Isabel Allende uses Clara Trueba's character in The House of the Spirits to create a structural split, or a division in the plot. More specifically, Clara's death in the novel is the key event that changes the mood, diction, and general atmosphere in the setting of the novel. From the start, Clara's clairvoyance is shown to us through Allende's skilled use of magic realism. Clara, together ... with the magic, create a sense of control and protection for the family. It will be argued that the lives ... darkness, and even the decapitated head of Clara's mother in the basement that it would be ...

• Word Count: 1506
• Approx Pages: 6

... lack of light, 'black drizzle' and 'the death of the sun'. There is also a metaphorical darkness in that the city's physical bleeds into the mood and the life, where 'crust upon crust of mud' is added to daily, where dogs are 'undistinguishable' and 'horses, scarcely better'. This ... quot;urban gothic", and this opening passage has all the qualities of the classic Gothic forms, only updated for the times. Weather is used to create atmosphere, mud, waters, people falling over themselves and each other, it is the great modern city and its horrors. He moves from th...

• Word Count: 1875
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... uses them to show illusions she has about life. Along with desires, windows also represent the limitations of Emma's life and how they create a barrier between herself and the outside world. This barrier prevents Emma from performing actions she wants to accomplish, but also allows her ... ). In this case, the window acts as a barrier in limiting Emma's anger towards Charles. With this limitation, Flaubert creates a sympathetic mood for both Charles and Emma since Emma exhibits anger towards Charles for no reason and the window prevents Emma from gaining freedom from Charles and ... , dr...

• Word Count: 1465
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography

... , in which Jane's good-hearted but strong-willed determination and integrity become apparent. This chapter along with chapter two also establishes the novel's mood. Beginning with Jane's experience in the red-room in chapter two, the reader senses a palpable atmosphere of mystery and the supernatural. Like Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre draws a great deal of its stylistic inspiration from the Gothic ... novels that were in vogue during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. These books depicted remote, desolate landscapes, crumbling ruins, and supernatural event...

• Word Count: 1705
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography