Truthfully when I first watched Pedro Almodovar’s piece Volver, I was dumbfounded at the movie’s peculiar string of events and what exactly the main point or purpose of the movie was. Upon reading several mixed reviews and watching the movie again, I realized that the narrative of Volver isn’t what appeals to critics; it was the movie’s portrayal of the relationships between the women. By making this discovery, I began to link many similarities between The House of the Spirits and Volver. The first obvious connection being the blatant focus on women, which demonstrates the unseen side of how they overcome the tribulation of life and the oppression of men as a pact. The women of both stories are seen as individuals who strive to be as independent as they can be, which can apply to opposing (in their own way) the authority of men or being resilient to the difficulty of life itself. This is seen through little instances like Aunt Paula objecting to be dependent in a nursing home to bigger, bolder oppositions such as Clara the Clairvoyant’s oath of not talking to her husband again after their physical encounter. An example of some tribulations the women in both works experience includes the lust of men. While reigning over his hacienda, Esteban’s frustrating sexual drive destroyed the lives of many young women, which was all due to his urge of wanting to feel “the pleasure of the flesh”. Likewise, Paco’s attempt to rape Paula ultimately scarred her for life, leaving her and Raimunda in life threatening situations. Both male characters share the same habit of dehumanizing women as mere instruments of pleasure and being overly proud of their authority upon them. Recognizing this, Ruth Stein notes that “lust is at the root of several generations of family tragedies”, which demonstrates that both works of art puts into light the darkest deeds of men towards women that generally is taboo or overlooked in society (Stein 33). However, the main theme that both productions emphasize on is the community of women overcoming those troubles together. Peter Travers indicates how Almodovar’s Volver demonstrates a “passionate tribute to the community of women– living and dead– who nurtured him” (Travers 33). This portrays that Almodovar, touched by the bonds and burdens of women, meant to angle the movie to depict their sisterhood and support for one another. Allende also demonstrates this through the strong relationships and actions between her female characters: Clara and Blanca. Even though she was upset when she discovered Blanca’s midnight escapades, Clara does not tell Esteban about it. Furthermore, Clara remains faithful to Blanca when Esteban rages over Blanca’s “impurity”, even taking her first punch from him because of her daughter. This demonstrates how Clara and Blanca’s relationship is so powerful to the point of one taking abuse for another. 
This is also seen in Volver as Raimunda takes full responsibility of Paco’s murder, even though Paula committed it. As Raimunda struggles to clean up the evidence and even take over a friend’s restaurant (without permission) to get rid of the body, she too illustrates how her daughter isn’t alone in this; they can get through the murder and other griefs of life together as a family.
Interestingly, I also noticed that a lot of Augustina’s personality was reflected in Ferula’s as they both had the charitable characteristic of taking care of others. As Augustina religiously takes care of Aunt Paula with the hope of someone doing the same to her missing mother, Ferula also parallels this train of thought as she dedicates her service to Clara. Both women help others and long for them to reciprocate the same quality of care to either themselves or loved ones. In Ferula’s case, she mainly took care of others to feel needed and only wanted love and compassion in return. On the other hand, Augustina properly took care of Aunt Paula in hope that her mother was being treated to the same level of comfort. So in a sense, both women devote their entire lives to others in a means of secretly conveying their own desires.
Works Cited:
Stein, Ruthe. “Leave It to Mama to Clean up the Mess.” SFGate. N.p., 22 Nov. 2006. Web. 08 Sept. 2016.
Travers, Peter. “Volver.” Rolling Stone. N.p., 2 Nov. 2006. Web. 08 Sept. 2016.
