Love can be a force that destroys or protects people. In this novel, Isabel Allende presented many different loving relationships between different people that can be used to analyze that various aspects of love. According to the different models of love that she presented, it can be concluded that love is ideal only when the feeling is mutual and that the two parties return the affection towards one another at about the same levels.
The relationship between Clara and Esteban does not work out because the love only came from one direction, assuming that it is indeed love. Because Clara “had already made up her mind to marry without love” (90), this hinted at the very start that Clara does not love Esteban. Throughout the story, Allende described their relationship as seemingly awkward. At some point after Esteban has became involved in politics, Clara and Esteban “looked at each other disconcertedly, feeling for the first in their lives that they were practically strangers” (145), which further confirms their lack of mutual interests and other factors that contribute to the gap between these two people. Furthermore, Esteban is the only one in the relationship to have an obsession towards his partner, who does not return the feeling, thus their relationship remains suppressive and weary.
On the other hand, Blanca, their daughter, and Pedro Tercero harbored ardent love towards one another; and the bond helped both of them grow and live happily regardless of the obstacles. Blanca “suffered, at fourteen, the first torments of love” (144) when she begins to realize that the childish love between her and Pedro has grown to a feeling that her father strongly opposes. They had to keep the relationship a secret: forming code language, holding secret meetings at night, and stealing glances at each other during the day. Even when Esteban Trueba forces her to marry Jean Satigny to hide the fact that she had a growing fetus inside of her that is tangent proof of her affair with Pedro Tercero, Blanca gave in only after she has been tricked into thinking that Pedro had died. This indirectly could also means that the author believes that this love is going to last until “death do [them] part”, as tradition goes when priests swear in couples to be married. Regardless of the fact that they were separated for a long time, Blanca and Pedro were still happy to be reunited and they ended up moving together to live in another country, away from the chaos and conflicts in their homeland.
As mentioned, Isabel Allende holds the common belief that love protects and helps only when it is a mutual feeling coming from both sides at the same level. Otherwise, a forced bond will only make both parties miserable and unhappy. With this idea in mind, it is interesting to think what people's lives must have been like before the 19th century where marriages were rarely formed out of love.
