Blanca Trueba Character Analysis in The House of the Spirits

Clara and Esteban Trueba’s daughter, Alba’s mother, and Pedro Tercero’s lover. Blanca grows up spending summers at Tres Marías, and she falls in love with Pedro when she is just a girl. Despite her deep love for Pedro, Blanca knows her father will never approve of their relationship, and as a member of the upper class, Alba knows that she will never be fully accepted in Pedro’s life as a peasant either. After Jean de Satigny tells Esteban about Blanca’s secret affair with Pedro, Esteban violently beats Blanca. She flees to the big house on the corner with Clara after this incident, and her relationship with her father never recovers. When Blanca finds out she is pregnant with Pedro’s baby, Esteban forces her to marry Jean to prevent people from finding out about the scandal. Blanca agrees—out of fear, not love—and she moves with Jean to a northern province. Their marriage is never consummated, and while she does consider Jean a friend, she ultimately leaves him when she finds erotic photographs of their male servants in his private “laboratory.” Blanca gives birth to her daughter, Alba, shortly after and spends most of her life at the big house on the corner. Her time there is miserable, and Esteban never lets her forget that she lives there because of his “pity.” She reconnects with Pedro Tercero over the years and never stops loving him, though it takes decades for them to truly reunite. After the coup d’état, when Pedro is placed on the wanted list, Blanca hides him in the house. Esteban later helps both Blanca and Pedro escape the county, a moment in which Esteban’s dormant love is finally revealed. The name Blanca means “shining white,” which connotes purity and thereby underscores the sexist expectations of her patriarchal society—Blanca is valued only for her potential as a wife and mother, and her life is determined entirely by men. She is told whom to marry and when, and she isn’t free to make her own decisions. Blanca also illustrates the lasting power of love and its ability to transcend all things, including class and social status. Blanca loves Pedro Tercero for decades, and this love guides her actions throughout most of the novel.

Blanca Trueba Quotes in The House of the Spirits

The The House of the Spirits quotes below are all either spoken by Blanca Trueba or refer to Blanca Trueba. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Class, Politics, and Corruption Theme Icon

He was the son of Esteban García, the only bastard offspring of the patrón named for him. No one knew his origin, or the reason he had that name, except himself, because his grandmother, Pancha García, had managed before she died to poison his childhood with the story that if only his father had been born in place of Blanca, Jaime, or Nicolás, he would have inherited Tres Marías, and could even have been President of the Republic if he wanted. In that part of the country, which was littered with illegitimate children and even legitimate ones who had never met their fathers, he was probably the only one to grow up hating his last name. He hated Esteban Trueba, his seduced grandmother, his bastard father, and his own inexorable peasant fate.

Related Characters: Jaime Trueba/del Valle, Pancha García, Esteban García, Blanca Trueba, Nicolás Trueba, Esteban Trueba

Page Number and Citation: 210

Explanation and Analysis:

Blanca Trueba Character Timeline in The House of the Spirits

The timeline below shows where the character Blanca Trueba appears in The House of the Spirits. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...endless conversations with her unborn baby and declares the child will be a girl named Blanca. Long after Clara’s due date, Dr. Cuevas realizes that Clara has no intention of having... (full context)

From the time Blanca is an infant, Clara talks to her like an adult, and Blanca is well-spoken even... (full context)

...her. The meetings continue anyway, and Férula begins to hate the country. She doesn’t like Blanca playing with Pedro Tercero, but unfortunately there aren’t any children of their own class for... (full context)

...Esteban’s love for Clara, however, becomes more obsessive. The children grow, too, and Clara tells Blanca stories just as Nívea did before her, and Jaime and Nicolás become young men and... (full context)

Esteban doesn’t care about Blanca’s education, so she spends all her time with Clara. Esteban believes that “magic, like cooking... (full context)

Pedro Tercero loves only his father, Pedro Segundo, and Blanca. He has loved Blanca ever since they were children and fell asleep naked under the... (full context)

...grandson, Esteban García, who both carry Esteban’s name but not his surname. Old Pedro tells Blanca and Pedro Tercero a story about hens who join forces and confront a fox, but... (full context)

Blanca’s childhood passes without major incident. She spends summers at Tres María and goes to a... (full context)

...to go to Tres Marías two weeks early to escape the heat. When they arrive, Blanca immediately goes to find Pedro Tercero, but she doesn’t have any luck. She wanders the... (full context)

Blanca wakes at dawn and goes downstairs. The house is dark and quiet, so she slips... (full context)

Pedro Tercero and Blanca spend the summer “awakening as man and woman.” They spend hours in homemade beds of... (full context)

For the first time ever, Blanca doesn’t run to meet Pedro Tercero the moment she arrives at Tres Marías; however, that... (full context)

