The House of the Spirits Character Analysis

Clara del Valle/Trueba

Esteban Trueba’s wife; mother to Blanca, Jaime, and Nicolás; and Alba’s grandmother. Clara has supernatural powers: she can read auras, predict natural disasters, levitate furniture, and talk to ghosts. After… read analysis of Clara del Valle/Trueba

Esteban Trueba

The patriarch of the Trueba family and one of the narrators of The House of the Spirits. When Esteban is first introduced, he is engaged to a young woman named Rosa and is away… read analysis of Esteban Trueba

Alba de Satigny

Clara and Esteban Trueba’s granddaughter, Blanca and Pedro Tercero’s daughter, Miguel’s lover, and one of the narrators in The House of the Spirits. Alba grows up in the big house on… read analysis of Alba de Satigny

Blanca Trueba

Clara and Esteban Trueba’s daughter, Alba’s mother, and Pedro Tercero’s lover. Blanca grows up spending summers at Tres Marías, and she falls in love with Pedro when she is just a girl… read analysis of Blanca Trueba

Pedro Tercero García

Pedro Segundo’s son, Blanca’s lover, and Alba’s biological father. Pedro Tercero grows up a peasant on Tres Marías, and he falls in love with Blanca when he is just a boy. As… read analysis of Pedro Tercero García

Esteban García

Pancha García and Esteban Trueba’s grandson. Esteban García grows up as a peasant at Tres Marías, and he is never acknowledged by Esteban Trueba (the owner of the hacienda) as his biological grandson… read analysis of Esteban García

Férula Trueba

Esteban Trueba’s sister and Doña Ester’s daughter. When Doña Ester falls ill with crippling arthritis, Férula is expected to take care of her. Férula rejects two marriage proposals and completely dedicates her life… read analysis of Férula Trueba

Jaime Trueba/del Valle

Clara and Esteban Trueba’s son, Blanca and Nicolás’s brother, and Alba’s uncle. Jaime is Nicolás’s twin brother, but they couldn’t be more different. While Nicolás is busy chasing girls and talking to… read analysis of Jaime Trueba/del Valle

Count Jean de Satigny

A visiting Frenchman who becomes Blanca’s husband. Count Jean de Satigny first arrives at Tres Marías in search of a partner for his chinchilla business. Jean is handsome, fashionable, and presumably wealthy, and all… read analysis of Count Jean de Satigny

Tránsito Soto

A prostitute and friend of Esteban Trueba. Esteban first meets Tránsito Soto at the Red Lantern, a brothel near Tres Marías. She is the best dancer there, and is Esteban’s favorite. Tránsito has big… read analysis of Tránsito Soto

Amanda

Miguel’s sister and Nicolás’s girlfriend. Amanda is a smart and beautiful girl, who is first introduced to Nicolás by the Mora sisters. Amanda’s mother is dead, and she has taken responsibility for… read analysis of Amanda

Nicolás Trueba

Clara and Esteban Trueba’s son, Jaime and Blanca’s brother, Amanda’s boyfriend, and Alba’s uncle. Nicolás is Jaime’s twin, and he is the only one of Clara’s children to take an interest… read analysis of Nicolás Trueba

Nívea del Valle

Severo’s wife. Nívea is the mother of 15 children (four of whom have already died at the beginning the novel), including Clara and Rosa. Like Severo, Nívea has political aspirations. Nívea wants to… read analysis of Nívea del Valle

Ana Díaz

A student activist at Alba’s university. Alba first meets Ana during the university protest, in which student activists barricade themselves inside a building in support of striking workers, and Alba notices immediately that Ana… read analysis of Ana Díaz

Miguel

Amanda’s brother and Alba’s lover. Miguel is an orphan, and his sister takes responsibility for him as a young child. When Miguel is just five years old, Amanda begins dating Nicolás, Alba’s… read analysis of Miguel

The Poet

A writer and guest of Clara’s at the big house on the corner. Like Clara’s other guests, the Poet is an enthusiast of spiritualism and the supernatural, and he frequently reads his sonnets… read analysis of The Poet

Dr. Cuevas

The local physician. When Rosa falls ill with a fever early in the novel, it is Dr. Cuevas who examines her and orders sweet lemonade with a splash of liquor. After Rosa dies from drinking… read analysis of Dr. Cuevas

Severo del Valle

Nívea’s husband and Clara and Rosa’s father. Severo is an atheist and a mason, and he completely supports his suffragette wife and her fight for women’s rights. Like Nívea, Severo is an aspiring… read analysis of Severo del Valle

