Isabel Allende: Biography Of A Sublime Author
Isabel Allende Llona is a Chilean author whose work has been translated into 35 languages. With over 70 million books sold, she is considered the most widely read Hispanic novelist in the world. In addition, she is the daughter of diplomat Tomas Allende Pesce, cousin of the former President of Chile, Salvador Allende, ousted by the military coup of September 11 of 1973.
Through her writing, Isabel Allende reveals the sublime beauty contained in the feminine. It magically invokes the repressed, generally latent, qualities of its readers. In times of immense political upheaval, she decided to choose literary activism by going against leading patriarchal ideologies. She actually gave women a large manifesto on her personal revival.
With exquisite sensitivity, Isabel Allende has been able to transmit to us an unconditional love for beauty, the beauty of the world and of individuals. Reading or listening to it is an act which in itself lifts the mind.
Isabel Allende is a committed woman who wants to make this world a better place. She is an activist of the pen whose main weapons are love and beauty.
In this article, we will walk through his life and mention some of his works in order to pay a little tribute to this woman who gave so much.
His early years
Isabel Allende was born in Peru where she lived for a few years when her father worked as a diplomat. The separation of his parents was the trigger for his return to Chile with his mother and siblings.
For a time, they lived with the maternal grandfather. He was an authoritarian figure who influenced Isabel in very important aspects of her life.
After finishing her studies, she married her first husband, Miguel Frias, who was the father of her two children: Paula and Nicolas.
In 1967 Isabel became editor of the women’s magazine Paula . Her articles focused on the role of women in Chilean society. They were hilarious and ironic and therefore were the subject of great controversy. This was the time of great changes in Chile. The country witnessed the development of modernity and the emergence of a women’s liberation movement, all in the midst of a Catholic, conservative and patriarchal society.
His career and exile
After the military coup, Isabel Allende was forced into exile in Venezuela where she remained for 13 years. She worked there for a newspaper and a school. While in Venezuela, the woman received very bad news about her grandfather’s state of health.
Not being able to return to Chile to be by her side, Isabel began to write her a letter that turned into an unprecedented literary success for a Latin American woman: The House of Spirits . In 1993 his work was successfully adapted for cinema by Bille August.
After the success of her first novel, Isabel Allende wrote two other books with absolute worldwide success: D’amour et d’ombres and Les contes d’Eva Luna. Soon after the publication of her third novel, Isabel decided to give up her work at school and devote all of her time to writing.
After her divorce, Isabel married William Gordon, an American lawyer. She then moved to the United States where she has lived since 1988.
The death of her daughter Paula and the return to life
In 1992, his daughter Paula tragically died at the age of 28 in a hospital in Madrid. Isabel will be deeply affected by this event and she will be plunged into a state of deep sadness and despair from which it will take a moment to come out.
During this long and painful stage, Isabel wrote the novel Paula , a reflection of the childhood and youth of her beloved daughter. This novel is a tribute of love for his daughter and it has become a true bestseller. Many women recognized themselves in his writing.
The novel to overcome the ordeal
Paula is a novel that, like The House of the Spirits , begins in the form of a letter. Initially, it is a declaration of love which is actually a journey towards accepting the death of her daughter as well. Writing began in the hospital, alongside her daughter, seeing that she was slowly losing her strength. Paula is not just a letter to her daughter. In fact, it’s an autobiographical tale in which the actress tells the story of her family.
In this novel, explaining the circumstances of his country and the dramas and family journeys, Allende bares his soul. Very often, Isabel Allende evoked the healing power of writing to face the great dramas of life. In the book Paula, we feel the rhythm with which the actress accepts the circumstances and the death of her daughter. It is a novel which, in a way, served as a therapeutic exercise and an awareness of reality.
With the money raised from Paula’s sales , Isabel Allende created the Isabel Allende Foundation in tribute to her daughter who had worked as a social educator and psychologist in isolated communities in Venezuela and Spain.
Four years later, once the depression was overcome, Isabel wrote Aphrodite. This book is a call to life and to the awareness of the senses. It is considered a song of life dedicated to gratitude and sensuality. The novel was written with the sensibility found in all previous work.
The marvelous reflection of the feminine
All of Isabel Allende’s work reminds us of Dante’s beloved muse, Béatrice (Bice), who has become the stereotype of the “screen lady” so idealized by the masculine. By the simple fact of living, this woman improves her beloved. This type of ladies reflect those who love them. It is in fact a reflection of the “big other” through which they connect with their own divine nature. They represent the source from which emanate creativity, inspiration and the best aspects of an individual by elevating them beyond human potential. Dante considered Beatrice to be “the screen lady”.
On a personal and professional level, Isabel Allende has been able to transform this traditional archetype of “the screen lady” learned from Dante. She has created with her literature a new mirror in which women reflect, recognize and fall in love with themselves.
In conclusion
Throughout Isabel Allende’s work, we discover an infinity of female protagonists. They are very different women, with different stories, just like in reality.
In The City of the Wild Gods, for example, the woman does not have the main role but she does have a fundamental role. Besides, in this book, the woman is old but nothing can stop her.
Another important aspect characterizing this Chilean actress is her reflection of Latin America. It presents the customs, traditions, existing duality and indigenous tribes. Isabel claims the beauty of people and the world as a whole, regardless of the society to which we belong.
Our thoughts Isabel Allende’s sentences are charged with passion and commitment, like her novels, like herself. They constitute a legacy responsible for …