...a huge earthquake. She tells Esteban that 10,000 people will be killed and runs to Blanca’s room to warn her. The door, however, is locked, and when Blanca doesn’t answer, Clara... (full context)

...on the other hand, knows he is alive and is frantic to get him out. Blanca and Pedro Tercero appear unharmed and help to dig Esteban from the destroyed house. They... (full context)

...mystic woman about as much as he hates Esteban. Clara soon receives a call that Blanca is sick at school, and, fearing tuberculosis, she goes to pick her up. (full context)

When Clara arrives at Blanca’s school, the nuns tell her that Blanca has been seen by the doctor and doesn’t... (full context)

...which is where Nana always wanted to be buried, and returns to Tres Marías with Blanca. When they arrive, Esteban is up in a chair, ordering the completion of the new... (full context)

Blanca does not let Pedro Tercero’s absence upset her, and she continues to go to the... (full context)

...on Tres Marías won’t organize a revolt because they are afraid of Esteban. He tells Blanca that the peasants hate her father, and Blanca understands—she hates and fears her father, too.... (full context)

Blanca manages to stay at Tres Marías and away from school by convincing everyone she has... (full context)

Pedro Tercero’s visits to Blanca become less frequent, but she still waits for him, like the peasants on nearby haciendas,... (full context)

...her time alone, writing in her notebooks. Esteban stops trying to build a relationship with Blanca, who has resisted him since birth. Esteban narrates that he now knows Blanca’s hate for... (full context)

...Esteban as his partner, and Esteban becomes the envy of all the other landowners. Even Blanca is impressed with Jean and puts on her fancy dress when he comes to dinner.... (full context)

One night, while Jean is outside smoking, he catches movement and sees Blanca sneak from her window and disappear into the brush. He doesn’t follow, but Jean is... (full context)

...while they initially make fun of his manners and feminine clothing, they try to convince Blanca to marry him. After all, Blanca is 24 years old, her brothers remind her. Jaime... (full context)

...managed to convince Esteban García that if his father had been born in place of Blanca, Jaime, or Nicolás, he would own Tres Marías and maybe even be President of the... (full context)

...dead in front of him, he considers driving a nail through the dead man’s eye. Blanca arrives just as Esteban raises the nail and shoves him out of the way, never... (full context)

...to throw him out, but Clara convinces Esteban not to make a scene. That night, Blanca sneaks out her window and goes to the river to meet one of the priests,... (full context)

...all of them. If they all vote for the Socialist candidate, they will be safe. Blanca reminds Pedro Tercero that the Conservative Party changes the ballots, but he says they will... (full context)

In the meantime, Jean doesn’t give up on Blanca. No one seems to know much about Jean, and they have no idea how old... (full context)

...turns black and falls out, and Esteban can’t even tan their skins. In the meantime, Blanca has no idea that Jean is spying on her; when she sneaks out her window... (full context)

...house and bangs on the front door. When Esteban answers, Jean tells him all about Blanca and the priest. Esteban is confused, but he instantly realizes Pedro Tercero has tricked him.... (full context)

Clara is alerted to the drama by barking dogs and finds Blanca bleeding in the mud. Pedro Segundo helps Clara get Blanca upstairs, where Clara gently cleans... (full context)

...arms of Pedro Segundo. Clara never speaks to Esteban again. Two days later, Clara and Blanca return to the big house on the corner, leaving Esteban at Tres Marías. After Pedro... (full context)

Clara and Blanca arrive at the big house on the corner and immediately go to work removing sheets... (full context)

...in honor of Severo and Nívea del Valle. One day, Jaime says that he thinks Blanca is pregnant, and Clara confirms that she thinks so, too, so she writes it in... (full context)

Esteban goes to find Jean de Satigny and orders him to marry Blanca. Later, Esteban arrives at the big house on the corner and angrily bursts through the... (full context)

...the meantime, Esteban decides a big party is what is needed to avoid a scandal. Blanca tries to resist, but Esteban tells her there will be no bastards in his family.... (full context)

...Clara to come down to the party for the sake of appearance, and she agrees. Blanca spends the entire party sitting in a chair alone, wearing a dress that’s specially designed... (full context)

After the wedding, Blanca moves out of the big house on the corner, and Clara grows depressed. She tries... (full context)

...lives in the capital with an important member of the Socialist Party. He pines for Blanca and is angry that she married Jean, even though Jaime tries to convince him that... (full context)

If not for Clara and Blanca’s letters, Esteban narrates, he would have remained completely ignorant of the events during this time.... (full context)

...a long time. When he emerges—wearing silk pajamas and a velvet Pompeian robe—he explains to Blanca that he is only in love with the arts and cannot love her in the... (full context)

