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Esteban García
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 to her mother’s care. After Doña Ester dies, Férula is left alone and middle-aged with very few options in life. Férula resents Esteban and his freedom to live his life as he pleases, and this resentment only worsens when she moves in with Esteban and his new wife, Clara. Férula and Clara become close friends, and they love each other deeply. Férula takes care of Clara, just like she did Doña Ester, and she waits on her hand and foot, bathing Clara and powdering her skin. When Blanca and the twins, Jaime and Nicolás, are born, Férula takes care of them, too; however, she reserves a special place in her heart for Clara. Though the novel doesn’t directly specify the nature of Férula’s love for Clara, it seems to imply that Férula may have romantic feelings for her. The years Férula spends with Clara are the happiest in her life, but she is also tortured with jealousy: she listens in and spies on Clara and Esteban when they have sex, and Férula later goes to confession and tells the priest she has committed a terrible sin with her feelings for Clara. Esteban ultimately banishes Férula from the house, calling her a “dyke” and a “whore,” and she dies alone years later, impoverished and living in a tenement house. In death, Férula’s ghost visits Clara, and she walks right into the Truebas’ dinning room and kisses Clara goodbye in front of her entire family. Clara lives the rest of her life without anyone ever loving her as much as Férula did. Férula is one of the foremost representations of female oppression in the novel, as her life is not her own. She is forced to live the domestic role society dictates, and she isn’t free to love who or how she wants. Férula’s character also underscores the many forms love can take and the power love has to transcend all things, including death.
Férula Trueba Quotes in The House of the Spirits
The The House of the Spirits quotes below are all either spoken by Férula Trueba or refer to Férula Trueba. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
“I would like to have been born a man, so I could leave too,” she said, full of hatred.
“And I would not have liked to be a woman,” he said.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3
Quotes
“Father, 1 don’t know how to say this. I think I committed a sin.”
“Of the flesh, my child?”
“My flesh is withered, Father, but not my spirit! The devil is tormenting me.”
“The mercy of the Lord is infinite.”
“You don’t know the thoughts that can run through the mind of a single woman, Father, a virgin who has never been with a man, not for any lack of opportunities but because God sent my mother a protracted illness and I had to be her nurse.”
“That sacrifice is recorded in heaven, my child.”
“Even if I sinned in my thoughts?”
“Well, it depends on your thoughts....”
“I can’t sleep at night. I feel as if I’m choking. I get up and walk around the garden and then I walk inside the house. I go to my sister-in-law’s room and put my ear to her door. Sometimes I tiptoe in and watch her while she sleeps. She looks like an angel. I want to climb into bed with her and feel the warmth of her skin and her gentle breathing.”
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Férula Trueba Quotes in The House of the Spirits
The The House of the Spirits quotes below are all either spoken by Férula Trueba or refer to Férula Trueba. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
“I would like to have been born a man, so I could leave too,” she said, full of hatred.
“And I would not have liked to be a woman,” he said.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3
Quotes
“Father, 1 don’t know how to say this. I think I committed a sin.”
“Of the flesh, my child?”
“My flesh is withered, Father, but not my spirit! The devil is tormenting me.”
“The mercy of the Lord is infinite.”
“You don’t know the thoughts that can run through the mind of a single woman, Father, a virgin who has never been with a man, not for any lack of opportunities but because God sent my mother a protracted illness and I had to be her nurse.”
“That sacrifice is recorded in heaven, my child.”
“Even if I sinned in my thoughts?”
“Well, it depends on your thoughts....”
“I can’t sleep at night. I feel as if I’m choking. I get up and walk around the garden and then I walk inside the house. I go to my sister-in-law’s room and put my ear to her door. Sometimes I tiptoe in and watch her while she sleeps. She looks like an angel. I want to climb into bed with her and feel the warmth of her skin and her gentle breathing.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
