quotation: One crowded hour of glorious life Is worth an age without a name. Sir Walter Scott

One crowded hour of glorious life
Is worth an age without a name.Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) Discuss

magical realism: LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE, BY (AFTER) Mexican novelist Laura Esquivel

Like Water For Chocolate

clfsdrama

Published on Mar 5, 2012/84,343 viws

This adaptation of the novel by Laura Esquivel was sanctioned by the writer herself; she was going to come over for the premiere in Edinburgh 2003 but then had to back out due to work commitments. Starring Kate Ward, who went on to train at ‘The Central School of Speech and Drama’ this show was our first ‘Sold Out Show’ at the Edinburgh Fringe; in fact we arrived to find out that every single seat had been sold. Happy days!

also read HERE

Like Water for Chocolate

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

For the film based on the novel, see Like Water for Chocolate (film). For the album by Common, see Like Water for Chocolate (album).

Like Water for Chocolate

U.S book cover
Author	Laura Esquivel
Country	Mexico
Language	Spanish
Genre	Romance, Magical realism
Publisher	Doubleday, 1992 (Mexico) Perfection Learning, 1995 (U.S)
Pages	256 (Spanish)
ISBN	Spanish: 978-0385721233 English: 978-0780739079

Like Water for Chocolate (Spanish: Como agua para chocolate) is a popular novel published in 1989 by first-time Mexican novelist Laura Esquivel.^[1]

The novel follows the story of a young girl named Tita who longs her entire life to marry her lover, Pedro, but can never have him because of her mother’s upholding of the family tradition of the youngest daughter not marrying but taking care of her mother until the day she dies. Tita is only able to express herself when she cooks.

Esquivel employs magical realism to combine the supernatural with the ordinary.^[2]

Plot

The book is divided into 12 sections named after the months of the year, starting with January. Each section begins with a Mexican recipe. The chapters outline the preparation of the dish and ties it to an event in the protagonist’s life.^[3]

Tita de la Garza, the novel’s main protagonist, is 15 at the start of the story. She lives with her mother Mama Elena, and her older sisters Gertrudis and Rosaura, on a ranch near the Mexico – US border.

Pedro is a neighbor and another main protagonist with whom Tita falls in love at first sight. He asks Mama Elena for Tita’s hand in marriage, but Mama Elena forbids it, citing the De la Garza family tradition that the youngest daughter (in this case Tita) must remain unmarried and take care of her mother until her mother’s death. She suggests that Pedro marries Tita’s sister, Rosaura, instead of Tita. In order to stay close to Tita, Pedro decides to follow Mama Elena’s advice.

Tita has a love of the kitchen and a deep connection with food, a skill enhanced by the fact that Nacha, the family cook, was her primary caretaker as Tita grew up. Her love for cooking also comes from the fact that she was born in the kitchen.

Pedro and Rosaura have a son, Roberto. Rosaura is unable to nurse Roberto, so Tita brings Roberto to her breast to stop the baby from crying. Tita begins to produce breast milk and is able to nurse the baby. This draws her and Pedro closer than ever. They begin meeting secretly, snatching their few times together by sneaking around the ranch and behind the backs of Mama Elena and Rosaura.

Tita’s strong emotions become infused into her cooking, and she unintentionally begins to affect the people around her through the food she prepares. After one particularly rich meal of quail in rose petal sauce flavored with Tita’s erotic thoughts of Pedro, Gertrudis becomes inflamed with lust and leaves the ranch in order to make ravenous love with a revolutionary soldier on the back of a horse, later ending up in a brothel and subsequently disowned by her mother.

Rosaura and Pedro are forced to leave for San Antonio, Texas, at the urging of Mama Elena, who suspects a relationship between Tita and Pedro. Rosaura loses her son Roberto and later becomes infertile from complications during the birth of her daughter Esperanza.

