an unforgettable

grief.”a Both ‘One hundred Years Of

Solitude’ and ‘The House Of The Spirits’ have men as their most apparent

decision makers, but behind the scenes women control and influence the decisions

of men to the extent that without the input of these few women, the course of

the plots in these novels would have taken an entirely different route. Each of

these women represents a different entity and each has a different way of

influencing the men in their lives. Ursula Buendia from

‘Solitude’b, and Clara Trueba from ‘House

of Spirits’c are the matriarchs in their

respective novels and therefore the most influential women in their novels.

Clara manipulates the course of decisions through her mystical ways of

forecasting. Ursula on the other hand communicates with Jose Arcadio Buendia and

influences him in a more firm and stable manner through her assertive

personality. Clara has a tremendous influence over Esteban’s decisions through her

mysterious and mystical ways. “Clara the clairvoyant could interpret

dreams.”e She is such a mysterious person, which

attracts Esteban to her and what little he knows and understands about her, and

at the same time tells him to keep his distance until she allows him to approach

her, like the time she left Tres Marias two days after he hit her and he did not

try to stop her. “Clara never spoke to her husband again. Two days

later, Clara and Blanca left Tres Marias.”f This

shows Clara’s indifferent attitude towards Esteban’s feelings and establishes

that Clara does not need Esteban as much as he needs her. Clara from then on

seemed to control most of Esteban’s thoughts, lifestyle and emotions through

“I felt so alone after that.Loneliness would never leave

me.”gEsteban bent over backwards in order to

please Clara “It was the special surprise he had prepared for

her.”h Ursula has different characteristics than Clara, but she too is dominant over

her husband’s decisions. She is assertive, firm and capable and has

“unbreakable nerves”mand will stand no

nonsense from Jose Arcadio Buendia or his crazy notions. She prevents Jose

Arcadio Buendia from leaving Macondo. “We will not leave.We will stay

here.”u The matriarchs influence their families because they take care of their

families and they are the heads of their families while their husbands pursue

other interests like dedicating time to Tres Marias in the case of Esteban

“I was going to spend many years – perhaps even my whole life – Tres

Marias.”i and thus the husbands are ineffective

in managing their households and thus showing the matriarchs dominance in their

households.. Jose Arcadio Buendia for example pursues his interests in science and

therefore forgets that he has a family “Instead of going around thinking

about your crazy inventions, you should be worrying about your sons. Look at the

state they are in, running wild just like

donkeys.”j Ursula reprimands him for neglecting

his children and thus exercises her influence by stopping him to have a look at

the world around him and take responsibility for his family. Esteban on the other hand pursues his interests in Tres Marias and whilst

building it up he forgets about Ferula and his Mother. “It bothered her.

bored, tired and unhappy while her brother had no taste of such

obligations.”k The author’s use of a list of

words to portray the extent of ferula’s frustrations. It reveals that Esteban

does not care about handling his sick mother or the household and leaves that to

Ferula. Esteban later pursues his business interests and politics and forgets

about his family. “Esteban Trueba was so busy . that he had no time to

think about anything.”l This includes his family

and mother and sister. Whilst their husbands are pursuing their interests and busy, the wives are

busy taking over their households and organizing and restructuring them

according to their own tastes. Ursula was a strong woman and “thanks to

her the floors of tamped earth, the unwhitewashed mud walls. were always

clean.”m Whilst Clara worked “between the sewing

workshop, the general store, the school.”n This shows that

Clara is not as clairvoyant as she seems and is capable of taking

responsibility. The wives are using their husband’s weak influences in the domestic area to

fight their husband’s dominance and therefore they use time and familiarity as

tools. Over time the household’s become use to the matriarchs as the backbones

of the family. The households’ familiarity with the women makes the matriarchs

more willing to fill in the gaps left by their husbands. Also the actions of the

husbands alienate themselves from the res

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