Women who don’t open homes with keys. The representation of isolation as a form of gender violence in Sandra Cisneros’ The house on Mango Street

Abstract

In The House on Mango Street, a novel by Sandra Cisneros, the difficulties faced by Mexican-Chicana women residing in the United States, marked by their gender and origin, are reflected. Gender violence is a constant in their lives, prey not only to the cultural mandates that sign them, but also to the designs of men. In this context, isolation is presented as a way of perpetuating male control and power over the female will and body. In this article we address the stories of great-grandmother Esperanza, Mamacita, Rafaela and Sally, who are isolated from the world by the mere decision of the men with whom they live. For the analysis, we present the cultural characteristics that favor and, many times, legitimize said situation; subsequently, we analyze the circumstances that surround them, in order to describe the isolation mechanisms represented in the work.