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Jane the Virgin is a television show that ran from 2014 and ended this year. It is an American adaptation of a Venezuelan telenovela, a type of television show that developed from sources similar to Like Water for Chocolate. Coincidently, the show is even broken into “chapters” instead of “episodes.”
For this discussion board post, compare Like Water for Chocolate and Jane the Virgin, thinking about Emily Nussbaum’s short essay, and your own experience, highlight a few similarities or crucial contrasts that you think are particularly significant, or which make you think of the novel, a character, or a situation in the book in a new way.
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When viewing Jane the Virgin, I immediately sensed a resemblance between Jane, her mother, and her grandmother, compared to Tita, Nacha, and Mama Elena respectively.
One clear difference is that in the show, Jane’s grandmother has an established love and concern for Jane at both the start and the end of the chapter, first with the narrator stating it outright, and then the grandmother after finding out about Jane’s pregnancy. This is at least somewhat nice compared to Like Water for Chocolate, where Mama Elena really does not portray any feelings of affection towards Jane at all. Nacha and the mother are more relatable as both show concern and empathy for their respective daughters.
I’d have to say that the contrast between the grandmother and Mama Elena highlights an idea to me, that of which being that even if your intentions are done out of love, it doesn’t make it good. While Mama Elena is seemingly a wall of anger and apathy, the grandmother in the story is more open and prone to regret and mistakes, and at a few points in the chapter shows genuine concern for Jane’s well-being. Despite this, her revelation towards the end of the story, to me, is very cringy. While wanting her daughter to have gotten an abortion is understandable, having her granddaughter keep a pregnancy because it is will be the best “blessing” they’ll receive? As a test of faith? The themes of both religion and forced traditional values is eye-rollingly bad. Not that the writing is poor, but poor as a witness to it, and it does correlate to the tradition forced to Tita in the novella. Tita is being forced to live with her mother until her death, unable to marry that who she wants, and her love ends up having excessive magical effects on those around her due to how powerful her pent up emotions are. Even though Jane in the show makes the choice to keep the baby mostly of her own accord, the manner in which the grandmother states that Jane should keep the baby feels forceful, in a way that implies that even had Jane had chose otherwise, she would’ve been forced to solely because the grandmother would have thought that is what was right for her, what was the test of faith that would bring “blessing” to her. As an atheist, I felt a very initial reaction of disgust, and again, eye-rolling when seeing that.
Also, in the show, Jane’s marriage interest, Michael, is implied to not be Jane’s true love interest because of the reveal that Jane had a one-day romantic date with a man a few years ago, Rafael, who coincidentally ends up being the father of the sperm that she ends up with… It’s convenient, and even though we’ve no knowledge of the rest of the show, it seems obvious that this is introduced because she’s supposed to quit with Michael and end up with him, despite her vows to Michael. This contrasts to Like Water for Chocolate where Tita seems to have a much more powerful devotion and dedication to Pedro. I say this because Jane goes against Michael’s wish to not hold the child, and again, it’s just obvious the way TV shows are written that Jane is gonna end up with Rafael instead… compared to Tita, who we see genuinely aches and hurts from not having Pedro, as shown with her lines where she’s constantly described to be cold, and even her favorite foods cannot help relieve the coldness in her. The contrast became apparent to me and makes me see how real and even fiery Tita’s love is, which goes to show the magic she causes to occur around her.