Upon learning the news of her nephew’s death, whom she cared for herself, Tita blames her mother. Mama Elena responds by smacking Tita across the face with a wooden spoon. Tita, destroyed by the death of her beloved nephew and unwilling to cope with her mother’s controlling ways, secludes herself in the dovecote until the sympathetic Dr. John Brown soothes and comforts her. Mama Elena states there is no place for “lunatics” like Tita on the farm, and wants her to be institutionalized. However, the doctor decides to take care of Tita at his home instead. Tita develops a close relationship with Dr. Brown, even planning to marry him at one point, but her underlying feelings for Pedro do not waver.

While John is away, Tita loses her virginity to Pedro. A month later, Tita is worried she may be pregnant with Pedro’s child. Her mother’s ghost taunts her, telling her that she and her child are cursed. Gertrudis visits the ranch for a special holiday and makes Pedro overhear about Tita’s pregnancy, causing Tita and Pedro to argue about running away together. This causes Pedro to get drunk and sing below Tita’s window while she is arguing with Mama Elena’s ghost. Just as she confirms she isn’t pregnant and frees herself of her mother’s grasp once and for all, Mama Elena’s ghost gets revenge on Tita by setting Pedro on fire, leaving him bedridden for a while and behaving like “a child throwing a tantrum”.^[4] Meanwhile, Tita is preparing for John’s return, and is hesitant to tell him that she cannot marry him because she is no longer a virgin. Rosaura comes to the kitchen while Tita is cooking and argues with her over Tita’s involvement with Rosaura’s daughter Esperenza’s life and the tradition of the youngest daughter remaining at home to care for the mother until she dies, a tradition which Tita despises. She vows not to let it ruin her niece’s life as it did hers. John and his deaf great-aunt come over and Tita tells him that she cannot marry him. John seems to accept it, “reaching for Tita’s hand…with a smile on his face”.^[5]

Many years later, Tita is preparing for Esperanza’s and John’s son Alex’s wedding to one another, now that Rosaura has died from digestive problems. During the wedding, Pedro proposes to Tita saying that he does not want to “die without making [Tita] [his] wife”.^[6] Tita accepts and Pedro dies having sex with her in the kitchen storage room right after the wedding. Tita is overcome with sorrow and cold, and begins to eat matches.^[7] The candles are sparked by the heat of his memory, creating a spectacular fire that engulfs them both, eventually consuming the entire ranch.

The narrator of the story is the daughter of Esperanza, nicknamed “Tita”, after her great-aunt. She describes how after the fire, the only thing that survived under the smoldering rubble of the ranch was Tita’s cookbook, which contained all the recipes described in the preceding chapters.

Characters

• Josefita (Tita) de la Garza – main character; a talented cook and Pedro’s lover
• Pedro Muzquiz – Tita’s lover, marries Rosaura to be closer to Tita.
• Elena de la Garza (Mama Elena) – Tita’s mother who Tita thinks is cruel and controlling.
• Gertrudis De La Garza – Tita’s older sister, Mama Elena’s illegitimate daughter. She runs away with Juan.
• Rosaura De La Garza – Tita’s oldest sister who marries Pedro; had a son(Roberto)who died. She later had a daughter (Esperenza)
• Dr. John Brown – the family doctor who falls in love with Tita and has a son from a previous marriage.
• Nacha – the family cook. She was like a mother to Tita.
• Chencha – ranch maid for Mama Elena and her family; Married to Jesus
• Roberto Muzquiz – son of Pedro and Rosaura. He dies young.
• Esperanza Muzquiz – daughter of Pedro and Rosaura, she marries Alex Brown. She is also the mother of the narrator.
• Alex Brown – son of John Brown, marries Esperanza.
• Nicolas – the manager of the ranch.
• Juan Alejandrez – the captain in the military who took Gertrudis and eventually marries her.
• Jesus Martinez – Chencha’s first love and husband.

Self growth

At the beginning of the novel, Tita was a generally submissive young lady. As the novel progresses, Tita learns to disobey the injustice of her mother, and gradually becomes more and more adept at expressing her inner fire through various means. At first, cooking was her only outlet, but through self-discovery she learned to verbalize and actualize her feelings, and stand up to her despotic mother.

