Eva Luna - A Message for All People

Isabel Allende’s novel, Eva Luna, is the story of a woman who is strong. The protagonist Eva takes strength from herself, the legacy of her mother and various characters she meets to triumph over circumstances that befall her. She does not lie down and accept the storyline laid down for her, but makes her own stories; even her ending is uncertain and unexpected, implying that she retains the freedom to change it at will. …

…her, although she is a woman, are never specific to the one gender. Eva liberates herself, but does not live under the ideals of women’s liberation; she does not speak of feminist beliefs or prompt feminist action. The novel might understandably be labeled feminist simply because she evolves as a woman, but this alone does not constitute a feminist work. The fights and triumphs in the book are for the individual, not the feminist.