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In Like Water for Chocolate and Jane the Virgin theres a main character which in both cases its the youngest female of the family. In both cases each family is a matriarchal family where the head of the house hold is the eldest female her job is to handle all the problems and tell all the other women what their role in the house is. In the book we have Mama Elena being the widow in charge of her three daughters meanwhile in the show we have Abuela, her daughter and granddaughter. If you look closely in both the book and show the youngest or the main character is raised by someone other than the mother, but in a way the mother is still around. In the show Jane is mostly raised by her grandmother because it says the grandmothers priority is god and then Jane but for Janes mom the priority is a famous singer and Jane but in no particular order meaning her daughter is at the same level of importance as her favorite singer. In the book Tita isn’t as important to Mama Elena since she gets treated more as a slave than her daughter, whereas Nacha the cook of the house treats Tita as her own daughter and with much importance sort of like Abuela from the show takes care of Jane. The book and show have many similarities but that have a big difference that is Tita is not allowed to ever get married or have kids; Meanwhile Jane is allowed to get married and have kids she’s just kind of told to be careful about when and who she has sexual relations with so she wouldn’t end up like her mom. Janes mom was a teenager with a baby and no baby father in the picture. Another difference is that in the book we see Mama Elena being afraid of being left alone thats why Tita can’t get married, meanwhile in the show Janes mom is lonely because she doesn’t have a partner but she’s not really as lonely since she has Abuela, Jane and multiple boyfriends. Another difference between the two is that Jane isn’t really seen doing housework instead she goes to school and has a job at hotel, in the book Tita has to cook and wash dishes. This show helps me see the book in a different way because the book is sort of the older version of show therefore making the show a much more modern version where it is a little more accepting of certain concepts. In the book Rosaura is pregnant with her husband Pedros child but in the show Jane is pregnant with another mans baby but her Abuela still advises her to keep it, if this show was made back when the book was written that would have probably been forbidden.
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<i>Jane the Virgin</i>, an American telenovela and the novel,<i> Like Water for Chocolate</i>. Have more in common than just ending their chapters with “to be continued”. Both of them have cultural references, the novel being a Mexican love story and the tv show being an adaptation of a Venezuelan telenovela. In <i>Like Water for Chocolate, </i>a tradition that gets brought up is that the youngest daughter has to take care of their mother until their mother dies. “You know perfectly well that being the youngest daughter means you have to take care of me until the day I die.” (1, 22). This shows that Mama Elena has hope in Tita to grow into a mature woman so that she can take care of Mama Elena in the future. Mama Elena wants to control her youngest daughter, “Mama Elena took comfort in the hope that she had finally managed to subdue her youngest daughter”. (1, 38) but considering that it’s a family tradition, it makes it seem not as selfish. In <i>Jane the Virgin</i>, Alba, Jane’s grandmother also seems controlling in some aspects. Alba wants Jane to remain pure and not end up like her mother, who was irresponsible. Unlike Mama Elena, Alba does this for Jane’s well being, she also thinks that Jane’s mom is unfit to take care of her, because of her irresponsible decisions in the past so she thinks it’s up to herself to raise Jane and out up these expectations for her.
In Emily Nussbaum’s short essay, she talks about the different turns in Jane’s life after she got pregnant. “Jane has been a single mom, a happily married woman, and a devastated widow.” (1, 3) Which goes on to show how one change can make a massive difference in someone’s life. Jane wanted her life to go the way she had planned but due to this obstacle, her life isn’t going in the direction that she predicted it would. Same with Tita, who thought she was going to end up with Pedro. Then he got married to her sister, which throw off her life in the way that she didn’t predict it.
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Off the bat, the very first parallel we see between the show and the book is the relationships between the women. Jane’s abuela relationship with Jane seems to be similar to Tita’s relationship with Mama Elena. Abuela and Mama Elena both have a strong authority in the household and they very much set the tone for what goes on in the household. Jane seems to look to her abuela for her validation on her actions, and her abuela holds certain standards for Jane (partly due to her identification as Catholic). Abuela expects Jane to not have any sexual relations until after she’s married, and when she initially hears that Jane is pregnant is extremely upset and goes to shame Jane. She tells Jane how disappointed in her and how she has betrayed her. In a similar sentiment, Mama Elena, disapproves of Tita’s relationship with Pedro and shames Tita over that and her dream of marrying away, leaving Mama Elena alone. Furthermore, Jane’s situation is comparable to Tita’s where both of them have someone they’re “supposedly in love with” and claim to be their destined lover. Jane thinks Michael is her lover, but the show seems to allude otherwise by introducing Rafael, and Tita thinks Pedro is her lover. Jane very much seems to love Michael, but the show (and Nassbaum’s essay) would suggest that the one who hurts the other in this case is Jane hurts Michael. Jane is the one who will end up hurting Michael, and leave for Rafael. Jane being pregnant with another man’s child seems to upset Michael similarly to how Pedro’s marriage with Rosaura hurt Tita. Tita is the on who is hurt by Pedro, where his marriage with Rosaura causes Tita to become extremely distraught. The significant similarities between the book and the show would appear to be these relationship dynamics. Jane looks up to her abuela as a saint, and wants to do right by her in how she lives, allowing her decisions to be influenced by these expectations of needing to be like her abuela. Similarly, Tita has to live up to Mama Elena’s expectations and requirements. The key difference here is that Mama Elena seems to have little to no care towards Tita, and is mostly dismissive towards her and how she feels. Mama Elena and the family is very much responsible for Nacha’s past romantic relationships, yet there was no ownership over their role in destroying that for Nacha. Abuela on the other hand very clearly loves Jane and displays affection for her, as she is able to own up to her own mistakes in the past in how she messed up with Jane’s mother becoming pregnant. Abuela, out of shame, told Jane’s mother to get the abortion, yet was able to tell Jane that because of her love towards Jane and her mother.