Pedro Segundo García

Old Pedro’s son, Pedro Tercero’s father, and Pancha García’s brother. Pedro Segundo is a peasant at Tres Marías, and he serves as the hacienda’s unofficial foreman in Esteban Trueba’s absence… read analysis of Pedro Segundo García

Barrabás

Clara’s dog. After Marcos dies, Barrabás is found among Marcos’s possessions as a puppy. He is delivered to Severo and Nívea de Valle’s along with Marcos’s body, and Clara instantly falls in love… read analysis of Barrabás

The Candidate/the President

A politician in the Socialist Party. The Candidate vies for the presidency of the unnamed South American country of the novel for 18 years before finally being elected near the end of the book. After… read analysis of The Candidate/the President

Rosa del Valle

Clara’s sister, Severo and Nívea’s daughter, and Esteban Trueba’s first fiancé. Rosa is Severo and Nívea’s oldest daughter, and she is incredibly beautiful. She has a greenish tint to her hair and… read analysis of Rosa del Valle

Old Pedro García

Pedro Segundo and Pancha García’s father, and grandfather to Pedro Tercero and Esteban García. Old Pedro is a peasant at Tres Marías, and he is a respected healer, whom even the local doctors… read analysis of Old Pedro García

Pancha García

Esteban García’s grandmother, old Pedro’s daughter, and Pedro Segundo’s sister. Pancha is a peasant on Tres Marías, and Esteban Trueba rapes her in the bushes of the hacienda. During the attack… read analysis of Pancha García

The Mora Sisters

Three sisters, who are also students of spiritualism and the supernatural. The Mora sisters are drawn to Clara and the big house on the corner, and they simply show up one day and move… read analysis of The Mora Sisters

Sebastián Gómez

A leftist professor at Alba’s university. Sebastián Gómez is a man in his forties who looks “tubercular,” and he has “crippled legs” from “machinegun fire in Bolivia.” He is an inspiration to his students—an… read analysis of Sebastián Gómez

Luisa Mora

The only surviving Mora sister by the end of the novel. Luisa goes to the big house on the corner and warns Esteban Trueba that trouble is coming. She tells him that she has been… read analysis of Luisa Mora

Dr. Cuevas’s Assistant

The assistant who accompanies Dr. Cuevas to perform Rosa’s autopsy. When Rosa’s clothes are removed to begin the procedure, both Severo and Dr. Cuevas weep with grief, but the assistant stares at Rosa’s beautiful… read analysis of Dr. Cuevas’s Assistant

The Kind Soldier

A military solider working for the opposition during the coup d’état. After the Presidential Palace is bombed and Jaime is beaten and taken to the Ministry of Defense, the kind soldier tells Jaime to sit… read analysis of The Kind Soldier

Marcos

Nívea’s brother and Clara and Rosa’s uncle. When the novel begins, two men deliver Marcos’s body to the del Valle residence, along with his personal possessions, including trunks full of books and a… read analysis of Marcos

Father Jose Dulce María

A priest with revolutionary ideas, who serves a parish near Tres Marías and befriends Pedro Tercero. Father Jose is known for spreading the word of socialism and labor unions along with the word of… read analysis of Father Jose Dulce María

Nana

A servant employed by the del Valle and Trueba families to care for their children. Nana takes care of Clara and Rosa when they are children, and she also takes care of Clara’s children as… read analysis of Nana

Doña Ester Trueba

Esteban and Férula Trueba’s mother. Doña Ester was once heir to the highest surname of the viceroyalty of Lima, but her husband (Esteban and Férula’s father) wasted her dowry and inheritance. Tres Marías is… read analysis of Doña Ester Trueba

Father Restrepo

A parish priest living in the capital city. Father Restrepo is a dramatic man and a religious fanatic who accuses the innocent members of his congregation of terrible sins. After Clara’s outburst in church… read analysis of Father Restrepo

Rostipov

A Rumanian magician. When Clara stops speaking and Dr. Cuevas’s treatments fail to cure her, Nívea takes Clara to see Rostipov. He says Clara is silent because she simply does not want to speak… read analysis of Rostipov

Minor Characters

Mustafá

The host at the Christopher Columbus, Tránsito Soto’s brothel. Mustafá greets Esteban Trueba and his friends during Esteban’s third encounter with Tránsito Soto; however, when Esteban goes back to the Christopher Columbus to ask Tránsito’s help in finding Alba, Mustafá is gone.