Gender, magic, and moral authority in Latin American and Russian magical realism

Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-91)This study investigates the intersection of gender, magic, and moral authority in three magical realist novels, namely Soviet author Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita, Columbian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, and Chilean novelist Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits. It appraises the literary criticism that has been produced about each novel, and assumptions inherent in the criticism. This study thus investigates not only the intersection of gender, magic, and moral authority in each novel, but also critiques the arguments produced by literary critics. The analysis contained in this study differs fundamentally from much criticism produced in the past in that it seeks to examine these magical realist novels from the perspective of an ethic of care, traditionally coded as feminine, and with the assumption that the feminine realm is not inherently inferior to the masculine. This thesis accordingly attempts to reinvestigate appraisals of the moral worth of characters within each novel by arguing that it is impossible to do so correctly unless it is via the feminine ethic of care, rather than the more commonly used masculine ethic of justice. Ultimately, it concludes that Bulgakov, Garcia Marquez, and Allende are not advocating that women reject the feminine realm entirely, that such a sacrifice is necessary, but that they are instead advocating that women bring the values and morality of the feminine realm with them into the public, thereby transforming and improving it. They are advocating, thus, that the feminine realm be united with the masculine. The first novel examined in depth is The Master and Margarita. Criticism of the text typically identifies Yeshua, the character who is based on Jesus Christ and is thus closely associated with the masculine realm and the masculine ethic of justice, as the moral center of the novel. The present thesis asserts, in contrast, that the moral center is Margarita Nikolaevna, who is closely associated with the feminine realm and who operates via the ethic of care. Next, this study holds that criticism of Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude has been erroneous in its affirmations that the novel is misogynistic to its core. Garcia Marquez, this thesis maintains, judges the moral worth of his characters via the ethic of care, via the importance they place on relationships, care, and connection, and greatly values the feminine realm. Thus, his novel is a fundamentally feminist one. Last to be examined is Allende's The House of the Spirits. Clara Trueba has generally been marginalized, like Margarita and Ursula, because she embraces the feminine realm and operates via the ethic of justice, while her granddaughter Alba Trueba, who critics erroneously maintain rejects the feminine realm and takes her place within the masculine, has received a great deal of critical attention and approbation. This thesis rereads The House of the Spirits by placing Clara once more at the heart of the novel, and by pointing out that Alba does not at all reject the feminine realm. This thesis thus strives to arrive at a fairer appraisal of the female and male characters in each novel and to question criticism of magical realist texts that have led to misunderstandings of these texts on the most fundamental level