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In Like Water For Chocolate, the importance of Purity and Virginity becomes clear as Tita’s dream of marriage is introduced and the central conflict of novel is revealed. As readers, its soon revealed to us that, it is forbidden for Tita to ever marry due to a family tradition. Moreover, after knowing that her love, Pedro is going to marry her sister instead of her, she still rushes to work on the wedding bedspread she was preparing since an year, when Tito proposed to her. Her preparing the bedspread since a year, dreaming of it in the wedding night and Jane in the “Jane the Virgin” tv show, waiting for her whole life to lose her virginity till she’s married, reflects the same importance of remaining pure till marriage and religious beliefs in both of the characters’ lives. Myself, as a girl being brought up in a traditional and religious household, I was always taught by the elders of the family to maintain my sexual purity till I am a wife. Therefore, the opening scene of “Jane the Virgin”, where the abuela teaches Jane that once the purity of a girl (which is defined by her sexual status in this scenario) is ruined, it can’t return to its original form, is very relatable and realistic for me. The “white” flower in this opening scene and the “white” bedspread being made for Rosaura and Pedro’s wedding night also represent the same theme of Purity and Virginity. However, later on both in the novel and the tv show we notice that both of the characters are being haunted by their own purity because Tita finds her virginity, a form of burden that she has to carry for the rest of her life and Jane being a virgin conceives a child.
Also, another similarity between the novel and the tv show is that, neither Jane or Tita ever received the love of their fathers. Both of the characters were brought up only by female characters. We also see similarities between Mama Elena and abuela’s controlling involvement in Tita and Jane’s lives. However, since birth we find Tita being neglected, mistreated and controlled by Mama Elena, but in Jane’s life even though her abuela seems to have certain control over her, she makes sure to show her affection towards her as well. We can also understand that the reason for her being controlling of Jane is so that she turns out to be responsible in life unlike her mother. We can also find similarities between Nacha and Jane’s mother as we see both of them to support Tita and Jane through their hard times by showing their love and care.
However, in the novel Tita has other two sisters and in the tv show, Jane is the only child. Tita fulfils the kitchen responsibilities along with Nacha, and Jane works in a hotel. In Tita’s case her father has passed away and for Jane he is alive but is not involved with the family. Even though Tita never had the mother and child bond with her mother, Jane’s mother is very close to Jane. Also, since the beginning Tita was never allowed to express herself in front of her mother, however, Jane’s mother on the other hand, supports her during the hard time by making sure she has all the options available and assures Jane that she is free to make any choice that seems fit for her life.
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What I noticed right away when comparing the show “Jane the Virgin” and the novel “Like Water for Chocolate” is that the family consist of mainly woman and an absent father. Jane has her grandmother and mom and she never met her dad due to her mother never allowing Jane or the grandmother to know it is. While in the novel Tita has a motherly figure, her two sisters, a mother (Mama Elena) and a father who passed away. Both Jane and Tita had a mother yet were closer to another woman that was present as a motherly figure to them. The two girls are as well similar in the fact that they are the youngest in the family, where Jane’s mother had her in the middle of her teenage years (Sixteen) and Tita was the youngest of three sisters. Both women seem well rounded in the sense that Tita was grown up in the kitchen and enjoys cooking and she does a very good job at making amazing meals. While Jane is very a hard-working student as well as has a job. Another similarity between the two is that they both individuals follow the rules of their elder womanly figure even when they do not want to. Jane, being the virgin due to her grandmother continuously teaching her not to have pre-marital sex. While Tita as well listens to all of her mother’s orders because she obeys her.