Cruelty and violence

Mama Elena often resorts to cruelty and violence as she forces Tita to obey her. Many of the responsibilities she imposes on Tita, especially those relating to Pedro and Rosaura’s wedding, are blatant acts of cruelty, given Tita’s pain over losing Pedro. Mama Elena meets Tita’s slightest protest with angry tirades and beatings. If she even suspects that Tita has not fulfilled her duties, as when she thought that Tita intentionally ruined the wedding cake, she beats her. When Tita dares to stand up to her mother and to blame her for Roberto’s death, Mama Elena smacks her across the face with a wooden spoon and breaks her nose. This everyday cruelty does not seem so unusual, however, in a land where a widow must protect herself and her family from bandits and revolutionaries. However, many readers feel that her setting Pedro on fire and almost killing him is much more severe than her previous actions.

Tradition

The romantic love that is so exalted throughout the novel is forbidden by Tita’s mother in order to blindly enforce the tradition that the youngest daughter be her mother’s chaste guardian. However, the traditional etiquette enforced by Mama Elena is defied progressively throughout the novel. This parallels the setting of the Mexican Revolution growing in intensity. The novel further parallels the Mexican Revolution because during the Mexican Revolution the power of the country was in the hands of a select few and the people had no power to express their opinions. Likewise, in Like Water for Chocolate, Mama Elena represents the select few who had the power in their hands, while Tita represents the people because she had no power to express her opinions but had to obey her mother’s rules.

Food

Food is also one of the major themes in the story which is seen throughout the story. It is used very creatively to represent the characters feelings and situations.

October 29, 1875 in History Born:
Marie, queen consort of Ferdinand I of Romania, 1914-27

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Princess Marie of Edinburgh, more commonly known as Marie of Romania (Marie Alexandra Victoria; 29 October 1875 – 18 July 1938),^{[note 1]} was the last Queen consort of Romania as the wife of King Ferdinand I.

Born into the British royal family, she was titled Princess Marie of Edinburgh at birth. Her parents were Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. Marie’s early years were spent in Kent, Malta and Coburg. After refusing a proposal from her cousin, the future King George V, she was chosen as the future wife of Crown Prince Ferdinand of Romania, the heir apparent of King Carol I, in 1892. Marie was Crown Princess between 1893 and 1914, and became immediately popular with the Romanian people.

Marie visiting a military hospital, 1917

 

Marie had controlled her weak-willed husband even before his ascension in 1914, prompting a Canadian newspaper to state that “few royal consorts have wielded greater influence than did Queen Marie during the reign of her husband”.^[2]

After the outbreak of World War I, Marie urged Ferdinand to ally himself with the Triple Entente and declare war on Germany, which he eventually did in 1916. During the early stages of fighting, Bucharest was occupied by the Central Powers and Marie, Ferdinand and their five children took refuge in Moldavia. There, she and her three daughters acted as nurses in military hospitals, caring for soldiers who were wounded or afflicted by cholera. On 1 December 1918, the province of Transylvania, following Bessarabia and Bukovina, united with the Old Kingdom. Marie, now Queen consort of Greater Romania, attended the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, where she campaigned for international recognition of the enlarged Romania. In 1922, she and Ferdinand were crowned in a specially-built cathedral in the ancient city of Alba Iulia, in an elaborate ceremony which mirrored their status as queen and king of a united state.

1882 portrait by John Everett Millais commissioned by Queen Victoria and exhibited at the Royal Academy.[9]

<<< 1882 portrait by John Everett Millais commissioned by Queen Victoria and exhibited at the Royal Academy.^[9]

1882 portrait by John Everett Millais commissioned by Queen Victoria and exhibited at the Royal Academy.^[9]

1882 portrait by John Everett Millais commissioned by Queen Victoria and exhibited at the Royal Academy.^[9]

As queen, she was very popular, both in Romania and abroad. In 1926, Marie and two of her children undertook a diplomatic tour of the United States. They were received enthusiastically by the people and visited several cities before returning to Romania. There, Marie found that Ferdinand was gravely ill and he died a few months later. Now queen dowager, Marie refused to be part of the regency council which reigned over the country under the minority of her grandson, King Michael. In 1930, Marie’s eldest son Carol, who had waived his rights to succession, deposed his son and usurped the throne, becoming King Carol II. He removed Marie from the political scene and strived to crush her popularity. As a result, Marie moved away from Bucharest and spent the rest of her life either in the countryside, or at her home by the Black Sea. In 1937, she became ill with cirrhosis and died the following year.

