La soledad era esto (Millás, 1990) is a novel that shows the transformation of a woman who wants to break out of her role as a stay-at-home wife and a marriage that has become comfortable but imprisoning for her. The protagonist, Elena Rincón, has taken on a traditional role as a housewife, while her husband, who cheats on her is the financial supporter of the family. This role takes a toll on her physical and psychological health and she is using “drogas” (Millás, 1990, p. 93). Before she starts her path to self-awareness with the following transformation, the reader is presented with the reason why she hasn’t yet taken a role as “mujer liberada” (ibid. p.93). It is represented by an armchair she inherits from her mother, which metaphorically stands for comfort …show more content…
p. 89) it also becomes a place for self-reflection by reading her mothers diaries and the reports a private detective writes about her husband and her. In the second part of the novel her transformation can be seen in two ways. It is obvious from the plot that she starts rejecting her traditional role by leaving her husband, Enrique (ibid. p. 165). But it can also be seen from the form of the novel, first narrated by a third person narrator with excerpts from the reports and the diary of Elena’s mother. In the second part Elena takes initiative and becomes her own narrator by writing her diary. This can be seen as a good example for the ‘ecriture feminine’ as discussed by Jones (1981). She breaks with the convention of being passive and being written about and instead actively becomes the one who tells the story. Thereby she also acquires self-knowledge. Segura (2004) discusses another aspect of the novel that relates to feminist literature theory: For both Elena and her mother, Mercedes, the body is an important topic in their diary and for Elena it is a way for self-reflection. She realises that her physical pain and drug problem is