While the novel and show share their similarities, they share their differences as well. Jane’s grandmother served as the motherly figure to her who at times can be harsh but that was out of love and care while Mama Elena is flat out rude and harsh to Tita. They do not have a good relationship as that Tita seems to have very harsh feeling towards her mother, while Jane does love and enjoy the company of her grandmother being that she raised her. Another large contrast would be that Jane is I a relationship of two years with her boyfriend (soon to be husband) Michael, and both her grandmother and mother encourage them to be together a think they make a great couple. On the other hand, Tita is in love with Pedro whom she can never be with. Her mother does not encourage them to be together due to their family rule that the youngest daughter may not be married off. Another difference is that Jane is an only child and has a relatively small family, while Tita is the youngest of three girls and has more “family” members than Jane does. Another grand difference is that Tita who we do not know whether her mother is ok with her having sex or not, we are just aware that she by no means can move out or marry since she has to take care of her mother. This being she will never have the opportunity to bear a child. While Jane on the other hand is supposed to keep purity until marriage which ironically, she did but still got pregnant before marriage (due to a mistake at the doctors, getting artificially inseminated). This being said we learn right away that Jane is going to have a baby and will potentially get married while Tita is quite the opposite.
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In Jane The Virgin, Jane’s grandmother, Abuela reminded me of Tita’s mother, Mama Elana. There is a comparison between these two characters because Jane was told since she was very young that she must be a virgin until marriage. Her mother had Jane at a very young age, and got pregnant with her. She was young and it shaped her life, therefore Janes grandmother, Abuela does not want to see Jane struggle. She wants her to be married and have her life together and unlike her mother, be able to keep their family tradition of staying pure until she is wed. Abuela constantly stressed that she must stay a virgin until married, even comparing purity to a flower- once someone takes the flower and rips it, no matter how hard one may try that flower will never be the same. In Tita’s family, their tradition is that the youngest child is obligated to take care of the parent and not get married or have a family whatsoever. Even though this is a somewhat different from Abuela’s tradition they both follow the idea and concept that you stay pure. Both traditions value purity extensively. Abuela and Mama Elena are alike in the way that they are both determined to keep the tradition alive in their family. They will do whatever it takes to ensure that their children do not break this family tradition.
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Based on comparing the show “Jane the Virgin” and the book “Like Water for Chocolate” is the connections between the women and having an absent father. In the show “Jane the Virgin” the relationship abuela relationship with Jane seems to be similar to Tita’s relationship with Mama Elena in the book “Like Water for Chocolate”. Both the book and the show describe both Abuela and Mama Elena as being strict by having strong control and discipline in the household. Jane’s abuela has certain expectations for Jane. She expects Jane to avoid sexual relations until after her marriage. Jane gets pregnant by accident by having the doctor doing a mistake by artificially seminating on the wrong woman and Jane thinks right away of her ruining her abuela’s expectations. Jane’s abuela tells her how disappointed in her and how she didn’t listen to her. This is similar in “Like Water for Chocolate” when Tita gets into a relationship with Pedro and Mama Elena doesn’t approve them being together as she puts Tita into shame over that and that she doesn’t want to be alone if Tita gets married. Both Tita and Jane are the youngest in the family as they both are very hardworking and respectful girls in which traditionally they are both the youngest in the family where Tita has to follow expectations from Mama Elena and Jane has to follow expectations from Abuela. The slight difference between Tita and Jane is that Tita is the youngest of three in her family and her father passed away which made Mama Elena alone and have a hard time taking care of the family as Jane is an only child who apparently was an accident to her mother who was irresponsible and gave birth to her at the age of sixteen as her mother didn’t tell who the father was to either Abuela or Jane. Another difference shown was that Abuela was being very strict for the love and care for Jane as she wants the best of her compared to Mama Elena who was just flat out harsh and rude to Tita as she thinks negative of Tita. Family Tradition is a major key displayed in the comparison for both the show “Jane the Virgin” and the book “Like Water for Chocolate” as both Abuela and Mama Elena do whatever it takes to approve that both Jane and Tita don’t break their rules and expectations in the family tradition. Maybe the reason Abuela and Mama Elena show these actions of being very strict and demanding is because they were raised the same way growing up as young girls by their mothers and now as being elders they want to follow the tradition by passing it down to their children so that they learn the ways.