Following Romania’s transition to a Socialist Republic, the monarchy was excoriated by communist officials. Several biographies of the royal family described Marie either as a drunkard or as a promiscuous woman, referring to her many alleged affairs and to orgies she had supposedly organised before and during the war. In the years preceding the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Marie’s popularity recovered and she was offered as a model of patriotism to the population. Marie is primarily remembered for her work as a nurse, but is also known for her extensive writing, including her critically acclaimed autobiography.

Marie wearing her regalia. Photograph by George Grantham Bain.
Queen consort of Romania
Reign	10 October 1914 – 20 July 1927
Coronation	15 October 1922
Spouse	Ferdinand I, King of Romania
Issue	Carol II, King of Romania Elisabeth, Queen of the Hellenes Maria, Queen of Yugoslavia Prince Nicholas Princess Ileana Prince Mircea
Full name Marie Alexandra Victoria
House	House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (by birth) House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (by marriage)
Father	Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh
Mother	Maria Alexandrovna of Russia
Born	29 October 1875 Eastwell Park, Kent, England
Died	18 July 1938 (aged 62) Pelișor Castle, Sinaia, Romania
Burial	24 July 1938[1] Curtea de Argeș Cathedral
Signature

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Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, October, 1957 by Lord Snowdon — OnThisDay & Facts

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Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No.3 – Blomstedt/RCO(2008Live): Great compositions/performances

Mendelssohn: Symphony No.3 – Blomstedt/RCO(2008Live)

  Magisch meisje Orkest

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Symphony No.3 in A minor, op.56 “Schottische“
Herbert Blomstedt
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, 17 10/2008
*************************************************

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56, known as the Scottish, is a symphony by Felix Mendelssohn, composed between 1829 and 1842.

Form

It is in four movements, marked as follows:

1.  Andante con moto — Allegro un poco agitato
2.  Vivace non troppo (in F major)
3.  Adagio (in A major)
4.  Allegro vivacissimo — Allegro maestoso assai (A minor → A major)

The emotional scope of the work is wide, consisting of a grand first movement, a joyous and fairly brief second movement, a slow movement maintaining an apparent struggle between love and fate, and a finale that takes its components from Scottish folk dance. The lively second movement is melodically and rhythmically in the style of Scottish folk music, although no direct quotations have been identified. A peculiarity lies in the coda of the finale, where Mendelssohn introduces a complete new German majestic theme to close the work in a completely different manner from the rest of the finale.

History

Mendelssohn claimed to have been inspired to write the symphony during his first visit to Britain in 1829.^[1][2][3] After a series of successful performances in London, Mendelssohn embarked on a walking tour of Scotland with companion Karl Klingemann.^[3] On 30 July, Mendelssohn visited the ruins of a chapel at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, where he had his initial idea for the piece.^[1][2] He described the experience in a letter, in which he included a draft of the symphony’s opening theme.^[3] Mendelssohn and his companion later visited Staffa, which inspired the composer to write the Hebrides, a task which occupied him until its completion in 1830.^[3]

After completing the Hebrides, Mendelssohn continued to work on his initial sketches of what would become Symphony No. 3 while touring Italy.^[3] However, he struggled to make progress, and after 1831 set the piece aside.^[3]

Mendelssohn returned to the symphony in 1841 and completed it in Berlin on 20 January 1842.^[2][4] Although it was the fifth and final of Mendelssohn’s symphonies to be completed, it was the third to be published, and has subsequently been known as Symphony No. 3.^[3]

Premiere

The premiere took place on 3 March 1842 in Leipzig.
*******************************************************************

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Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius.

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It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)

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Quotation: Sir Walter Scott about doing good

For he that does good, having the unlimited power to do evil, deserves praise not only for the good which he performs, but for the evil which he forbears.

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) Discuss