Daughter Of Fortune - Evolution Of A Liberated Female

The Evolution of a Liberated Female

Isabel Allende’s novel, Daughter of Fortune is an account of a young female that is forced to confront and overcome her innermost sentiments. Eliza Sommers, Allende’s protagonist of the story, embarks on a quest from her home in Chile to San Francisco; she is demanded to defeat numerous gender obstacles and near death situations. Ultimately, Eliza’s journey symbolizes a woman’s transformation from naÐ"Їve girlhood to cognizant adulthood while prevailing in a patriarchal society.

At this time in South America, feminism was not common; men were, without exception, dominant in these countries. Eliza first encounters the restraints of being a woman in her home. Her adoptive mother, Rose, insists Eliza wears fancy clothes to impress her friends and maintain a societal stature. Tight corsets and stiff bodices were ideal garments for women of the nineteenth century because they accentuated feminine features. Small waists and pushed up breasts were artificial ideals used to attract men. These constraints imprisoned Eliza, along with the majority of women, both physically and mentally. Though Rose tries to make Eliza fit the ideal feminine mold, she remains unmarried because she is a lot freer as a single woman. In nineteenth century Chile, a married woman could not travel, sign legal documents, go to court, or sell or buy anything without her husband's permission. Rose gave up her love life as well as the possibility of having a child in order to receive these freedoms. From this example, Eliza

develops feminist attitudes and plans to live her life independently, but that predilection dissipates as she becomes pubescent.

During Eliza’s puberty, Rose tells Eliza that men will now be able to do whatever they want with her. This statement distorts Eliza’s understanding of society; she now believes men can, and will control every aspect of her life, including her body. Eliza displays this corrupt feminine definition when she develops sexual feelings for a man named Joaquin. Joaquin epitomizes passion to Eliza. Influenced by her immature zeal, she falls in love with a man who is not in love with her, but rather in love with the idea of socialism. Their “love” affair results in an accidental pregnancy. Joaquin abandons Chile and Eliza for riches in Califonia, and Eliza chases after him. She loses her baby while on the journey to San Francisco. The loss of her baby symbolizes the shedding of her past identity. In California, Eliza decides to embrace a new selfhood - one of a man. She is hopeful and wants to seize new opportunities, yet because of her tainted past, Eliza believes she cannot be free in the new environment unless she