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In Jane the Virgin and Like Water for Chocolate there are traditions that are abided by the characters with no questions asked. Since Jane was a young age she knew she was not supposed to have sex outside of marriage and this was something that she never really questioned her grandmother about. This was the rule and it was understood and followed. This compares to Like Water for Chocolate, because Mama Elena has the rule that the youngest daughter must not get married and care for her until she passes. Tita never questioned her mother about this rule, even though she had many, because she knew that she would get in trouble if she did. This point shines through this quote: “Tita knew perfectly well that these questions would have to be buried forever in the archive of questions that have no answers. In the De la Garza family one obeyed—immediately.” (Esquivel 12)
Additionally, in both Like Water for Chocolate and Jane the Virgin, they both have obstacles that have to do with their love life. For Tita, it is mainly not being able to have a love life. This could lead to marriage and result in Mama Elena’s dreams and plans being completely shattered. In Jane the Virgin, not having sex impacts her love life. It is a test for herself and whoever she is in relations with. On the other hand, this can also make her relationships stronger.
Lastly, both decisions made by Jane and Tita would seem to hurt others as much as it would hurt them. If Jane decides to have sex, it would break her grandmother’s heart and everything that she has taught her. When her grandmother found out that she was pregnant and thought it was through sex she was so disappointed and upset. It seemed almost equal to Jane’s confusion and confliction. To compare with Like Water for Chocolate, if Tita found a way to get married to Pedro it would hurt her mother terribly. She would end up alone and have no one. Which is something that she is very afraid of… could be the reason why she made up this rule in the first place.
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When looking at Jane the Virgin and Like Water for Chocolate side by side, it is interesting to look at the similarities and differences in the relationships between the characters. The locations contrast where Jane lives in a Hispanic household in Miami and Tita lives in her family’s house somewhere in Mexico near the border, but the telenovela vibes remain all the same.
One of the similar points that each share is a sense of breaking and following obligations and tradition. While Mama Elena obligates Tita to uphold the tradition of remaining unwedded as the youngest daughter, Jane feels a sense of obligation especially by her religious grandmother to remain a virgin. At first, I was not sure if the mother-daughter relationships would be similar, but after Jane received the news that she was pregnant, that became the link with her mother who became pregnant when she was 16 years old. Jane’s grandmother, Alba, then could be compared to Mama Elena, though the narrator makes it clear that her two most important priorities are her religion and her granddaughter. This seems ironic considering the fact that Alba wanted Xiomara to abort Jane, though she demonstrates a changed perspective when she explains to Jane that she became In short, Alba seems closer to Jane than Mama Elena is to Tita.
One thing that seemed interesting to me is the theme of tradition. For instance, Jane became impregnated through an artificial method and she ends up having the child according to Nussbaum’s analysis of Jane the Virgin. Jane struggles with trying to be different from her mother, Xiomara, and she tries to make herself different from her, saying that her pregnancy was due to irresponsibility. Jane’s pregnancy was also due to irresponsibility, though it was the doctor’s mistake. I would not entirely put the blame on the doctor; miscommunication is the prime culprit, a common plot device (it makes me wonder how many conflicts have been created without miscommunication).
Returning to the relationships in each story, both demonstrate the tensions between different characters. Nussbaum explains that Jane will ultimately become Rafael’s partner, though at the beginning of the series, she proposes to Michael, her boyfriend, and Rafael is in a troubled marriage with Petra. Jane and Rafael’s relationship is parallel to that of Tita and Pedro’s relationship. The audience feels compelled to pair (or ship) them together, but the circumstances keep them apart. Like Rafael, Pedro is tied down to a loveless marriage with Rosaura, though he did this to be closer to Tita. Cheating is a common factor in both relationships, which is seen when pictures are taken of Petra and Roman in bed with each other. It is also alluded to when the text introduces Rafael as a “playboy” and then scratches that out to describe him as a “trapped husband” in the first episode of the tv show (00:03:11-00:03:20). Unlike Pedro, Rafael seems ready to divorce Petra, though he feels trapped with Petra’s rash decision to be impregnated with his only sperm, which clearly backfires.