...of it buying clothes and accessories to match his new status. While he is gone, Blanca goes to the big house on the corner to visit Clara. Esteban meets her in... (full context)

That same day, Jean and Blanca take a British ocean liner to the farthest northern province, where Jean rents an old... (full context)

The first few months of Jean and Blanca’s marriage are quiet. Blanca keeps to the house, but Jean begins a busy social life.... (full context)

Blanca grows curious as to the contents of Jean’s “laboratory,” which he has ordered her to... (full context)

When Blanca gives birth, her daughter, Alba, is born feet first—a sign of good luck. Clara carefully... (full context)

When Blanca arrived at the big house on the corner, she was immediately taken to Clara’s room,... (full context)

...domestic matters, so the everyday running of the big house on the corner falls to Blanca, who makes crèches in her pottery shop when she isn’t tending to household matters. From... (full context)

...transforms her bedroom wall into a massive fresco, filled with invented animals—just like the ones Blanca bakes in her kiln and that Rosa stitched onto her tablecloth. As Alba grows up... (full context)

During this time, Blanca is at her most beautiful, and many men vie for her attention. Esteban still hasn’t... (full context)

Alba worries that Blanca will fall in love and marry until the day Alba meets Pedro Tercero. Blanca tells... (full context)

Blanca lives a poor life in the big house on the corner; she is careful to... (full context)

As Blanca is busy most days running the big house on the corner, Alba spends her time... (full context)

...quietly into a deep sleep, and Alba never once leaves her side. Surrounded by Alba, Blanca, Jaime, Nicolás, and Esteban, Clara takes her last breath. Jaime places his stethoscope on her... (full context)

...things he has wanted to say since she stopped talking to him after he beat Blanca and knocked out Clara’s teeth. He examines her body for any signs of sickness or... (full context)

Once Alba’s hair grows back, Esteban sends her to a British boarding school. Blanca doesn’t object, since she knows Alba’s future is already written in the stars. At school,... (full context)

For Alba, Blanca is the only stable person in her life at the big house on the corner.... (full context)

...revolution, and Esteban has no idea that the singer is Jaime’s best friend, or that Blanca frequently takes Alba to see him. (full context)

Despite their frequent trips to see Pedro Tercero, Blanca doesn’t tell Alba that he is her father. She doesn’t want to complicate Alba’s life... (full context)

After a day barricaded in the building, Alba calls home. She tells Blanca that she will be staying “until victory or death,” which feels ridiculous coming out of... (full context)

...him like that, but he orders another officer to take Alba home. When she arrives, Blanca begins to scream, and she doesn’t calm down until Jaime assures her that Alba is... (full context)

...requires “anxiety and sorrow,” and he has found “great inner peace.” He thinks only of Blanca, until the new government approaches him and offers him a job. Pedro Tercero tells them... (full context)

One day, Pedro Tercero again tells Blanca that he wants to marry her and be together once and for all. As always,... (full context)

In the meantime, Blanca continues teaching pottery classes, but she also takes an active role in political and social... (full context)

In the meantime, Blanca runs a network for moving black-market goods. She stocks the empty rooms in the big... (full context)

...a warrant; however, the country judge has gone fishing, and they can’t reach him. When Blanca finds out that Esteban has been taken hostage, she takes Alba and goes to see... (full context)

When Blanca and Alba arrive at Tres Marías with Pedro Tercero, Pedro is escorted to the kitchen,... (full context)

...Alba grabs the glass from his hand and throws it against the wall, shattering it. Blanca smiles. In the middle of the night, the phone rings. Alba answers, and Miguel tells... (full context)

...weeks later, the kind solider goes to the big house on the corner and tells Blanca all about Jaime’s death. Blanca calls for Esteban so he can hear, too, but Esteban... (full context)

...to some priests who are trying to feed the poor with very few supplies, so Blanca lets Alba raid the stockpile of goods she still has hidden in the back of... (full context)

...everyone, even Esteban, that the military has no intention of handing over power. One day, Blanca drops to her knees in front of Esteban and confesses that Pedro Tercero is hiding... (full context)

...with him, both men smile and leave the room together. Esteban quickly arranges for both Blanca and Pedro to leave the country, and as he says goodbye, he admits to Blanca... (full context)

...wanted revolutionaries in the abandoned rooms of the big house on the corner, just as Blanca hid Pedro Tercero. Esteban, who has come across Clara’s spirit many times in the house,... (full context)

Blanca Trueba Character Analysis

Blanca Trueba Quotes in The House of the Spirits

Chapter 6 Quotes

Blanca Trueba Character Timeline in The House of the Spirits