Although this sudden reencounter between Rafael and Jane occurs with each in an unexpected predicament, it was kind of sweet seeing the flashback to when Rafael and Jane had first met each other. Jane’s grilled cheese sandwich becomes a connection in a similar way that food is an important presence in Like Water for Chocolate. This becomes an intentional catalyst in pairing Rafael and Jane together, even though the connection had been established when Jane asks her friend and co-worker if she remembered him, to which she interjected, “-the jerk you had a monster crush on?” (00:06:38-00:06:40). This “monster crush” seems to also describe Tita’s crush on Pedro. Unlike Jane, Tita only has eyes for Pedro, who she could potentially see as someone who she could break the family tradition with. Maybe her devotion to Pedro could be an exaggeration due to her feeling tied down to tradition.
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I found that “Jane the Virgin” and Like Water for Chocolate both borrow from the tradition of the telenovela in that they both possess a certain air of extravagance. For example, in the novel the revolutionary captain is able to smell Gertrudis’s rosy scent from miles away. This may be because the novel takes this from magical realism, but “Jane the Virgin” possesses this otherworldliness as well; it has such dramatic qualities, such as the fact that Jane’s father was a telenovela star. These high-flying occurrences in both the novel and the television show serve to grab my attention and participate in this literary tradition of spectacles.
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<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>While watching Jane the Virgin, I found many similarities between the characters in the show and Like Water for Chocolate. One of the characters that I found similar was Jane’s Abuela and Mama Elena. They both hold the most power within their households and their opinions are most valued. In addition, they both hold importance over the main characters. Jane’s Abuela was the reason that Jane stayed a virgin for so long due to teaching her at a young age that it was a sacred thing and even compares it to a flower as well as what happens to the flower after it is crumpled. Similarly, Mama Elena is the reason that Tita is not married off and has to stay with the family for the rest of her life. However, Jane’s Abuela is a more supportive character for Jane and more understanding of Jane’s choices. Mama Elena is the opposite for Tita by preventing her from doing things she wants like being with the one she loves. Mama Elena can even be seen as an obstacle or antagonist in Tita’s life, even going as far as striking her on multiple occasions. </span>
<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>I find the comparison between the main character’s supposed support systems help highlight the what-if scenarios between the two similar plots. They have similar stories but Jane has a plot where her family is more understanding and willing to let her do what she wants to make her happy. However, Tita is in the story where her family is controlling and holds her back from being happy. Although they’re in similar scenarios of being virgins and being within a hierarchy family. Both stories also display an absent father-figure and revolve around mainly the views of women. </span>
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Jane the virgin and like water for chocolate both share similar characters to each other, with Jane being Tita, her mother being Nacha, and Alba being Elena. Alba is the religous grandmother whos traditional nature wants Jane to remain a virgin but for a more understandable reason. Her reason being that her daughter Xiomara became pregnant when she was 16, thus stunting her life which Jane mentions in the episode. The difference is that Mama Elena wants Tita to be unmarried due to a tradition of the youngest daughter having to care for her mother for the rest of her life. Elena and Alba are both the rulers of their household and they dictate how their children/grandchildren must be behave. Alba however is a lot more emphatetic, in allowing Jane to have the baby if she wants, while Elena would slap Tita if she dared even suspected anything between Tita and Pedro. Pedro is similar to Rafael as he’s this dreamy hunk who comes into Janes life and she has a massive crush on him. Nacha and Janes mother are both very loving and supportive of Tita/Jane, where they both can talk to each other about almost anything. The hierarchy of both families start with Alba and Elena, but Alba is more understanding of Janes issues, and allowing Jane to have the baby is something Elena would never do. Nussbans article talks about how Jane the virgin is a joyful manifesto, which it is compared to like water for chocolate. Unlike Tita, Jane is supported by both her mother and her grandmother by the end of the episode, unlike like water for chocolate where Nacha who’s like the motherly figure of Tita is the loving and caring one. Elena is a very traditonal person who won’t take no for an answer and you must never do what she tells you not to do. Alba realizes that Jane was one of the best decisions to happen to her and even though it goes against her religion of having sex before marriage, she changes her mind and lets Jane know she supports her.
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